I decided to leave for the airport the night before my flight to Yukon, due to our local weather forecast here in Baltimore calling for ice and snow tomorrow morning. I figured if I avoided the icy roads going down to the airport in the morning, I might have a chance of making my flight.
No such luck! As soon as I checked into the hotel (of course it couldn’t have happened ten minutes earlier) I got a text message that my flight had been cancelled. Don’t they de-ice planes anymore?
So …

As I said in a recent blog (http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2011/01/21/going-for-the-gold-yukon-gold/), I’m thrilled to be returning to the Yukon for my fourth visit, but my first in the dead of winter.
To celebrate my trip, I’m giving away a 12 x 18* signed print* to one registered user on my site. It can be any print on display at my image website: www.lesterpickerphoto.com.
If you’re not currently registered for this blog site, just click on the registration box on my Home Page or the page you are now on or on any other registration box …

Every so often I get asked about my creative process; how do I go about visioning a scene? How do I ‘work’ an image once it’s in my computer? How do I create photographic displays that are unique for every client?

Well, the burnish is now off the image of the professional photographer, namely my image. Bob Boyer, my friend and very able assistant, has documented one step in the creative process that we are currently involved in. I could explain it here, but I’ll let Bob do the …

It’s showtime again. In ten days I leave for a photo assignment in Yukon, Canada. This will be my fourth trip to the Yukon, a land I’ve grown to love, as much for its friendly, independent people as for its majestic scenery and incredible wildlife.
First some perspective. Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada, bordered by Alaska to its west and the Arctic Ocean to its north, British Columbia to the south and Northwest Territory to the east. It has approximately 33,000 residents, 24,000 of whom live in its …

Here is the second installment in what I promised would be a continuing series of photo self-assignments. As I discussed in my previous self-assignment blog (http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2010/07/28/photography-homework-1/) I talked about the value of these ‘homework assignments, so I won’t go over it again here, except to say that the name of the game is practice, practice, practice.
Today I’m suggesting a seasonal assignment, one that plagues many photographers.
Shooting in the Snow
Snow is white, right? Not if you’ve ever photographed it. Snow can appear white and textured or overblown and featureless. It can …

Here is the second installment in what I promised would be a continuing series of photo self-assignments. As I discussed in my previous self-assignment blog (http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2010/07/28/photography-homework-1/) I talked about the value of these ‘homework assignments, so i won’t go over it again here.
Today I’m suggesting a seasonal assignment, one that plagues many photographers.
Shooting in the Snow
Snow is white, right? Not if you’ve ever photographed it. Snow can appear white and textured or overblown and featureless. It can even appear gray or yellow, much to the frustration of even advanced amateur …

Right now I’m preparing for my next photo adventure. In early February I’m leaving for the Yukon and Arctic Circle, in part to cover the incredible, 1,000 mile Quest dogsled race. The February temperature can dip to -45 degrees Fahrenheit for days at a time. In upcoming blogs I’ll describe how I prep for such extreme  cold weather photography and I’ll be blogging in real time as the race proceeds. But for now I want to cover a particular issue related to photography in cold weather, namely condensation. But allow …

Trumpets, please! Now some fanfare…. and roll the drums. It’s my annual New Year’s Photo Resolutions, Version 2011.1 (meaning they will undoubtedly change as the year progresses). Here are my major goals.
A Stitch In Time
This year I plan to get into panoramas, which some of my clients are demanding. I already have a terrific tripod (Gitzo 3541) and ball head (Really Right Stuff BH-55), so with that solid base I’m going to add panoramas to my repertoire.
That means I will have to find, learn and then use a stitching program …