Stephen Johnson Photography News

December 2023

Hello to my guests and subscribers. Thanks for visiting my December 2023 newsletter.

This month's View From Here column features my two new books, Fauna and Cliffside Peregrines, with more studies of the sky above the sea and coastal explorations.

My next workshop is the January 20–23, 2024 Masterful Fine Art Printing 4-day, in-studio workshop. Death Valley in Winter follows that class on January 27–30, 2024, and the Yosemite in Winter class on February 2–4, 2024.

Our 2023 Holiday Open House is December 9–10, 11am–5pm at the studio in Pacifica, California.

— Steve

As these newsletters can cover many subjects, let me know of topics you would like to see addressed.

Looming Cloud, Sea and Cliffs. 2023.

The sweep of panoramic space is often breathtaking. Now that our smartphone cameras have panoramic features, the view can be held without much effort. Most of these features require turning the camera/phone to pan across the desired view. I find it very hard to not waver a little on the vertical axis as I rotate the cam/phone and keep the horizon straight. I loved this photograph, but had to put in a fair amount of work to de-warp the horizon. Using Photoshop’s Transform Warp and Distort, plus used Generate artificial intelligence (AI) to straighten a little carefully selected area in a section near the sun. That little routine took the most time, trying to use AI to simply generate a straighter version of what had been distorted by my camera movement without introducing what felt like faked results. The editing, with AI playing a small role at the last step, rescued my rotation irregularities.

It is interesting that in this case, after anticipating the horizon warp problem, I did a set of stills intended to be stitched with my Canon camera. They stitched just fine, without the warping, but lacked some of the magic the iPhone pano captured a minute or two before, including missing the dramatic curve of the approaching waves.

I’m offering a 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $195, matted to approximately 16”x20”. This print at this price is offered through December 31. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by January 15.

Contrail and Iridescent Clouds. 2023

I was following this jet moving toward the rainbowed clouds. As it got near the clouds, the images seemed almost sculptural in its arrangement of form.

2023 Holiday Open House

Come and join me on December 9th or 10th from 11am to 5pm for our Holiday Open House.

Projects Lectures

• Fauna and Falcons: 2pm Saturday

• Golden Gate Park Project: 2pm Sunday

Weekend-only Open House specials:

• 25% discount on all of my hand-crafted, fine-art prints

• Complimentary high-quality posters from my National Park project

• Raffle for one 11”x14” original print: 4pm Sunday

THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson

Being Along the Coast, New Books and Open House

I get out to the cliffs of my seaside town these days more often than out on the road. This gives me satisfaction, but also encourages trips into the greater expanses of California. January/February is my month for Death Valley, Yosemite, and the California desert with 2024 promising some more distant adventures.

The Pacifica Center for the Arts is hosting a Winter Art Faire and invited me to be a part of it, so I have made it a Holiday Open House. While getting ready for that Holiday Open House, there are a number of projects I have completed for the event including finishing two books that had been in prototype stage for quite some time. I am revamping my print bin photographs that have needed organizing—clearer bags and labeling. The books arrive this week, and the supplies to make the bin prints ready to purchase and take with you should be here in time for the Open House. Here’s to a busy week of prep!

New Print On Demand Book Projects

Seeing individual photographs gradually evolve into a body of work naturally then compels me to get the work into a form that can be seen and appreciated. Most often these days that means gathering photos into a web gallery. As I build body of work, first comes interpreted files for the web that start to make an impression and from those galleries, some stand out and get made into proof prints, which build toward a set of more serious prints that can become an exhibition. A printed book following those prints is the most frequently collected example of my work.

Such was the case earlier this year with my new Water book, launched in the winter of 2023, and now the new Cliffside Peregrines and Fauna books. These book projects typically evolve from a casual idea explored using web-sized images just to see what might be, then printed into a prototype for an assessment of the sequencing, writing, and printing. Sometimes these prototypes can sit for a long time after an initial copy is ordered, needing attention, but getting lost in the many priorities of new experiences, new work, and the day-to-day tasks of lectures, teaching, editing, and printing.

With my 2023 Holiday Open House coming up, and a discount at my POD Printer (Magcloud), now was the time to finish up these two new books being offered here for the first time.

Along the Coast

A few photographs from my Highway One Coastal Sojourn Workshop last weekend.

On the Cliffs

Virtual Educational Experiences

Virtual Classes and Lectures, online live classes on various topics with limited space and Q&A sessions, are now a regular part of my workshop program. Critiques are now virtual.

Virtual Mentoring/Consulting

Existing Online Tutorials

Photo Chats

I’ve been doing weekly virtual Photo Chats with groups of photo friends to keep everyone encouraged to keep working, creating a forum to share and problem-solve. I’ve now built a webpage on the chats. Let me know if you would like to join us.

Come Visit the Exhibitions (masked visits by appointment)

Life Form Exhibition

Life Form opened in the Main Gallery at Stephen Johnson Photography in July 2018. I’ve had many visitors come by the gallery since the opening. Many have then joined workshops and certainly helped build community. Come see the show by appointment.

Seeking Good Venues for Life Form

I’m seeking good venues to show the Life Form Series. The series is now available for museum and gallery exhibition.

The Studio, Scholarships, Mentoring and Tutorials

Many of my mentoring students have wanted help with their printing, often to make sure they can produce a specific print. Consequently, my Print Mentoring Program sets up a 2-hour time slot and the production of a finished print, all with the tutorial video of how we did it together. Prints can be up to 16x20 and on either Hahnemühle Museum Etching or Photo Rag Pearl paper. Fee is $500. Email for more information and to set up times. 

Gift Certificates Available for Prints and Workshops!

Water: A Photographic Portrait

My new book Water: A Photographic Portrait, now available to order.

• 88 pages of color and black and white photographs

• 11x17 inches

• Wire bound for completely flat enjoyment