My Newest E-Book Is Here!
I’m really excited to announce that the newest eBook in The Photographer’s Eye series is now available. Titled Wildlife, the eBook takes you behind the scenes as I explain the how, why and technical challenges I faced for ten selected images I have taken of wildlife over the years.
Following on the heels of my first two eBooks, Landscapes 1 & People, the newest addition describes in detail the process I went through to take images of wildlife that my editors and clients have loved. You’ll learn …

(Part of a series on Finland)
One of the activities I looked forward to the most while in Finland was a two-day dog-sledding adventure, taking off from the Harriniva Holiday Centre, about 45 minutes out of Kittela. In turn, Kittela is a 90-minute plane ride from Helsinki, so it’s a fair bit of effort to get to this region, located well inside the Arctic Circle.
Harraniva
Harraniva is a multi-purpose, multi-season resort run by the grandchildren of the family that founded it in 1973. As such, it boasts a true home-style atmosphere. At …

Where else but in Finland would you find this at an airport cafe?
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Visit Finland in winter and you’ll get an idea of why Finns are rated amongst the healthiest people on the planet. No, it has nothing to do with their admittedly excellent health care system, in my opinion. Here are my top reasons, in order of… nothing.
Clothing. If you wore 17 layers of clothes every day just to go from your house to Helsinki’s wonderful bus or trolley system, you’d burn calories faster than a mouse on a treadmill. In Lapland, it’s 26 layers and waddling is a proven calorie-burner.
Walking. Finns …

During my stay here in Finland, the weather has been, shall I say, uncooperative… photographically, that is. The skiers are in heaven, since a lot of snow has fallen. However, for me the weather has been mostly overcast and snowy, limiting my photographic possibilities.
I’ve only had two days of decent or partially decent weather, but oh, were they grand! One evening the skies put on a show-of-shows. Right before dinner, starting at around 5:30 PM, a colleague and I rushed outside as the Aurora Borealis began to form. Here is …

I figure this is something you do once, just to get it out of your system. If you think about coming back again, I’ll recommend my step-son, who is a terrific psychoanalyst.
Here’s the concept. You get to sleep in an unheated building carved from pure ice and resurrected every year anew, so that in no way is the hotel the same every year. You sleep on a bed made of ice. Simple, eh? Think sleeping in your freezer. And I’ll bet you thought travel journalism is all fun and games.
The …

Just today I received a wonderful email from a man I just happened to run into a few months back in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. I was busily photographing the glorious rock formations in this jewel of a park, when a man approached me and told me I looked remarkably like Ansel Adams, hunched over my camera as I was.
How to take that comment? I was flattered beyond words, hoping that he did not mean that I looked half-dead. But this man, Bob Stowe, was in town …

This weekend I leave for a week-long assignment in Finland. I’ll mostly be in Lapland, but I’ll also have a couple of days in Helsinki, too. Despite winter temps around -15F in Lapland, I’m really looking forward to this trip. Crazy as it is, I love the frigid far north in winter. Its ethereal beauty is hard to explain and if you’re not into extreme cold it’s even harder to understand.
One of the things I have planned is a two-day dogsled safari. For those of you who have followed my …

If you’re a photographer, listen up! Do I have a deal for you!!
To help celebrate Photographers’ Month at my favorite outdoor clothing website— ScotteVest — I’m giving away a brand new Classic ScotteVest to one of our blog visitors! Just be sure to enter by February 29. Winners will be announced on March 1.
UPDATE: The contest is ending soon, folks, so enter your best few images ASAP! There are two main prizes (and who knows what else might be in store for you brave entrants?).
The Classic ScotteVest
Why should you want …