Category: The Sweetwater Seas

Winter Storm on Lake Michigan

January 15, 2020
CanonenvironmentGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogThe Sweetwater Seas

Winter Storm and Big Waves

On Saturday January 11, 2020, the Midwest experienced a large winter storm system across the area which created unusually large waves of 15-25 feet in the southwestern portion of Lake Michigan. With the Great Lakes within inches of their highest levels in history it brought destruction to several areas, homes and businesses along the lakeshore. In the Chicago area, and in particular Evanston where I live, all seven beaches disappeared under these huge waves. Homes along the Chicago Northshore lost their beach fronts as well. Personally, I have never seen waves this high on Lake Michigan, at least on the western side. In this video, shot at Gilson Park in Wilmette, the dunes usually have 20-30 feet of beach between the shoreline and the dunes. The roots of the grasses were the only thing left in many places. The trees which used to stand a few feet from the edge of the dunes were now right at the edge and in danger of falling into the lake.

The sound of the waves was deafening, although the wind overtook our microphone no matter what we did to dampen its effect. The ground also had a vibration from the pounding of the waves.

At another beach just south of Gilson, Lighthouse Beach in Evanston, usually has 50-100 feet of sand which had been obliterated by the waves all the way up to the dunes at Lighthouse Beach. By the next day the storms had cleared and Lake Michigan had calmed down, returning the beach to its size before the storm.

Lighthouse Beach on Saturday January 11th and then Sunday January 12th.

The size of the beaches everywhere in the Great Lakes have shrunk to their smallest sizes in the years since the lowest levels were recorded in 2013, just seven years ago. The lake levels do rise and fall over generations, but not this fast. The storms have also become bigger and more powerful in the last ten years – due to global warming and climate change. We will be covering the threats to the Great Lakes and the Midwest in our documentary.

Enjoy,

Richard Mack & John Manos

#thesweetwaterseas #GreatLakes #LakeMichigan #Storms #waves #weather #Illinois #nature #documentary

Chicago Skyline Time-lapse

September 23, 2019
CanonChicagoCityscapeGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganNight sky time-lapseRichard Mack PhotographyThe Sweetwater SeasThe Sweetwater SeasThe Sweetwater Seastime-lapseTourismtravelTravel Photography

I did my first real test of the of the “holy grail” of time-lapse where you go from daylight to night-time (or the reverse). I used the Timelapse+ VIEW intervalometer and software plugin for Lightroom CC to handle the exposure changes. I did this from the Montrose Harbor area looking down to Chicago, an iconic view of this beautiful city. We started the exposures at 6:40pm and finished 2 hours and 44 minutes later at 9:24pm. This gave us just under a minute of video from the 1,408 images shot. For those interested it was shot with the Canon Mark 5d IV with the 24-105 lens set at F/11. The ISO started at 100 and ended at ISO 8000. The shutter speed started at 1/80 of a second and ended with an exposure of 4.0 seconds. A total of 14.5 stops! Timelapse+ VIEW was setup to change the shutter speed first and then the ISO. Timelapse+ VIEW Intervalometer will automate night to day time-lapse using a light sensor and advanced algorithms. This system worked really well and once you take it into Lightroom in post processing the plugin finds the keyframes which you can use to do the initial processing in Lightroom Development window to make any exposure / color corrections you require. The software then makes these corrections for the entire selection in subtle increments so you have a finished piece with smooth transitions for a beautiful time-lapse.

Now one thing I know I will try next time is starting with at least a 1 second exposure to make the water smoother throughout the time-lapse. I would also go longer into the nighttime view to give a little more room in editing to be able to use a longer nighttime scene.

This Timelapse+ VIEW intervalometer and what we will be able to do with it will be a great addition to The Sweetwater Seas – North America’s Great Lakes documentary! It will be in the equipment bags for every shoot from now on! Can’t wait to get outside along  the Great Lakes and do some day to night with the Milky Way winding its way across the screen, and maybe even back to daylight.

Enjoy,

Richard

#thesweetwaterseas #GreatLakes #timelapse #timelapse+ #Chicago #LakeMichigan #Canon #CanonMark5DIV #Chicagophotography #artofchi #earthpix #timelapseplus #travel #landscape #cityscape #astrophotography #illinois #illinoistourism #way2ill 

Ludington State Park

December 1, 2018
Aerial PhotographyCanonchanging lightDJI MavicdroneenvironmentEquipmenteveningGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLake MichiganLandscapesnature photographyRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogseeingSunriseThe Sweetwater SeasThe Sweetwater Seaswater

Last September I rolled into Ludington State Park for a one-night stay on my way back from filming in Traverse City. I had never visited this park before, so I spent the evening walking the dunes and looking for images. To my surprise, while the campground was almost full, no one else was out wandering the dunes – much to my pleasure. Having the place to yourself gives you time to wander and take in the place and space you are in. It was interesting to find areas without any footprints in many places. It was a peaceful evening filled with images everywhere.

In the morning, while folks were still not out on the dunes yet, I flew a drone over the area before heading back home. Enjoy.

Cheers,
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