Category: General

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

Richard Mack Photography Reel 2017

January 16, 2017
Aerial PhotographydronefilmGeneralreelRichard Mack PhotographyVideovideo production

 

As the year starts you tend to not only look back at how last year was but to think about the upcoming year and put together a plan to accomplish your goals for the next month, 6 months, year or more. As part of this effort I put together a reel of video work we’ve done over the last several years for clients. It certainly does not show all the work, can’t usually be done in 2 ½ minutes. I left out some of the aerial drone work we’ve done for architects and corporations of their buildings.

As part of The Sweetwater Seas documentary team last year was a great year shooting many interviews of folks who live and work along the Great Lakes and some of the issues on the lakes and how they affect what they are doing. With the Great Lakes being 20% of the worlds fresh surface water, and 95% of North America’s this is a body of water most people take for granted. For most it is either something they know very little about because they live elsewhere, or we just turn on the tap and expect the water to be there. Most of the 40 million folks who live in the Great Lakes watershed appreciate their beauty and serene, spiritual affect as we work and play along their shores. It is this story we are telling along with the environmental challenges and solutions they face.

Also in the past I’ve done work for a wide range of clients including Acura, Abbvie, Over the Rainbow, Gourmet Destinations and many others.

Hope you enjoy this small look at some of the work we’ve done!

Cheers!

Richard Mack

Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2014
GeneralLake Superiorphotography at night

Happy Holidays from Richard Mack Photography!

Happy Holidays from Richard Mack Photography!

The Summer of Projects

September 17, 2013
GeneralJill Bucknernew projectsPrintsSavannahtravelTravel Photography

This summer has been filled with many projects for a variety of clients. The folks at AbbVie have been great to work with and I shot people in the studio for them for two different campaigns. I also did architectural and lifestyle images for The Whitman in Savannah along with tourism images of the area. There were projects for retailers and a few musicians for their upcoming CDs. And of course work on my next book project Twenty/Ninety-Five about all five of the Great Lakes.

In Georgia I was part of the team to shoot architectural and lifestyle images for The Whitman, a historic mansion across from Forsythe Park which has been meticulously renovated and is now a beautiful event space for corporate events, weddings, family gatherings and anything you can imagine. We had over 40 people on set the days for those shoots as art directors, and talent for the production. You can view some of those images on the Whitman website.

While in the Savannah area I also shot many images for use in tourism marketing and fine art prints. As this project was in conjunction with Jill Buckner we both explored the city. It is always interesting to shoot a city or area you don’t know because you must do some research into what is around and how to portray it in the best way. It is also a joy to explore a place for the first time and record your impressions of the place so others may want to enjoy it as well. We shot the old historic part by the river front to the new bridge across the river and a few shots of the shipping and harbor area. In addition we went to the ocean beaches and the Atlantic Coastal areas and of course went to the famous Wormsloe State Park and Bonaventure Cemetery.

To see more of the tourism images from the area you can use this link. https://www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/Savannah/

There were a lot more projects we don’t have space to talk about now but will in the future.

But I have to say the highlight of the summer was my son’s wedding! He and Kelly married on the shores of Lake Michigan at Illinois Beach State Park on a beautiful summer’s day in July.

Enjoy,

Richard Mack