Your instructor, Mike MacDonald, sets up a landscape composition of rough blazing star at Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins, Illinois.
Photo by David Jagodzinski
Your instructor, coach, and the creator of Creative Eye Workshops™ is Mike MacDonald. Self-taught, Mike started out taking pictures like everyone else. But only eighteen months later, Mike became a nationally published photographer with a how-to article called “Frozen Images” in Outdoor Photographer Magazine.
As an internationally published conservation photographer, nationally acclaimed author, professional entertainer and comedian, computer programmer, and mathematician, Mike has a deep and insightful grasp of the technical and creative aspects of photography. But most importantly, he knows how to teach. The information he presents and the way he presents it inspires students to take their photography to the next level. Enthusiasm and passion are at the heart of Mike’s teaching. His passion is contagious.
Watch this inspirational story about Mike’s work from WTTW’s Chicago Tonight.
With degrees in mathematics and physics, and careers in scientific computer programming and professional comedy, Mike possesses rare and symbiotic credentials that make him stand out as a photographer and a teacher. He draws upon his unique background to simplify complicated subject matter. This includes the use of custom graphics and animations to help students visualize, imagine, and absorb even the most complex material.
For over three decades, Mike has been photographing the natural wonders of the Chicago region. As a “nature matchmaker,” his mission is to spark love affairs with nature through his passionate public speaking, inspirational writing, and breathtaking photography, Mike conveys the marvels and magnificence of a wild Chicago that rivals any place on Earth.
As Chicago Wilderness magazine’s most prominently published photographer, his images have been nationally and internationally featured in many publications, including Outdoor Photographer, Petersen’s Photographic, Boy’s Life, and BBC’s Gardens Illustrated magazine.
In 2015, Mike photographed, authored, and published the literary coffee-table book entitled My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago: A Celebration of Chicagoland’s Startling Natural Wonders. It earned national acclaim when Publishers Weekly described the photography as “glorious” and the writing as “celebratory, soulful, and poetic.” Read full review. Building upon the book, Mike then created ChicagoNatureNOW!—a free website that helps Chicagoans discover the natural beauty that surrounds them. And most recently, a six-month immersive exhibition of his work was staged at Chicago’s Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where his images were projected across a screen that was twelve-feet tall and as wide as a football field. See video below:
Always pushing the envelope and never satisfied with his own work, Mike’s goal has been to create images of the flat Illinois prairie that rival calendar shots of the mountainous western United States. And he’s done just that. As an official contributor to the Sierra Club, his natural landscapes of the Chicago region are regularly showcased in the world-famous Sierra Club Wilderness Wall and Engagement calendars. Imagine, images of Chicago nature in a wilderness calendar.
In an effort to create dramatic photographs of the horizontal landscape, Mike created what he calls “The Chicago Prairie Style of Landscape Photography,” an immersive style of landscape photography designed to give viewers a hyper-realistic experience of any scene. This approach fuses macro and landscape photography to transform a seemingly flat (prairie) landscape into a rich, three-dimensional panorama. And this is why so many people admit to feeling like they’re inside his photographs. The technique also emphasizes simplicity and emotional sensitivity to communicate the essence and emotion of complex panoramas—the hallmarks of his work. Mike explains the practical side of this, “My photographs are part of a diabolical love plan—a magic spell to entrance you into making a date with nature. After all, once you meet, how can you not fall in love?”
Media Appearances:
TV:
Watch story about Mike’s photographic style on WTTW Chicago Tonight.
Watch Mike’s interview about his book on WTTW Chicago Tonight.
Watch Mike talk about Chicago nature photography on ABC 7 Eyewitness News Sunday Morning.
Watch Mike give photography tips on FOX 32 Chicago’s Good Day Saturday.
Watch Mike share his love of nature on WGN-TV Midday News.
Watch Mike’ talk about Chicago nature on CBS 2 Chicago’s Sunday Morning News.
Radio:
Listen to Mike’s interview about winter magic in Chicago nature on WBEZ’s Morning Shift – Jan. 7, 2019.
Listen to Mike’s interview about his book on WBEZ’s WorldView – Feb. 8, 2016.
Listen to Mike’s interview about ChicagoNatureNOW! on WBEZ’s Worldview – Apr. 18, 2017.
Listen to Mike talking about Chicago nature on WBEZ’s Morning Shift – Oct. 17, 2016.
Listen to Mike talking about photography on WCGO-Radio – Dec. 2, 2018.
Print:
Daily Herald – Jan. 17, 2019
Chicago Sun-Times – Mar. 26, 2016
Chicago Tribune – Jan. 17, 2016
View some of Mike’s published work:
Outdoor Photographer (“Frozen Images”) – March 1997
Petersen’s Photographic – October 1999
UIC Alumni Magazine – July/August 2000
Chicago Wilderness – Fall 2005
Chicago Wilderness – Winter 2006
Garden’s Illustrated cover photo – January 2009
Outdoor Photographer – November 2011