Dawson City, Yukon, is like an itch under your skin. No matter how much you scratch, it’s always there. That’s how Dawson City is for me. I love this whacky, unpaved, raw hole in the wilderness, where the people are real and the frontier mentality is alive and well. When I’m gone for any appreciable time, I think of it and its zany character.

Dawson City was built nearly overnight, at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush. During its heyday in 1898, Dawson had more than 40,000 people, every one …

To call the Yukon Quest merely a dogsled race is akin to calling the Superbowl just another football game. The Quest is the penultimate showdown, a grueling match of dogs and man (or woman) against whatever nature can conjure up on its worst day. It is a 1,000 mile long endurance test of man and beast.
Make no mistake about it; every musher and every dog is a finely tuned athlete, melded into a team that, if all goes well, functions seamlessly. These are working dogs in every sense of 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 …

I’m currently doing some preliminary research for a proposed photographic workshop I’ll be leading to Egypt in November, 2012. Egypt is one of the most photogenic places on Earth, not just for its antiquities, but for its warm and friendly people. I have been to Egypt several times in my career and I find that I can never get enough of it.
In any event, in putting together an itinerary that I think photographers would enjoy and that would add high impact images to their portfolio, I knew that it would …

Folks, I’ve been saying it for years and now it’s official:
AIR CANADA VOTED TOP HONOURS BY READERS OF BUSINESS TRAVELER MAGAZINE

Best Flight Attendants in North America
Best In-Flight Services in North America
Best North American Airline for Business Class Service
Best North American Airline for International Travel
Best Airline Web Site

I’m not professing to know about business travel, since I fly cattle-car within North American destinations. But I have been saying in my blogs that even in Economy, it’s hard to beat Air Canada.

Air Canada seat-back unit (file photo)

One of my favorite features …

I just completed my 10th cruise, this time aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas, a beautifully designed, if slightly older vessel. I teach photography aboard these floating hotels and have sailed aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess, too.
My Cruise Experience
Ten trips does not make me a cruise expert, especially since I regularly meet people with 30, 50 and more cruises under their belts (and we’ll get to what else is under those belts in a moment). But I do figure that my cruise experiences, coupled with the fact that …

As I mentioned in a previous blog (http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2010/11/28/te-anau-new-zealand/), Te Anau is a wonderful small town situated on the shores of Lake Te Anau. It is blessed to sit on the eastern side of the mountain chain that affords it protection from the winds and storms that blow in from the Tasmanian Sea.
It’s hard for me to absorb the following statistics: rainfall in the foothills on the southeast side of Lake  Manapouri, just east of the mountain range averages about 1 meter (39 inches) a year. That’s a reasonable amount of …

There is a village in this small corner of Vanuatu, Fiji where several years ago a group of indigenous Fijians came together to discuss a plague that threatened to destroy them. Their children were being abducted by corporate marketers hawking products irrelevant to their preferred way of life. Their people were abandoning centuries old values, ones that uniquely defined them. In short, they were in danger of losing their culture, yet another victim of the relentless spread of western consumerism.
They talked, they debated and they listened as a community, and …

Since I’ve been a child, I imagined being in New Zealand. When I watched Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, spellbound, the child within was awakened. And so, here I am. No book, no documentary, indeed not even The Lord of the Rings, could have prepared me for the reality of New Zealand. It is stunning, the penultimate eye candy, an unending visual spectacle that boggles the mind.
From Christchurch to Fiordland
We left Christchurch (see http://blog.lesterpickerphoto.com/2010/11/20/alive-and-well-in-christchurch/) heading toward Fiordland National Park, on a mission to scout out the South Island for our …

Once in a while I’m blessed with a wonderful surprise as a travel photojournalist. I get to visit a place for which I had no expectations, but which brings forth hidden jewels. That was the case when I visited Lifou, one of the Loyalty Islands in the archipelago of New Caledonia.
New Caledonia: A New Future
New Caledonia is currently a French protectorate, but is slated for a vote on independence in 2014. Recognizing that its future economy will, in large part, depend on tourism, the island group is busily preparing. Even …