Category: Winter Landscape Photography

Wait a Day…

February 24, 2021
environmentGreat Lakes ProjectLake Michigannature photographyRichard Mack PhotographyThe Sweetwater SeaswinterWinter Landscape PhotographyWinter photography

If you know the Great Lakes, and many say any place, the weather can change on a moment’s notice. On February 13-14 this year here in Chicago we had a snowstorm that dropped 20” from the sky. Along with that we had winds coming out of the north and right down Lake Michigan which blew the ice into shore. I went down to the shoreline of Lake Michigan on the 17th to see the conditions of the lake, expecting ice up against the shoreline, yet it had already moved out about 2 miles offshore. Still we had the ice built up high along the shore and the open water behind it so I made both some still and video shots of the lake. The next day I went back to the same spots and because the winds had shifted yet again the ice had moved back into the shoreline right up to the pack ice. An interesting perspective on the changes which come within 24 hours along the Great Lakes. And below are some of the still images.

Enjoy,

Richard

Snow Storm in May?

April 27, 2019
environmentGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLandscapesLighthouse Beachnature photographyThe Sweetwater SeasVideovideo productionwinterWinter Landscape PhotographyWinter photography

With snow expected today I thought I post something from February to remind you it won’t be all that bad! Besides we won’t need to shovel since it will be 50’s on Sunday! So enjoy… you can watch a video of the shoot with this link: https://vimeo.com/329873301

Winter on the Great Lakes can be a fantastic opportunity to see the power and fascination of nature. Went back to Lighthouse Beach to shoot the Ice Island which had formed off the beach at sunrise to get the light shining through the ice sheets. Shot mostly video for The Sweetwater Seas documentary but took some time to shoot some still images as well.

Started at 6am in 9 degrees, at least there was no wind at all so it seemed warm with all the layers on! (Just had to watch where your breath went so it didn’t get in front of lens!) Spent about 2.5 hours out there. Enjoy!

Lake Superior – Two Winters

April 5, 2016
Great Lakes ProjectLake SuperiorNight sky time-lapseQuiet Light PublishingRichard Mack PhotographyThe Sweetwater Seastime-lapseWinter Landscape Photography

Two winters, drastically different weather. In March, 2013 on Lake Superior, it was below 0°F. The lake was shrouded in ice and snow. The same week in 2016 the ice had all but left the lake, and little snow remained in the forests.

This past March I spent a week travelling around Lake Superior. It happened to be the exact same week I had been up there in 2013. The big difference was in 2013 we had a very cold winter in the Midwest and the Great Lakes were 90% frozen over. This year was a very mild winter with less than 14% of ice coverage on the Great Lakes. I had wanted to get back up to areas I had not been too in 2013, so even with a mild winter I headed north to shoot for The Sweetwater Seas – A Documentary About North America’s Great Lakes. We have put together a short film from the trip which compares the two winters.

Enjoy!

Richard

For more on The Sweetwater Seas – A Documentary About North America’s Great Lakes just use the link – The Sweetwater Seas

Lake Superior Night Sky

March 31, 2016
changing lighteveningExpectationsGreat Lakes ProjectLake Superiornature photographynight photographyNight sky time-lapseRichard Mack PhotographyThe Sweetwater SeasWinter Landscape Photography

This past March I spent a week travelling around Lake Superior. It happened to be the exact same week I had been up there in 2013, in fact this shot of the night sky was done on the same night 3 years after I had done a similar shot. This time though I was doing a series of time-lapse images of the night sky as part of my project for The Sweetwater Seas – A Documentary About North America’s Great Lakes. In 2013 there was snow and ice with temperatures below 0°F and the lake frozen over with ice. This year it was between 20-35°F and the ice was almost none existent. However, knowing the ice wouldn’t be there, I still wanted to travel around the lake and was hoping to get a few nice time-lapse of the night sky along with time-lapse of clouds and any other subject which drew me in. On a trip like this you hope to come back with at least one good set of images. I was lucky enough to exceed my expectations even though some things didn’t go the way I had hoped. I had only one clear night. I spent hours on the beach at Split Rock State Park in Minnesota shooting the night sky with wolves howling in the distance. It was a beautiful night and morning. For those who don’t know much about time-lapse, first you need to know your frame rate, how long you want the clip to be and then do the computations to figure out how many shots you need over what time period. In the case of these I did a 15 second exposure with 3 seconds in between. So to get 13 seconds of video it took almost 2 hours of shooting. Not a bad way to spend your night…