Posts by Ed Leckert

Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, as unlikely as it might seem at first, it really does exist after all! I'm talking about the aurora borealis. The Northern Lights. Those funny green (usually) lights that show up around the north magnetic pole. Don't know about the aurora australis down south - haven't seen those, yet. They may be a myth. I'll have to check on that some other time. But here in the north, they're real!

Yellowknife. That's in Washington, right? No, wait! Don't tell me! It's that national park over in, is it Wyoming? No, that's Yellowstone. Well, where the hell is Yellowknife, anyway? And why would you want to go there?

Here's something to get excited about! Large canvas prints from 16" x 20" and up are on sale now, up to 66% off for the wall-filling 30" x 40" giant. That's HUGE, in more ways than one!

Yes, taxes. That's the one thing I dislike about this time of year. Beautiful flowers are coming out everywhere, the weather is getting nice, and dang-it all if we don't have to get all mired up in taxes when we should be out hiking or something.

For the first time this year I actually had to open a window in my office to cool it down while I worked. April is finally here, and in Washington State that means it's tulip time! I hear there is a little country in Europe that also gets excited about tulips, but the real celebration is here in Skagit County!

Well, Spring has officially arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and the weather here in Western Washington, just to show that it can sometimes behave itself, was sunny and warm, with highs that topped out in the 70s in some areas. Yeah, that won't last. It will start raining again tomorrow and won't stop until July 5th.

Oh, wow, that was fun! St. Patrick’s day can be so much fun if you’re with the right group of Irish, semi-Irish, or pretend Irish friends! And tonight was one of those nights. But alas, the blog beckons, so here I am, back at the keyboard. And it’s all good. It’s been over a week […]

You couldn't help but notice Getty Images all over the news last week. For the first time in history, industry leader Getty Images has said it is OK to use its images for free - under certain conditions.

Well, I certainly didn't see that coming. All this time I've been trying to show you images of beautiful landscapes from around the world, and it turns out that what you really want to see is pictures of me with hair. I have no idea why. To make dartboards? Win a bet with your friends? Have a good laugh?

OK, this week I'm just having some fun. I admit it. Sometimes you just have to let your hair down. And I know what you're thinking. "That would be great, Ed, if you actually had any hair." Well, watch and learn.

Lighthouses are cool! Admit it. Every time you see a lighthouse, you're drawn to it. Whether you want to climb to the top to see the view or if anybody's up there, or to learn its history and hear its stories, or just to photograph it, you can't help yourself. There's something magical about a lighthouse.

If you, like millions of others, suffer from VDSS (Valentine's Day Stress Syndrome), you're probably just realizing as you read this that Valentine's Day is coming up this week, and you haven't done a thing about it. With or without a significant other, Valentine's Day can stress out even the toughest among us, so don't feel like you're alone. So what to do about it? Well, I can't help you with that dinner reservation that you should have made some time before Thanksgiving, but I can suggest a fun event for those living in or near Seattle.

Death Valley. Sounds enticing, doesn't it? Do I have to die if I go there or can I just see all the dead stuff that's already there and leave quickly? Maybe head over to Vegas. I hear it's nearby.

OK, you asked for it! Due to popular demand, I now offer all of my images as Canvas Prints.

Everybody likes waterfalls! Hikers make a destination of them, tourists flock to them with camera phones ready, and daredevils go over them in barrels or rafts. And photographers, we always try to get a unique view of that famous iconic location that's been photographed millions of times before, which of course is almost impossible to do. But we try anyway.

In the world of photography, as well as just about anything in life that's worth doing, sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get the job done. And if that extra mile happens to be in dead of night on a lonely trail, well, that's just the price we sometimes have to pay to fulfill our passion!

You know it's going to be an interesting day when you wake up to a power outage caused by the high winds of an Arctic winter storm, and when power is restored to the house and well pump, you realize you still don't have water pressure because the pipes are now frozen.

Dad hated New Years Eve. He hated New Years Eve for the same reason he hated July 4th. My father was an ophthalmologist, essentially an eye surgeon, and it seemed like he was always on call on those holidays. And Dad would cringe every time the phone rang, because he know what it probably meant.

I think there's something to be said for trying to live every day to the fullest, or to live each day as if it's your last, or however you want to put it. Just don't waste it. Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Holiday shopping is in full swing, and Christmas will be here before you know it, so I thought it only fair to warn you that time is running out to get your orders in.