Hello. My name is Les Picker and I’ve never been to Yellowstone. There, I said it! This is like AA for a landscape photographer like me. For 20 years Yellowstone National Park naturally comes up in conversations with my colleagues and I have to say I’ve never been.
“You’ve never been to Yellowstone?” they’ll ask, wide-eyed, all the while backing away as if I have a communicable disease.
It’s not that I never wanted to go. Honest. It’s been on my must-see list for years. It’s just that life gets in the …

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 …

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 …

There are many things wonderful about Albuquerque, from its central New Mexico location to its fine restaurants, museums and outdoor activities. As a landscape photographer, I’d say that I most enjoy the myriad stunning vistas that are in or within an hour or two of Albuquerque’s center. Since one of my photographic goals this year is to expand my panorama skills, what better place to test out new techniques than the southwest?
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
I visited one of these sites last week, the incredible Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, …

I was reviewing some images this week in preparation for a presentation on my photography, when I came across this image. It sparked a memory that I’d like to share with you.

Banff National Park

I took this image at approximately an hour after sunset at the end of September in Banff National Park in Canada. (Please click on the image to enlarge it).
The other photographers I was with had packed up their gear at or shortly after sunset. Since it had just snowed and the meadow was so magically covered, I …