Category: Richard Mack

The Four Dances – Great Egrets in Wisconsin

June 20, 2024
New WorkPhotographyQuiet Light PublishingRichard MackRichard Mack PhotographyTourismtravel

I had a chance to look at some older images I’ve made and decided what at first have been individual images needed to be put together. I have hung the top left corner and bottom right corner next to each other in canvas prints. Going through the old images I realized two more could easily be added to make it a group of Four Dances. The great Egrets were found on an island in Whitewater Lake in Wisconsin and I’m told they are no longer nesting with the hundreds other egrets found there.

This image is now available in the shop at Quiet Light Publishing. Cheers, Richard

Foreword Book Award Silver Medals!

June 11, 2024
awardsBook AwardsBooksGreat Smoky Mountain National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains BookGreat Smoky Mountains NPnational parksNational Parksnaturenature photographyNature Photography AwardQuiet Light PublishingRichard MackRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogSmokiesSmoky Mountain National ParkSmoky MountainsSmoky Mountains Bookwaterfalls

Today we learned my book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Fifty Years of American Landscapes has been named a winner in two categories in the 26th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. We won the Silver Award in both the Nature Book and Art Book categories!

I am humbled and proud to have won the Silver Awards with so many entries from around the world. You always hope people like your work, and it is gratifying to receive such recognition.

The Foreword INDIES recognize the best books published in 2023 from independent and university presses, as well as self-published authors.

With over 2,400 entries submitted across 55 categories, this year’s competition showcased the remarkable talent and diversity of the independent publishing industry. Foreword’s dedicated editors carefully selected approximately 12 finalists per genre, which were then presented to individual librarians and booksellers entrusted with the challenging task of determining the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention winners.

#quietlightpublishing#richardmackphoto#mackphoto#forewordreview#ForewordINDIES#greatsmokymountainsnationalpark#smokieslife#NPS#nationalparks#smokymountains#smokymountainstennessee#smokymountainsnc#smokymountains

Happy 100th Birthday Grand Canyon National Park!

February 26, 2019
environmentGeneralLandscapesNational Parksnational parksnature photographyRichard MackRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogSunrisetravelTravel Photography

Today marks the 100th Birthday of Grand Canyon National Park! It has been 19 years since I was last at the Grand Canyon. As anyone knows who has seen this magical place it is awe inspiring when you see it for the very first time. Breathtaking, spectacular, unbelievable, remarkable, enormous, spiritual are just some of the words used to describe this place. I have only been to the South Rim nineteen years ago for New Year’s Day 2000 with the family. We enjoyed the momentous passing of the millennium sitting on the hood of the car (to stay a bit warmer) watching a starlit sky filled with more stars than the kids had ever seen before. It was a magical night knowing the passage of time was marked on the calendar, used by most of us today, by a millennium.

It is the second most visited national park (behind Great Smoky Mountains National Park – which yes I have a book on…) and because of these massive numbers of people at the park, it faces challenges of over use, management of the Colorado River system that fails to adequately adopt strategies for the protection and restoration of native animals, as well as cultural resources and wildlife habitat, sound and air pollution, mining just outside the park, and yes the effects of climate change are already apparent in the park.

I have not been to the north rim or even down below the rim more than a few hundred yards. It is on my list of things to do, along with visiting some of the Native American sites along the canyon. Here are four images from my last trip there for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s sunrise back on Jan 1, 2000. Yes, before digital.

Enjoy,

Richard

Line 5 Flotilla Protest

September 25, 2018
Aerial PhotographyCanonDJI MavicdroneenvironmentEquipmentGreat Lakes ProjectLake HuronLake MichiganLine 5Richard MackRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogThe Sweetwater SeasThe Sweetwater Seaswater

Line 5 Flotilla Protest from Richard Mack Photography, Ltd on Vimeo.

On September 1, 2018 I was up in Mackinaw City, Michigan for the Flotilla Protest to shut down Line 5, a 65-year-old oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. And that is what The Flotilla – a protest by the Tribes of northern Michigan to promote the issues surrounding Line 5 was all about. Keeping our waters safe. It started with a blessing of the waters and then the flotilla protest with Native American’s and others joining in to show their support for shutting Line 5 down. It was organized by all the tribal leaders, tribal nations, and water warriors across the Great Lakes region in the 4th Paddle Out Protest to decommission Line 5. Especially the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.

Why you may ask should it be shut down? Line 5 is owned by Enbridge, a Canadian company, which is the 3rd largest pipeline company in the world. In fact, they have several pipelines which go around the Great Lakes, instead of Line 5, which is the only pipeline which goes through the waters of the Great Lakes. And at 65 years old we know it is not in good shape – we’ve seen it. It was laid on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac in 1953. Now the coatings are decaying, the currents have shifted the sands beneath the pipeline leaving gaps unsupported for 300 feet. The law says they should be every 75 feet. They have already put in 147 supports and need another 48. The currents are stronger that the flow of water over Niagara Falls. Enbridge also pushes 50% more oil through the line than it was originally designed for. It is not a question if it will break, it is when – before or after a rupture of the line? With 500,000 gallons of oil flowing every hour through the line it will within hours destroy the waters of both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It is time to shut it down!

It was great to see the support. The issue of Line 5 is a part of the documentary we are working on The Sweetwater Seas – North America’s Great Lakes. The rain held off during the event and it was great to be able to be there.

Enjoy,

Richard

#WaterIsLife #shutdownline5 #thesweetwaterseas #greatlakes #lakemichigan #lakehuron