Stephen Johnson Photography News
February 2024
Aerial, Denali National Park. Alaska. 1988. Kodak Vericolor 120mm negative.
Welcome to the February 2024 Edition of the Stephen Johnson Photography Newsletter
Hello to my guests and subscribers. Thanks for visiting my February 2024 newsletter.
This month has been busy, it seems to have flown by. Many projects underway, a few circuitous journeys for sure, but continued fascination with past work and new experiences.
This month's View From Here column discusses my recent copying efforts of my color negatives, a Fine Art Printing class in mid-January, and a local TV story on my 50 Years of Space Photography exhibition.
My next workshop is the Point Lobos, Carmel, and Big Sur Field Photography Class on March 2–4, 2024, followed by my Digital Black and White Vision and Printing Class on April 20–21, 2024.
— Steve
As these newsletters can cover many subjects, let me know of topics you would like to see addressed.
FEATURED PRINT February 2024
Denali. Alaska. August 19, 1988. Agfapan 25. Mamiya RB67 with 250mm lens and 2X extender.
Denali from Wonder Lake. Denali National Park. Alaska. 1988.
For me, this is my classic Denali photograph. It has lived prominent in my mind for the 35 years since I made it, and lived well.
We had been at Wonder Lake Campground north of the mountain for the evening, and had not seen the mountain at all, as it was shrouded in cloud, as was typical. Near midnight, the clouds opened up and the mountain was suddenly, gloriously, visible, reaching to the sky. I stared at it, photographed, was transfixed by “the great one” for hours. I will always remember the sight.
Alaska Journal. 8/20/88
…watching the sun set and rise from Wonder Lake. After its famed shroud of clouds broke, the whole majestic reach of the mountain could be seen. Photographing was hard. The scenic images were easy and purposeless. But the design possibilities were endless. I must've stood there for hours watching the light change and the clouds drift.
I woke about three times during the night, peering out of my tent hoping to see the northern lights. Apparently I missed what display was happening. Just before six, I peeked out, and decided the sunrise merited the effort. Everything was blue and silver. Streaks of orange and yellow began to strike the east-facing snowbanks, but soon disappeared back into the morning silver.
I sat for nearly an hour watching the mountain. The camp was completely silent. I felt like mine were the only human eyes gazing up at the mountain. But there was a sound. I soon realized that I could hear the winds racing through the mountains 25 miles away. It was perfectly still where I sat gazing south, but a torrent of rushing frigid air was moving clouds in the sky around Denali, eventually covering the great one itself. It was extremely cold, but a beautiful morning.
This photograph is a film image, naturally as it is from 1988, made with my Mamiya RB67 using a 250mm lens coupled with a 2x extender. The film was a little dusty when exposed, so prints always required etching out the black dust spots. It got to the point that I no longer wanted to sell the print for all of that labor. Little did I know at the time, that a year later I would see Photoshop (then known as Barneyscan XP) for the first time, and only a few years after that, come to own a 4x5 film scanner, the Leafscan 45. I soon realized I could scan the film, remove those dust spots forever, and make a beautiful black and white digital print on my borrowed Kodak XL7700 dye sublimation printer with its black ribbon. I love those original prints, which still look great, and I guess are vintage, multiplied. I later realized that I made this photgraph on the 149th anniversary of the announcement of photography to the world.
I’m offering a 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $300, matted to approximately 16”x20”. Larger prints can be ordered. This print at this price is offered through February 29. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by March 15. The image reverts to its normal price after that, $800 for an 11x14, $1500 for a 16x20.
NEW PHOTOGRAPH February 2024
Sunset over Pacific with Looming Clouds. Mussel Rock, CA 2024
The clouds were very dramatic all day, streaking through the entire sky. I photographed at four different locations during the course of the day, each very different with its own wild geography laid into the sky. There are so many more from the day to go through, but this panoramic was an easy first pick from the day’s work.
LATEST NEWS:
Photo Chats
Most every Tuesday morning since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been doing weekly virtual Photo Chats on Zoom with groups of photo friends. They are casual, virtual get-togethers, and have created a little community, with regular sharing, guest presentations, demos, and photo feedback. Let me know if you would like to join us.
New Prints in the Gallery
There are new prints available to see in the gallery, from the spring Super Bloom to the Golden Gate Park Project to the evolving Animal Series and new selections in the discounted print bins. There is also a growing set of prints from the James Webb Space Telescope that I have not been able to resist printing and adding to the 50 Years of Space Photography exhibition.
Current Exhibitions
The current exhibitions in the gallery include 50 Years of Space Photography and Life Form—a collection I call Other Worldly.
Visiting the Gallery
My galleries and studio are open by appointment, but I am generally there 10am–5pm on weekdays. Write to inquire or call 650 355-7507 to schedule an appointment. Masks required.
Subscribe to my Blog
As I’ve mentioned in my last few newsletters, I’ve renewed more frequent postings on my blog derived from my newsletters and Facebook posts. I’m gradually moving other blog forums no longer supported to this one central place. You can view or subscribe at: https://sjohnsonphoto.wordpress.com
Virtual Classes
My virtual classes program, launched in 2020, has allowed me to reach students around the world. I remain committed to offering great courses whether in person or virtually. See what satisfying experiences students have had on my workshops by exploring Workshop Testimonials.
Virtual Mentoring
Set up time for me to help with your photographic work. Remote or in person. Mentoring Program.
Photo Chat on Stereo Photography
Stephen Johnson Photography Blog
Upcoming Events & Workshops
Emerald Wall. Breaking Waves. Pebble State Beach. Pescadero, CA. 2024.
THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson
TV, Prints & Negatives
Click to Play KNTV NBC Report on my 50 Years of Space Photography exhibition.
This month has been busy, it seems to have flown by. Many projects underway, a few circuitous journeys for sure, but continued fascination with past work and new experiences.
50 Years of Space Photography on TV
A guest at my Open House in early December was impressed by my 50 Years of Space Photography exhibition and passed along a story recommendation to KNTV Bay Area NBC television affiliate. Within few days they asked me if they could do a story on the exhibition.
KNTV photographer Jesse Landers came to the studio in early January and filmed a report and interview with me. The story aired on January 15, 2024.
Printing Workshop Thoughts
I just finished teaching a four-day printing class in my Pacifica studio, and was reminded about how rewarding it is to try to make a difference for people. I teach because I want to share and empower my students. This workshop was a good example of watching clarity and purpose grow with the students over the four days.
My emphasis in the class is to encourage taking time with printing, exercising care, deliberation, and inspection (under the same color of white as you’ve tuned into your monitor calibration white point). For me that is 6500k. And do test prints—small tests so you can see quickly if the basic approach to the print is working, making adjustments as needed, before investing even in an 8x10.
Parting ways at the end of a class frequently feels like breaking up a little family formed during the intense workshop time. It’s a good feeling though, commitment and accomplishment.
8.5x11 test prints from the class. Tom Morrill.
Printing Class Reactions
“I met Stephen Johnson 15 years ago at the Death Valley workshop on the recommendation of a friend. The workshop was incredible, and elevated my photography to new levels. I recently participated in the Fine Art Printing workshop, and he exceeded my expectations again. I now feel I have many more tools for creating images that are more accurate, true, and beautiful. He teaches in a casual way continuously asking for and giving meaningful feedback. I would recommend any of his workshops, both field and studio, without hesitation.” —Briant Smith
“I attended the Fine Art Printing Class offered by Stephen on January 20–23, 2024. The class began with an excellent overview of the digital editing techniques available to ensure you have a photo that is ready to print. Stephen then provided a detailed overview of printing technology, printer management, printer papers, and the printing process. Stephen is a natural teacher with a palpable enthusiasm for the art of printing and a clear vision for sharing his knowledge and passion. The class includes significant time to work on your images with assistance from Stephen. I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and left with both the confidence I can print the type of images I want and with a number of final prints of which I am proud. I highly recommend the Fine Art Printing Class.”—Tom Morrill
“Thanks Stephen for an amazing printing workshop. We met as a very small group for 4 full days and I came home having learned so much about photo printing along with some very fun prints. I really appreciate the time you spent with all of us individually, especially since our interests were very different. I was challenged in a positive way and now looking forward to exploring what I learned. Again thanks!” –Helga Andereck
On the Cliffs
A few more photographs from my regular evening plunge into the end-of-day, star-meets-sea work.
Stormy Skies. January 6, 2024.
Clouds and Sun. January 8, 2024.
At Stephen Johnson Photography
Archives, Color Negatives
In December and January, I headed down a path of exploring my color negative work as I pulled together work from my Western Artifacts project. It was very satisfying to get more of the project out of the file cabinets, off the proof sheets, and into the webpage on the project.
I’ve been very pleased by the prints I’ve been making along the way. These new pigment inkjet prints are so much better than the chromogenic prints I made in the 1980s. They are sharper, much more accurate in color, and should last so much longer than those Type C prints. The paper is also so much nicer, reminiscent of air-dried gelatin-silver darkroom prints, except now also in color, leaving behind the plastic color print material of the 1970s to 1990s.
As explorations seem to lead to more deep dives, the effort naturally led to more archive color negatives being pulled out of the filing cabinets, copied, and brought into my modern world digital manifestations of the work. This took me down paths of family rolls of film, and to sort through many negatives I made between between the late 1970s and the early 1990s.
Knowing there were some photographs for the Western Artifacts series from my Alaska trip in 1988, I pulled the Alaska folder and quickly found the Artifacts photos. Among those that also got my attention were a series of aerial photographs I made over Alaska’s Denali that year. The negatives were poorly proofed, looked light and excessively blue, which contributed to at least 3 rolls of film being passed over for decades. I knew the negatives were fine, and came across them many times, but the proofs were uninspiring. I remember printing some of the black-and-white images and being pleased, and scanning a few of the color slides from the trip. But now I have a quick way to digitize the negatives on my copy stand, and bring the photographs into my present-day digital photo life.
Just the day before I was writing this newsletter, I pulled the film out, 4 rolls as it turns out, and was able to sequence the rolls, which gives me great incentive to copy them all, see the progression, and look for gems. The exact date of the flight came from my journal.
Alaska Journal. 8/20/88
Denali! Denali! The Great One rising out of the plain. The Great one who speaks with the morning winds…a giant thrust skyward of eternal ice.
Flying above its glaciers two days ago was truly amazing. Swirls and sheets of ice, rock and sky moved below us. At 12,000 feet Denali itself still loomed a mile and a half above.
Garlock Road. Inyo County. circa 1984. 4x5 Kodak Vericolor negative.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Alaska. 1988. 120mm Kodak Vericolor negative.
Aerial, Denali National Park. Alaska. August 18, 1988. Mamiya RB67 120mm Kodak Vericolor negative.
My Negative Copy Process
I’m copying the color negatives with my Canon R5 with a 100mm Canon EF lens or my Fuji GFX100s with its 140mm Marco lens. The camera is on my copy stand, pointing down at the negative sitting on an LED light box. I use a level to make sure the camera is parallel to the copying surface and magnified live view to focus on the film grain. The room lights are out.
Light Source: The color of the light illuminating the film is critical to drawing out of the original film the color it contains. If a full spectrum is present, I’m far more likely to get a good representation of the color in the image. I’ve been experimenting for years with copy lights, hot and cold, tungsten to compact fluorescent, now to LED. As is not surprising, the burning filament of the old tungsten bulbs provided the fullest spectrum compared with the sun. As the light sources do not carry all of the heat that the old bulbs do, most recently I’ve been working with some inexpensive light tablets, from a Kodak branded one to various “never heard of” brands. Here are a few plots from the old Gretag Eye-One Share software, with the black line above the red spectral plot being daylight and color temperature.
I take the raw file from these cameras into Adobe Lightroom with the Negative Lab Pro plug-in (as it only works in Lightroom) to process the raw file into a positive with the orange mask removed and approximate color balance. I would prefer to use Adobe Bridge/Adobe Camera Raw as I really don’t care for Lightroom—its dark interface or being forced to import files to work on them among many reasons. Lightroom just makes for more work for me. The plug-in does a reasonable job of the conversion, but not prefect. I’ve also been running into a very curious yellow color surge in some of the negatives that I’m still trying to track down. I’m beginning to suspect it is a barely perceptible yellowing on the airplanes acrylic window edges being exaggerated by the conversion process. The ice aerials have presented some particular problems with tone and color that needs to be worked on, but I couldn’t resist showing a few as works in progress.
This a very much an ongoing process.
Kodak Pad
MLife pad
Virtual Educational Experiences
Steve in his Life Form Gallery. February 2021.
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.
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)
The 50 Years of Space Photography Gallery with the five extra Apollo 11 prints.
Check out my 50 years of Space Photography Exhibition joining with my Life Form Exhibition as Other Worldly for a mind-blowing journey from the living world close-up to the depths of space. Space and awesome life! A dive into cosmic extremes. Email to book an appointment.
In front of the Apollo 14 Panoramic, 3rd Graders from Ocean Shore School in Pacifica visiting the Space Exhibit. 2019. Photo by Sheila Gamble.
Life Form Exhibition
Life Form Announcement. 2018
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
As part of my ongoing commitment to photographic education, there is one student scholarship spot in many of my classes. Please pass the word along.
For discounted time studying with me, keep in mind my Mentoring Program.
With all of our busy schedules and limited budgets, destination workshops or classes become a challenge, but many of you still have questions you need answered, or feedback on some new work. I want to remind you of my Virtual Online Consulting Program. This service allows all of you out there around the globe to consult online live on technical, aesthetic and workflow issues.
My Essays and Tutorials from the past couple of years can now be found on my Newsletter Archive.
I hope you can come by the gallery and see the original prints in the new Life Form Gallery and its new Life Form Portfolio, the Exquisite Earth exhibition with its accompanying very special Exquisite Earth Portfolio 1. I invite you to join me on a workshop, rent lab space, or just say hello and let me know what you are up to photographically and what you might like to see me offer. I value your input.
Print Mentor Program
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.
Free and For Sale
Free Stuff (a few items still left)
I have been printing out nice copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights on rich cotton paper. You are welcome to a copy when you can come by the gallery.
Additionally, I rescued a few Beseler Enlargers, a 23c and 4x5, hoping to find good homes for them. Free to anyone who will use them.
Equipment for Sale
Previously owned, but pristine, visually unused.
Canon Lenses
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM lens $400
Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM Lens $375
Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM Lens $550
Gift Certificates Available for Prints and Workshops!
2023 Print On Demand Book Projects
I finished new three new books in 2023. My new Water book launched last winter, and the new Cliffside Peregrines and Fauna books were finished at the end of the year.
I sold out of the first run of the Fauna book and have reordered all three of the new books for the studio stock. The purchase links here go to my printer Magcloud, where you can order them directly.
Each book cover image will click to the order page.
Water book cover.
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
Life Form Folio
The Life Form Folio
When I premiered the Life Form Exhibition, I wanted to have a collectible item and record of the show prior to the full book I plan. So, now available is the 36-page, 11x17-inch, wire-bound book, featuring five years of work from 2013 to 2018 exploring these magnificent lives.
Photographs from 2013–2018
36 pages
11x17-inch wire-bound book
$40
Pacifica: A Photographic Portrait of Land and Sea
Page 7
Page 27
A collection of photographs in and around Pacifica, California. Includes a trail map.
74 pages
11x17-inch, wire-bound book for full lay-flat opening and enjoyment
Pacifica Trail Map
32 years in Pacifica
drawn from 10 years of calendars
$50
Gift Certificates for Prints and Workshops!
Emailed or shipped with beautiful gift note card.
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After a few years of working intensely on my Urban Eden Golden Gate Park project, I am excited to offer a two-day photographic workshop in this complex and beautiful landscape. Now 150 years old, this park symbolizes parkland engineering and the earth itself taking its own course of life and fecundity. The park will be explored over two days with a blend of photographic opportunity, assistance, and my growing knowledge of its own back woods. This springtime weekday workshop will avoid some of the weekend crowds.