Tag: Richard Mack Photography

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 

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

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