I was visiting my daughter and 3 grandchildren in Vermont’s Northern Kingdom this past week. The weather was atrocious, not for the cold, but for the fact that an unusually warm couple of days produced rain instead of snow and washed all the snow from the trees. Man, was I bummed! There went my pre-visualization of a snowy stream.
On my last day I had aborted a trek to a beaver pond when I stepped into a marsh and broke through the ice, filling my boot with ice-cold water and marsh …

Boredom is good! The interstitial seasonitis doldrums have started, that dreadful time for photographers where we are still blinded by Fall’s colors and the snows of winter have yet to fly. Oh, the boredom, the insatiable itchy trigger finger!
Well, you can relieve that boredom with Les Picker’s tried-and-true doldrums destroyer. It’s called an aquarium. Not just any aquarium, but a dry aquarium, aka a terrarium. Here’s what I mean.
Buy a used aquarium (5-10 gallons should suffice) at a yard sale. If one side or other is cracked, so much the …

Here’s wishing all of you loyal readers a wonderful, warm and loving Holiday season.

And may 2012 bring you good health, travel to exciting places, and 5-star images captured by your own hand.

[image title="_LAP3652 (3)" size="full" id="1848" align="none" linkto="full" ]
Les
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I’ve been visiting global cold weather spots for many years and there is no question in my mind that climate change is occurring. From melting permafrost to retreating glaciers, I see this every time I venture north.
I am not taking sides on how much is human-induced and how much is naturally occurring. From the data I have seen so far, I am convinced that human activity has accelerated this process. But I also believe that more research is needed on this vital issue that will affect humanity and our natural …

I guess it was bound to happen. After years of pounding the trails with a 30-lb camera pack on my back, several months ago I developed Plantar fasciitis. It’s now been 4 months of treatment including two rounds of cortisone injections, icing the affected area, anti-inflammatory meds and $550 worth of orthotics and I’m still in pain. I just left the podiatrist’s office today and will now begin a 6-week try at physical therapy before we go to DEFCON 6, which I understand to be a radical therapy involving beating …

I continue to test out my Hasselblad H4D-50 as I prepare for a major installation of my work in a Baltimore teaching hospital. Part of that installation will involve taking images of iconic Baltimore scenes, a process that Bob (my associate) and I have already begun. Whenever the weather is nice we run down to Baltimore and grab some shots, each time hopefully ticking off another site from our lengthy list.
Here are a few images taken with the Hassy, along with some background info for those of you who might …

If you are interested, here is a link to a feature travel article I wrote and photographed for The Baltimore Sun. It recaps a trip I took this summer with 5 of my closest friends. Be sure to check out the images that accompany the story.

I hope you enjoy the article. Comments always welcome.
Les
http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/bs-tr-yukon-trip-20111201,0,410319.story
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My recent addition of a Hasselblad H4D-50 camera system to my trusty Nikon system may have been a good move photographically (see my Hassy review:  http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2011/11/29/review-of-the-hasselblad-h4d-50/), but as far as my back goes, not so much.
I realized that trying to cart around a full Hassy system, or a few Hassy components in addition to my Nikon equipment, would be a chiropractic nightmare using my existing backpacks, none of which has the profusion of modern high tech design elements. Plus, neither my ThinkTank Rotation 360, nor any of my other LowePro …