Tag: Quiet Light Publishing

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Their Love of Music – Ben Franklin Book Awards Finalist

 

Independent Book Publishers Association today announced the finalist for the prestigious Ben Franklin Book Awards and Their Love of Music, by Stephen Azzato was named one of three finalists for Best Cover Design – Large Format Books. These awards are some of the most coveted in the book industry. The final awards will be presented during an evening ceremony May 23, 2011in New York City at the start of BookExpo, the industry’s largest book show. 

Named in honor of America’s most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Publications, grouped by genre are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field.

 Congratulations to Steve Azzato on this great accomplishment and to Richard Mack, and Rich Nickel who worked with Steve on the design of this great book.

 

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Steve Azzato & Quiet Light Publishing Honor Pinetop Perkins Legacy

Limited Edition Prints from "Their Love of Music" book by Steve Azzato

Photographer Stephen Azzato and Quiet Light Publishing have donated $5000.00 to the Pinetop Perkins Foundation via a set of limited edition prints signed by both Steve and Pinetop prior to his death on March 21st.  Perkins’ portrait graces the cover of the recently released “Their Love of Music”, a highly regarded collection of portraits and quotes featuring over one hundred musicians. In the book, Azzato has captured the essence of the creative spirit in the faces and words of the musicians themselves. “The beauty of this project for me was being able to sit with a huge range of musicians and explore what drew them to their art”, says Azzato. “I was able to hear it in their voices and record it visually in their images”.

While choosing cover images for books can be a difficult task, Azzato points out that in this instance it was easy.  “While we considered several options briefly, Pinetop’s portrait just seemed the perfect fit.  His love of music is there in his face, in his character. There simply wasn’t another choice that told the story so well.”

Regarding the donation to the Foundation, Azzato commented, “It’s a way for the publisher and I to say ‘thanks again’. I hope that the funds can be used to continue the legacy of Pinetop’s approach to music and life by allowing some kids to be a part of the amazing educational programs the Foundation offers.”

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The Pinetop Perkins Foundation is a tax exempt non-profit organization. Its mission is to provide encouragement and support for youth and young people at the beginning of their musical career; and help provide care and safety for elderly musicians at the twilight of their career. More at http://www.pinetopperkinsfoundation.com/

Quiet Light Publishing specializes in publishing fine art photographic works, archival fine art prints and photographic books of extraordinary quality.  More at http://www.quietlightpublishing.com/

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Pinetop Perkins

Their Love of Music by Stephen Azzato

It is with great sadness that we learn of Pinetop Perkins death today at the young age of 97 years. He epitomized the cover of Stephen Azzato’s book Their Love of Music, for many reasons. But it was his gaze and graceful face which made me fall in love with the image and the man’s music. Sadly I only met him once and found him just like I expected, quiet, hospitable, and full of stories. And then I saw him take to the stage and he came to life in his music. It was a great night. Now his music will live on and be what we can pass on to our kids. Rest in Peace Pinetop.

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Association of Partners for Public Lands awards…

Great Smoky Mountains National Park book

 

Quiet Light Publishing is pleased to announce another award for Richard Mack’s book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes.

Last week the Association of Partners for Public Lands, which includes each National Park, National Forest Service, Fish & Game and many Historic Societies, announced the winners of the 2011 Media and Partnership Awards in Dallas. The awards highlight the new ways these organizations incorporate multi-media technology, partnerships, sustainability and education to expand the outreach to public lands visitors and enthusiasts. As stated in the release for the awards, “This year’s products and programs reflect the diversity of these special places, as well as the variety of visitors who come to know and love them. These efforts to engage the public help enable visitors to understand appreciate and care for America’s public lands.” 

Richard’s book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes won in the category of Non-Partner Published works. This covers books from every national park released over the last two years. Here is what the judges had to say about the book, “What a great value for the price, a beautifully crafted book. This is a testament of dedication by those who saw the visions and made it happen.” 

In a recent article in the Chicago Suntimes, Steve Kemp, who wrote the Foreword and chapter introductions said of Richard’s work, “Richard has sensitivity for light that’s pretty rare. He can coax a richness out of landscapes and low light conditions that you don’t see other photographers experiment with. His photographs have an emotional depth that is superior to a lot of other work. It’s the best large format photography book we’ve ever been able to offer our visitors.”  

We also want to congratulate Steve, who is the Interpretive Products and Services Director Great Smoky Mountains Association, on the other five awards he and the Great Smoky Mountains Association won for their work! What an accomplishment.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, ISBN# 9780975395424, can be purchased at your favorite book store, Great Smoky Mountains Association website or park stores, or directly at Quiet Light Publishing where all books are signed by Richard. 

Congratulations to all the winners at GSMA!

You can preview the book on the Quiet Light Publishing website. www.quietlightpublishing.com

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The Chicago Blizzard of 2011 – Images of Lake Michigan

Many people think a blizzard is something to be avoided, not me! I loved the idea of Chicago being pounded by snow – but then again I had some ulterior motives. I had just been asked by an advertising agency if I had any winter shots in a snowstorm. I’ve also been working on my Great Lakes book project so this would make some great material for that I assumed. I prepared the cameras, got out layers of clothes and geared up for the elements.

 

I ventured out in the afternoon on Tuesday as the storm was in full swing. I went first to my favorite place nearby – Lighthouse beach here in Evanston, but found nothing striking my fancy this time. I wandered up to Gilson Park, which has sand dunes and trees bordering the beach. I thought these would make good foreground for Lake Michigan lying beyond. Except you couldn’t see the lake most of the time! As the storm cranked up it had sustained winds of 50 MPH with gusts over 70 MPH. This meant that in addition to the snow hitting you full on as it blew horizontally along, the wind was so strong it was picking up water drops from the surface of the lake, freezing them and blowing them into you like sharp little razors. It hurt to be out there!

 

Now we all know that to see the snowflakes, you need a dark background to show them off, after all white on white doesn’t work. Even when I placed tree trunks in the foreground, or the grasses, it was hard to pickup the snow in the air. I tried both slow exposures and fast ones (at 1/250 second). A little luck, but the best results to me were the blowing snow which appear as clouds of fog coming off the tops of the dunes and those when the lake closes in almost all the way.

Not your typical Chicago Blizzard shots of stranded cars – but a look at what the lake has to offer on such an exciting day!

To see more images from this shoot use this link: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LakeMichiganWinterStorm/index.html

And to see some shots from past years you can check these out:

Winter 2010: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LakeMichiganWinter/index.html

Winter 2008: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LighthouseBeachWinter/index.htm

Cheers,

Richard Mack