Les Conrad Photography

02/28/2026

The WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog race could not happen without its volunteers. Here are a few images of the volunteers working at the start line. Enjoy! Please tag and share!!!

02/28/2026

Here are a few images of the mushers loving their dogs just before they begin their run. Enjoy! Please tag and share!!!

02/28/2026

The mushers at the 2026 WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog race in Ely, MN. Enjoy! Please tag and share!!!

02/28/2026

I had the opportunity to photograph the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race in Ely, MN last Sunday, a great event looked forward to to every year by the mushers, their dogs, the volunteers and the people of Ely and northeast MN. Here are some of the dogs as their wait their turn to begin the race. Enjoy, please tag and share!

01/11/2026

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” Aristotle

11/13/2025

I missed Tuesday night's storm because of clouds. But, I went out last night and enjoyed a great aurora display. The green band started well above the horizon, you could see stars (including the big dipper) below the bottom of the aurora. Lots of red on both ends of the aurora display. I could see the red as red (probably only the 3rd time I've been able to see red with my naked eye). Photographed 11/12/2025, Superior National Forest north of Ely, MN.

10/19/2025

Last night's Aurora display was a narrow band of green on the northern horizon, UNITL, a meteor streaked right in front of my eyes. Luckily, my camera was pointing in the right direction and my shutter was open. I've photographed meteors before, but most often they end up as relatively small light streaks. This meteor covered almost half the frame. The meteor travelled from right to left, and yes, meteors are different colors. Photographed 10/18/2025, Superior National Forest, north of Ely, MN. (Sony a7rV, Zeiss Batis 18mm lens, 15 seconds, F/2.8, ISO 1600)

09/25/2025

The Ely Marathon goes right by my home on the Echo Trail. I photographed the runners and created a timelapse as well as a video of candids of the participants. Please share the links below with others!

This first video is a timelapse of all the runners in the full marathon. The video is just over 12 minutes long. You can adjust the playback speed within YouTube by clicking on the gear icon in the lower right hand corner.
https://youtu.be/vHr313SrzVU

This video is candids of the runners in the full marathon. Running time is just short of 6 minutes. Again, you can adjust the playback speed, click on the gear icon.

https://youtu.be/31dl0EUY-g8

ENJOY!

Timelapse of the 2025 Ely, MN Marathon, September 20, 2025. This video is just over 12 minutes when viewed at normal speed. YouTube allows you to choose th...

09/15/2025

The Aurora paid another visit last night. The color of the night was green, green, green. The Aurora almost filled the entire northern sky, including straight above my head. And, clouds can add some interest to the dispaly.

Fall is a great time of year to view the Aurora, it getting dark earlier in the evening, no more waiting until after 10:00pm for darkness. And, the bugs are mostly gone. Photographed 9/14/2025, Superior National Forest north of Ely, MN.

09/03/2025

The Aurora display last night was not the spectacular display everyone hoped for, (and the early numbers hinted at), but it was a beautiful display while it lasted. It started as soon as the sun went down, sunset was 7:47p, the first picture below was 8:11p. You can see some light in the sky from sunset on the far left of the image. By 9:30p I was on my way back home. Photographed 9/1/2025, Superior National Forest, north of Ely, MN.

08/04/2025

Different lake, different loons, similar learnings. Loon chicks obviously need to learn to catch fish to eat. The parent loons will still at times feed their chicks. And, you will see the chicks doing lots of other activities, mirroring their parents.

Photographed from a kayak, 600mm lens, cropped as required. Photographed 7/27/25, Superior National Forest, Ely MN area.