As you can see, I had a bit of surgery two days ago.

This is the second time I had to undergo this repair of the arthritic base of my left thumb. The first time, about 5 years ago, the repair did not work and it’s been getting steadily more painful as I balance my camera in my left hand. So I felt I had little choice. So I’m typing this with one finger, just to let you know that my communications this week will be a bit sparse.
I’ll have this …

Perhaps you’ve noticed in the past several days that we have changed the look of my blog a bit. For one thing the color scheme is slightly different. But the larger change is in our logo, which is now Les Picker Fine Art Photography (a big thanks to my able assistant, Bob Boyer, who designed the new logo).

The reason for the change is far more than marketing, and its implications run deep for me (and, as you will see, will be costly, too). My clients, from individuals to hospitals and …

I just received word about an interesting contest from my colleague, Scott Jordan, the CEO of ScotteVest, an outdoor clothing company based in Colorado. If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I am the photography columnist for the ScotteVest website (you can find my columns here), although I’d been using their fine clothing long before I began writing/photography for them. I find their clothing line to be perfect for photographers, with scads of pockets to store virtually every gadget we typically use. In fact, in …

The time is upon us; the quintessential season when photographers of every stripe dust off their lenses, check their camera batteries and hit the road to capture those radiant fall colors.
Shooting Tips
Here is a small sampling of my favorite tips for capturing fall colors, borrowed from my upcoming e-Book on fall photography and condensed for this blog.
Look for Yucky Days
Contrary to popular opinion, you can capture some of the best fall images on overcast days, particularly after a rainy spell. You just have to leave out the gray sky and …

Finally, I made a decision. It wasn’t easy to do, but after investing much more money than I had originally budgeted,  and lots of time, I’ve decided to give up on 4×5 large format (LF) film photography. In fact, if you’re looking for a great deal on my equipment, all in great condition, just write me… les@lesterpickerphoto.com.
Why I Went for Large Format
I told you I’d keep you posted on this as the year – and my experiment- developed. I first got into large format because my clients often request large …

Today my 5th visit to the Yukon is over. After 24 days in this majestic land, I’m heading home on Air Canada on a route that has by now become familiar to me. I’ll process some photos, write a bit, read a good novel (right now I’m reading Eventide, the sequel to the acclaimed Plainsong by Kent Haruf)), and begin thinking about my next visit.
Take Our Workshop!
Which brings up an interesting point. Richard Hartmier (www.hartmier.com)  and I are planning a photo tour of the Yukon next summer, stretching over the …

Klondike Gold Rush fever spread through the world in 1898, bringing tens of thousands of dreamers, mostly Americans, into the harsh and frigid reality of the Yukon. Dawson City was its epicenter, but to get there those Klondikers had to endure a months-long journey against Mother Nature that was brutal beyond imagination. During its peak year, almost 90,000 people lived in and around Dawson City, where before there had been a tiny outpost and First Nations dwellers.
When the gold rush ended, gold mining by larger corporations continued until the early …

Today Richard Hartmier and I left Eagle Plains for the drive back to Dawson City. It was another long day of driving and photographing, but it seems like every turn in the road brings another spectacular vista… even the road itself.

At the northern part of our drive the Fall red colors have begun to develop.

We stopped along the Ogilvie River for what was supposed to be a quick photo session.

But one of Richard’s most trusted lenses developed a light leak, so we stayed for a while testing it to find …

There are good days and there are bad days. And then there are days like today.
The day started out poorly, as inclement weather kept us grounded until just before lunch. The skies began to clear and we sailed north along the Dempster Highway, tracking reports of grizzly bear sightings near the border with North West Territory. Along the way we stopped for some landscape images right at the Arctic Circle (click on the images to enlarge).

Proceeding north from there, we didn’t have to wait long before we sighted a gorgeous …

Well, today has been a l-o-n-g day of photography. Richard Hartmier and I spent the night at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, had a 6:00 AM breakfast and were on the road before 7 in order to get to a beaver pond by 8:30 to record their winter preparations before they went to sleep for the day.
Frustrations
That’s when we encountered our first frustration. The pond was lightly frozen over (remember, today is August 31!) with a few small holes indicating where the beavers had recently surfaced, but there were …