Presentations

   

Join Rick for an exciting multimedia presentation, including video and still images of the fascinating world overhead and beneath our feet.

Experience Rick’s amazing wildlife photography, showcasing the magic of birds in flight, fireflies mating in twilight fields, luminous bees, newborn praying mantis nymphs emerging from their egg cases, and many more beautiful up-close encounters with the natural world.

Rick also shares personal and humorous anecdotes, including experiencing spectacular bites and stings in some pretty uncomfortable places.

Each presentation is tailored for a specific audience, from children to adults and seniors, given in schools, places of worship and community centers. Online Skype presentations are also available.

For book clubs, Rick will discuss the creation and publication process of STEP GENTLY OUT, his book in collaboration with award-winning poet Helen Frost, published by Candlewick Press.

Rick’s wildlife images have been featured in a special exhibit at the Detroit Zoo, at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and published in magazines and books worldwide, including Natural History Magazine, KIDS DISCOVER, Backpacker Magazine, ORION, Greenpeace Germany and Whisper in the Woods.

The presentation fee begins at $250, plus travel and lodging expenses if needed. Each presentation is unique and is based on your organization’s needs.

To schedule a presentation or discuss the needs of your organization, contact Rick.

Presentation Schedule:

  • June 2012:
      Huntington Woods Library Teen Program

      • Past events:

    • May 2012: Acts of Culture – Canton Arts week, Canton, MI

    • April 2012: Fort Wayne Museum of Art: Exhibit & book signing

    • March, 2012: Nova Scotia Community College • Skype school visit

    • March 2012: Exhibit & book signing. Oak Park, MI

    • January 2012: Crossroads Sierra Club

    • October 2011: Grosse Pointe Audubon

    • May 2011: Macomb Audubon Society

    • April 2011: Royal Oak Nature Society

    • November 2010: Hardy Plant Society
  

        Testimonials


“I am so excited to have had Rick do a presentation at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. His work is so beautiful and captures things that are around us all the time and we forget to appreciate them as he does.”

“Rick’s enthusiasm for his subjects, his work, and his process is captivating. His ability to speak to a audience consisting both small children and those interested in the technical aspects of photography was amazing to see and all learned a great deal and had fun!”

♦ Anne Hall – Librarian, Fort Wayne Museum of Art

“Truly an amazing presentation with photos that take your breath away. Our audience ranged in age from very young children to senior citizens and everyone was completely mesmerized by Rick’s patience, skill and knowledge. I highly recommend Rick and his book “Step Gently Out” to everyone. Prepare to be stunned by his images.”

♦ Marcia Barker – Program Specialist, Canton Public Library

“Rick’s Skype presentation was incredibly inspirational for the arts students at the Annapolis Valley Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. They were extremely impressed with his talent, his artwork, his easy going manner, and his valuable advice on how to be successful as an artist. Thanks again Rick for a fantastic learning experience!”

♦ Terri Robin Vernon – teacher
Annapolis Valley Campus of Nova Scotia Community College

“On behalf of the Crossroads Group of the Sierra Club, I want to thank you for your fine presentation featuring nature slides and videos! It was clear that the audience enjoyed your photography a great deal and was quite impressed with how well you captured birds and insects in flight.
      Your images really blur that line between photographs and fine art. So many of them were quite stunning. I believe you inspired some of the attendees to grab their cameras and venture into their own backyards to see what they can capture on film…or should I say on disk. It was an enjoyable evening for all.”

♦ Lee Burton • Crossroads Chair

  
 
 

“Rick’s images are beautiful, yes, but they are so much more than pretty pictures. They are a thought-provoking journey into a world that is nearby but one that we rarely pause to consider. The best benefit of Rick’s presentation is that viewers are rewarded with insight.”

♦ Bill Rapai – Grosse Pointe Audubon, Grosse Pointe, MI

“This evening I went to Rick’s presentation for the Grosse Pointe Audubon Society. The time fled by as Rick showed us slide after slide and video after video of his utterly magnificent photos of micro-life (the critters who share our ordinary yards yet present themselves in extraordinary ways) and of common backyard birds in flight.
The drama is astounding: a starling grabbing another’s beak in flight! A sparrow putting his claws on a rival’s throat, also in flight! A fledgling grackle begging for food from the parent, with its foot on the parent’s shoulder.
These are not only magically beautiful, but they show us actions that are stunning and that go unseen.”

♦ Anca Vlasopolos – Author of “The New Bedford Samurai”

“My husband and I attended Rick’s presentation at the Grosse Pointe Audubon Society. We were utterly astonished at the stunning glimpse into the normally invisible world of both bug and bird.
From hour upon hour of patient waiting and seeking, Rick gleans exquisite moments of daring, aerial brinksmanship, tenderness and even scenes echoing “Romeo and Juliet”!
Although most of us walk (or perhaps stomp) through our day thinking that nothing in the grass or air bears any direct relationship to us and our magnificent concerns, Rick shows us that at our very feet lie worlds that are every bit as important and complex.
The video that showed the deep pulse of a firefly’s light becomes as meaningful and as much a beacon for guidance as a lighthouse. When I left at the end of the evening some of my habits had forever changed and I do indeed step out more gently.
Thank you, Rick, for showing us this amazing world.”

♦ Erica Chappuis – Grosse Pointe Park, MI

“Well, you did it! You could have heard a pin drop at your presentation at Macomb Audubon. Everyone was mesmerized at the spectacular shots, midair of birds and bugs. Your presentation was our highlight of the month!”

♦ Macomb Audubon Society – Macomb County, MI

  

“My family attended Rick’s presentation of pictures and video, hosted by the Crossroads Sierra Club.
The portrayals of everyday natural life on an intimate scale were beautiful, intriguing, and even humorous at times, leaving each of us delighted and inspired. Rick proves again and again that you don’t have to leave Michigan, or even your own backyard, to appreciate the world’s natural wonders: pulsing fireflies at dusk, teeming crowds of tiny mantises emerging by the hundreds from their egg case, vibrantly supple birds twisting in flight to engage adversaries–every feather’s edge alive with energy.
You may think you’ve seen images like these before, but trust me: never like this. The freshness and immediacy of the images make you feel that you’ve been granted a window into an ever-present world you’ve never really seen before. Thanks, Rick!”

♦ Mary Walsh • Ann Arbor, MI

“Rick’s photography is beautiful, he has a fantastic eye for lighting. His pictures are creative and fun. It makes me want to take my own pictures.”

♦ Jessie Cook • Student, 12 years old

“The presentation with Rick Lieder was a wonderful show. His art is wonderful and his photography is simply amazing. … The best part about Rick is he seem like a laidback, casual and fun kind of guy, nothing like this imposing and intimidating person I was expecting.”
His portrait photography was great. They conveyed a lot of emotion and you could definitely find a story in the expression and posture of the models. His wildlife photography was simply breathtaking. I learned that while he put a lot of time into his photography, it wasn’t a lot of work needed to go into it and it was something anyone can do. I really liked his book cover illustrations; it was great to see the combination of photography and illustration.
One thing I did find really helpful from his presentation, is when he said to pursue whatever it is we love because we will achieve the best work with it.

♦ Amanda – Student – Nova Scotia Community College