Lighthouses of the Great Lakes

Now that July 4th has past, what summer trip might you be planning? There are 388 lighthouses around the Great Lakes. They are beckoning you to a great trip of discovery!

It may surprise you in these days of near-universal GPS systems, 300 of the lighthouses are still active aids to navigation. The state of Michigan has more lighthouses along its coastline than any other state in the United States.

Here is the count of many active lighthouses are on the Great Lakes by state and Canadian province:

Ontario – 94

Michigan – 109

Wisconsin – 39

New York – 21

Ohio – 14

Minnesota – 7

Illinois – 8

Indiana – 6

Pennsylvania – 2

Can you name where your states lighthouses all are? Most people can only name a few.

Lake Michigan - 97

Lake Huron - 95

Lake Superior - 75

Lake Erie - 68

Lake Ontario – 53

Follow this link for a map of all Great Lakes lighthouses.

https://gllka.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9e1508ae15f9444f9b960aa42e435951

You can tour many of these lights, and you can at least walk around most of them. Many give you the opportunity not just to make it back to a harbor or around an island safely but make stunning photographs in all types of weather. Every lighthouse was built for a reason, either too many shipwrecks in the area from shoals or shallow water or to aid navigation to harbors.

Get out there and visit these great places, many built more than 100 years ago and still in operation. To learn more about them, visit www.thesweetwaterseas.com and find more information on lighthouses and other places around the Great Lakes. We have lots of links on our learn more page.

Cheers, The Sweetwater Seas

*Statistics from the National Lighthouse Keepers Association   https://www.gllka.org/faq

United States Lighthouse Society https://uslhs.org/

Been a warm winter...

So far this winter it has been a very warm season, with the exception of a few days near -10F when the steam rose from the water. As I write this today it is nearly 60F which might tie or break the warmest day on record. While we all like the warmth and a season without shovelling snow, it is not necessarily the best for the Great Lakes. Without ice coverage the lakes will evaporate faster. We may see lower lake levels in the coming seasons which can be trouble for harbors for both recreational and industrial maritime activities. Yet, it might make our beaches bigger and help with the erosion problems we have faced in these lakes.

This quick video was shot on January 15, 2024 when it was -8 degrees. Personally I love going out in that kind of weather to get these kinds of shots. You dress for it and when shooting don’t really think much about it. This might be the coldest day of this winter with only about 6 weeks to go before spring. While for those few days the ice along the edge of the lake here in the Chicago area built up slightly it was clearly smaller than usual. This was the ice at the edge, as things were just starting to freeze.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers, The Sweetwaters Seas

World Rivers Day

Today is World River Day a time to remember how we depend on fresh water for life itself. For me there is nothing like sitting by water, especially a river or stream of various sizes and watching the water consistently roll by and hearing the sound of the water’s movement. Every river runs into a pond, lake and ultimately the oceans around the world. We must keep our waters clean and keep protecting them as we move forward. Many programs around the world are working to clean up our rivers from government programs to volunteer programs which you, yes, you can get involved with. Do a search for local river organizations working with the rivers in your area and get involved. In the meantime, enjoy some of the rivers I have photographed over my career.

The rivers included:

Missouri River, United States

Little River, United States

Columbia River, United States

East Fork Bitterroot River, United States

Middle Prong Little River, United States

Chicago River, United States

Dordogne River, France

Seine River, France

Rio Manso, Argentina

Arno River, Italy

Thames River, England

#richardmackphoto #mackphoto #freshwater #worldriversday #rivers #nature #streams #invironment #climatechange #invironmentalphotographer #naturephotographer #naturephotography #canonr5 #canon1ds #canonphotographer #canonexploreroflight #greatsmoymountainsnationalpark #nps #gsmnp #smokiesfriends #gsma #SWS #thesweetwaterseas #greatlakes

The Power of Nature

Big waves on Lake Michigan August 26, 2023.

On August 26th the winds from the Northeast were 30-40 mph making waves registered at the Wilmette and Chicago buoy's at 7.2 feet. This came after one of the warmest set of days in Chicago with a temp over 100 degrees and a feel like temp of 120. This with the winds of the 30 degree lower cool front made for the high winds from the northeast. Usually the lake is calm or with waves of 1-2 feet only. I ran down to get B-roll for The Sweetwater Seas documentary, yes we are still working on it!

We have shot big waves after a storm before but nothing this with waves this size. This small video of the waves show the power of Lake Michigan at its best. Enjoy, The Sweetwater Seas Team

January Sunrise Lake Michigan

Went down to the lake for sunrise thinking at 2 degrees we might have a lot of misty smoke over the water. Not to be. So I changed plans and did some b-roll for our documentary, yes still working on it, The Sweetwater Seas. Sometimes what you go for isn't there in nature and you must change your perspective and reap the rewards of being in the right place at the right time because of your planning and serendipity! Enjoy!

Piping Plovers have Record Breeding Year!

One of the first segments we ever did for THE SWEETWATER SEAS was an interview with wildlife biologists who were working to save the Great Lakes piping plover. Vince Cavalieri, who we interviewed, was running the program at Sleeping Bear Dunes. Now the Piping Plover are not only more abundant but had a record year for breeding at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

They have also become more popular as they have started breeding in other places on the Great Lakes , maybe the most widely known in Chicago on Montrose Beach where music festivals were moved and beach areas cordoned off for the pair who where breeding on the beach. They’ve returned for a second year this year. Other lakes also now have some pairs breeding in Lake Superior, Erie and Ontario. Quit the change from having only a few pairs of breeding Piping Plover a few years ago when they started working to bring them back before extinction. Great to see the progress all these groups have made in the recovery of the Piping Plover since we filmed Vince a few years back!

World Oceans Day

Evanston Art center Group Show - Richard Mack’s image from Lighthouse Beach Old Pier.

In honor of World Oceans Day we celebrate the Sweetwater Seas as the inland oceans they are. This fine art print has sold at the gallery but you can make a purchase of many fine art prints Richard has made from filming this documentary by going to the Quiet Light Publishing shop. Many of our images are there and the purchase helps fund the documentary about this vast and original inland ocean. http://shop.quietlightpublishing.com/the-great-lakes-the-sweetwater-seas-1

#thesweetwaterseas #greatlakes #worldoceansday #richardmackphoto #mackphoto

Vernal Equinox Sunrise 2021

On Saturday March 20, 2021, we had the first spring sunrise, the vernal equinox sunrise. I decided to get up early and head down to our favorite beach here in Evanston, Lighthouse Beach on Lake Michigan to shoot some video and time-lapse of the sunrise. I wanted to use a long lens to get a close-up of the sunrise along with a low wide angle shot for the time-lapse.

For the time-lapse I set the camera up about 15 feet away from where the video camera was in order to mitigate any sounds of the camera as it shot away. Once it was running I could just leave it do its thing as I was using the Timelapse+view app and system to create a smooth time-lapse of the changing exposures. I could then concentrate on the 4k video with the 600mm lens shooting the sun as it peaked over the horizon.

I wish I had shot a bit more of the detail shots to go along with the sunrise but if we use these shots in the film eventually we have plenty of detail shots we can add.

A beautiful start to spring in 2021! Enjoy!

#thesweetwaterseas #GreatLakes #LakeMichigan #Canon #Timelapse+view

Wait a Day...

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 a few of the still images made for the book on the Great Lakes.

Enjoy,

Richard

New Sweetwater Seas Fine Art Posters

Our partner for print sales Quiet Light Publishing added 11 new Fine Art Posters from artist Richard Mack this week to the collection The Sweetwater Seas in our shop. These poster are available in two sizes, 24″x36″ for $75.00 and 18″x24″ for $49.99 plus taxes and shipping. These are printed on fine art paper to the exacting standards of Richard and make great gifts for you or someone you know! There are over 30 Fine Art Poster in The Sweetwater Seas Collection.

Check them all out at Quiet Light Publishing shop.

Enjoy!