JOURNALISM PORTFOLIO

Articles and Photo Essays

Selected published writing and visual reporting by Ian MacKay, created for editors and publications looking for thoughtful travel, outdoor, and human-centered storytelling.

PUBLISHED WORK · TRAVEL

Running: A New Way to Travel

Blending Magazine · Fall/Winter 2023 · Printed pages 42–43

A travel feature about using long-distance running to move beyond Florence’s familiar landmarks and experience the quieter communities, landscapes, and rhythms surrounding the city.

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PHOTO ESSAY · MOUNT WHITNEY

Mountains: They Sleep too.

A visual story of effort, exposure, and first light on the Mount Whitney trail.

Before sunrise, the route toward Mount Whitney is slowly becomes well defined. It becomes a shift from moonlight hanging above the granite to the first light of the sun peaking behind you. A story is told in phases, so often in relation the phases of light and dark.

The sequence follows that transition from darkness into detail: a ridge catching color, snowfields emerging from blue shade, and two figures reduced to silhouettes against stone. The mountain is both terrifying yet calming—a record of moments that will never be the same again.

Moon above Mount Whitney before sunrise — Moonlight holds above the Sierra before first light reaches the granite.

Granite face of Mount Whitney catching early light — The eastern face begins to take on color while the lower route remains in shadow.

Snow-covered Sierra peaks in morning light — Morning light reveals the needles, snowfields, and scale of the high country.

Sunlit summit framed by a dark granite wall — A final band of sun catches the upper ridge.

Two climbers crossing rock and snow on Mount Whitney — Two climbers move through rock and snow as the route opens around them.

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Available for editorial assignments, reported features, and visual stories.

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