Category: The Sweetwater Seas

Changes in the Great Lakes Water Levels

October 17, 2014
Great Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLighthouse BeachRichard Mack PhotographyThe Sweetwater SeasThe Sweetwater Seas
Lighthouse Beach Moonrise, Lake Michigan
November 2012

Over the last few years if you live along Lake Michigan or Lake Huron you’ve probably noticed a big swing in the water levels and therefore the size of the beaches. Why both of these lakes? They are the same body of water only separated by the Mackinaw Straights. And while the other lakes have also been higher than they have been since 1998 they are at different elevations from Lake Michigan and Huron.

Here is a graphic view of the changes in Lake Michigan & Huron’s water level as see at Lighthouse Beach in Evanston, Illinois. These lakes have reached their highest levels since 1998 but are still 3” lower than the average in August. In the past year and a half the lakes have gone from their low level in January 2013 to the high level in August. These images show a pretty good range in the levels using the old pier as the visual barometer.

October 2014
October 2014

As I have shot at this pier since 2003 as part of my personal work and more often as part of the Great Lakes Project The Sweetwater Seas, I have been interested in the ebb and flow of the water levels and the amount of beach I could see. As you can see there was a difference from the low in November 2012 and May 2013 (around the lowest period) where the sand stretched out about 20 feet more. The images also show you the way the water covers or doesn’t cover the old piers pilings as well. In nature nothing stays the same for very long.

Why has there been so much fluctuation? Because over the past 18 months we had a winter where close to 95% of all the surfaces on the Great Lakes were frozen over. Therefore the evaporation could not take place over the winter. And as we all know, this summer has been cooler and wetter than average. Making for a net gain in the amount of water in the Great Lakes Watershed.

Lake Michigan Water Levels

Enjoy,

Richard

The statistics came from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

All Images ©2014 Richard Mack.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

June 21, 2014
Fine Art PrintsGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganNational ParksPhotographyQuiet Light PublishingRichard MackRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogSleeping Bear DunesThe Sweetwater Seas

Last week I had the pleasure of working in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with George Elder as part of our Great Lakes Project The Sweetwater Seas a documentary on all five of the Great Lakes and their beauty and environmental issues and how we use these lakes.

We went to Sleeping Bear because it is not one of the most beautiful places on the Great Lakes it is one of two dunes which lay on bedrock so they have become tall and do not naturally sink back into the lakes. The other is the Au Sable Dunes on Lake Superior. We also went to shoot the story about of the US Fish & Wildlife and National Park Service has worked together to bring the Piping Plover back from near extinction to a growing group of birds. These tiny shorebirds nest right on the beach and continue to come back to the same areas they were born in. At one time they were down to about 7 pairs and are currently up to around 70 pairs. We were fortunate to have Vince Cavalieri and Sue Jennings work with us. While we thought we might be able to see some parents sitting on their eggs they had all hatched the few days before we got there. But we were able to photograph and videotape hatchlings only a few days old along with their parents running along the beach. They are quick little birds so it took a lot to keep them in the frame! Especially as I was using a Canon 500mm lens, sometimes with a 2x convertor to make it 1000mm!

The dunes themselves gave us a look at the beauty found in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Sunsets along the north shore of Michigan were stunning with clouds and fog giving us stunning views and clouds to capture on film and a background to show how people enjoy these places.

To see more of the still images I shot you can use this link: www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/SleepingBear Fine Art Prints will be available soon in the Quiet Light Publishing shop!

Cheers,

Richard

 

Lake Michigan Morning

May 31, 2014
Great Lakes ProjectLake MichiganRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's BlogThe Sweetwater Seas

This morning George Elder and I set off to shoot more for our Great Lakes Project – The Sweetwater Seas. We set off to document the fishermen at sunrise down along Montrose Beach and Promontory Pointe. There are always folks dipping a line in the water well before sunrise along that stretch of the lake. George talked to one fisherman who had a lot to say about the fishing over the years and the invasive species such as the Goby which he had caught a few of this morning. Those do not get throw back in the water but on shore and the pigeons come along and eat them. We wandered down to North Avenue Beach to capture people running, biking and playing along the beach. We ran into a group of young kids in what appeared to be a football workout on the beach with coaches. Plenty of bicyclists, runners and walkers. And then the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer passed by, by the thousands. And we both ran into folks we knew, including a friend of George’s who is in charge of the Avon Walks. These images are some of the still shots I took. I shoot both still and video but concentrate on stills as George is the expert filmmaker. Another great morning even though you have to get up before 4am!

To see more images go ahead and click on this link: www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/LMM

Cheers,

Richard