Stephen Johnson Photography News
June 2022
Parade of Clouds over Midwest America. 2022.
Upcoming Workshops:
Mono Lake in Autumn
October 13-16, 2022
Welcome to the June 2022 Edition of the Stephen Johnson Photography Newsletter.
I’m at Mono Lake as I’m about to send out this Newsletter. Coming through Yosemite today, seeing some of my favorite places along the way gave me a real emotional boost. Here at Mono Lake, heavy winds and a dramatic sky with a 3/4 moon immersed me again in the real Earth, rather than human-made trajedy.
The last few weeks have been hard. These mass shootings have brought us all into a very dark place. It overwhelms our understanding of what humans can do to one another. A visit to my two little 1 year old precious grandsons helped pull me back. Those boys are pure love and innocence. I’m looking forward to some restorative trips over the next few days, including Yosemite and Mono Lake.
Of course, this recent gun violence here in the United State comes on top of Putin’s war on Ukraine. It is a lot to take in. Some organizations helping the people of Ukraine can be found here. I will be continuing to offer to donate 100% of the Featured Print purchases, during June as well, to these organizations helping Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis.
— Steve
This month's View From Here column explores recent photographs from a few trips during April through June. My Virtual Classes are continuing with Photoshop for Photographers: Starting Up, Getting Comfortable and Being Empowered July 9, 2022. I’m looking forward to my return to Mono Lake in October for the Mono Lake in Autumn Workshop October 13-16, 2022.
As I mentioned in the last few Newsletters, a few big framed original finished prints have become available. My most recent print set is Many Views: Twenty Photographs, emerging from 18 months of work during very challenging pandemic times, is available for order.
I hope you find the column interesting and will consider sending me some comments. As these Newsletters can cover many subjects, let me know of topics you would like to see addressed.
Workshops are currently balanced between virtual classes and field workshops. All workshops currently scheduled are subject to necessary corona virus spread prevention logistics.
FEATURED PRINT June 2022
Magnolias. Capitol Hill. Washington DC. 2022
It was very comforting to find these beautiful magnolia blossoms next to the US Capitol and having just walked away from the US Supreme Court. Their bloom is so large, their beauty and scent so special, that it lifted my spirits. They were swaying in the breeze making a small aperture very hard, so I did a quick focus-stack to get both flowers in focus. They were not pristine, but perfect in their own very real way, echoing the wabi sabi comment made many years ago about my Life Form work, embracing the real.
Visit my blog: https://sjohnsonphoto.wordpress.com
I’m offering an 11x14 inch print of this photograph for $195, matted to 16x20 inch board. This print at this price is offered through June 30. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by July 15.
I will be donating 100% of the proceeds from an unmatted version of this June 2022 Featured Print to these organizations helping Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis.
NEW PHOTOGRAPH June 2022
Cloud Swirls near Yosemite. 2022
On the way to a friend’s memorial in Yosemite, I noticed ever more complex and sensuous cloud formations. Feeling a little pressed for time as entered the Central Valley, I simply enjoyed the view and kept driving despite my desire to stop and photograph. The clouds kept my attention as I drove into the Sierra foothills and I finally succumbed to the temptation to stop near the NW entrance to Yosemite. The swirls of clouds reminded me of Jupiter’s clouds, only without the color.
LATEST NEWS:
I’ve been spending more and more time at the studio and less working from my home office. People are visiting more and more, still masked of course. Please set up a time to come by and walk through the galleries together.
Gallery Appointments
The gallery is now open to masked/distanced appointments. Please come visit us!. Write to inquire or call 650 355-7507 about a virus cautious appointment.
Blog Restarted and Growing: Subscribe
As I have mentioned in my last few Newsletters, I have renewed more frequent postings on my Blog derived from my Newsletters and Facebooks posts. I am 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
During the virus, I naturally shifted most of my education programs to online experiences. This was frustrating and rewarding. The new virtual experiences certainly stretched out my geographical reach. I have been very pleased by our Virtual Classes Program.
My 2022 Workshop Schedule continues to evolve to accommodate the virus precautions and very limited ability to gather indoors. Now that the vaccine is so available it is a prerequisite for any in-person class.
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.
Stephen Johnson Photography Blog.
Workshop Recap
The 2022 Workshop Schedule continues to evolve. My next Virtual Class is Photoshop for Photographers: Starting Up, Getting Comfortable and Being Empowered June 18, 2022. I’m looking forward to my return to Mono Lake in October for the Mono Lake in Autumn Workshop October 13-16, 2022.
See what a great experience students have had on Steve's Workshops by exploring Workshop Testimonials.
Current Exhibitions
Other Worldly is the name I’ve given to the two current exhibitions, 50 Years of Space Photography Exhibit and Life Form. Now that we are open for visits by appointment (socially distanced, masked and limited to two people) please set up a time to come by. I hope to be able to open the galleries to general visitation in the not too distant future so you can see what is on display at Stephen Johnson Photography.
Upcoming Events & Workshops
Rainbow Over Lee Vining Canyon East of Yosemite. CA. 2022.
THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson
Seeking Comprehension and Insight
I keep running a narrative in my mind that the refuge of the natural world, the native planet Earth, is ultimately the reality I need need to sustain me.
War and mass murder could easily define our time right now. But I can’t let it define the state of my soul. I have to see the beauty that runs counter to those dark realities. Photography has long given me a place to concentrate my Earth wonder and celebration of the privilege of being alive on this precious planet. Photography has given me a means of working against pervasive darkness.
The fact that photography captures light makes it an easy metaphor for light over darkness. But as is often the case, it is not that simple. Photography also can be about fleeting or faint light emerging out of darkness. And modern photography is often dominated by darkness which reads to me as a comment on the times. It seems I’ve spent a lifetime concentrating on light and the light-filled color of pastels. Perhaps my photographic style is a battle against darkness.
Our aesthetics are all different, and our individual tastes can be very broad. I know mine is. There are so many things I see, and so many quickly evolving light changes, that I never know what photographs I might make tomorrow. I never know where the seduction will lead.
I’m in Washington DC as I write this. I’m planning on going to the Supreme Court tomorrow. I am expecting tall fence barricades and possibly some protestors against the impending overturn of Roe v Wade. I might join in. I might just witness. I have no idea what the day might bring.
I like my broad range of photographic interests. It can also make my work hard to pin down, or broadly describe. The sheer beauty of the Earth will always seduce me, However, opportunities for social commentary are always on my visual radar.
A Post to Vent Anguish
I needed to say something about the school shooting in Texas. I chose my personal page on Facebook to do so. I thought it needed an image. A distressed flag I photographed some years ago came to mind. I inverted it to indicate emergency, and used an old Photoshop Warp filter to further degrade the image. It seemed to fit.
The Uvalde Texas school shooting is a horrible tragedy, but it is so much worse than that. More profoundly it is a murderous attack on innocent children and teachers that terrorized their last moments of life, causing terrible searing pain, leaving their bodies maimed, shattering survivors lives. This is pure evil. Evil on top of evil in Buffalo, NY only 10 days before. There are many villains here, the pathetic evil shooter, the makers of these guns of war for consumers, the politicians who take money from the NRA then run and hide behind "thoughts and prayers," citizens that cry protect the 2nd amendment at all costs while children are slaughtered. The blood is spiritually on many hands. Background checks, red-flag laws, social media red alerts, an assault weapons ban, there are many sensible steps that could help. Rejecting violence in “entertainment.” Striving for non-violence across our lives.
A Trip East and a Morning in our Nation’s Capitol
Barricaded. United States Supreme Court. June 1, 2022.
I try to transform any trip, for any reason, into a photographic exploration. Particularly now, as travel has very real Covid implications, it is important to explore where I can, when I’m already out and about. I knew I wanted to go back east to see my new grandsons again, and I also built into the trip a day and a half in and around Washington DC. I deeply love my grandsons. They also represent hope, possibility, literally new life and emerging personalities.
I was having trouble feeling that hope walking around DC. Consequently part of my agenda became a visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial for the first time. Visiting the MLK Memorial brought hope and great sadness. His 1963 “I Have Dream” speech took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a very short walk away.
I spend time in DC when I can. I’ve loved the experience of believing in our aspirations and recognizing our challenges. From the Vietnam War Memorial, to the National Archives with the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, I can feel the surge of pride in my country and the shame of its many failures. My visits changed after 9/11. I began to doubt our longevity, carried a deep sense of our vulnerability and our lost vision. That deepened considerably during Trump.
So much has challenged my hope, the damned Covid virus, potential Supreme Court decisions, continued inaction by Congress as mass shootings escalate, and congressional deadlock on fundamental threats to our democracy. I look for visual evidence of these conditions. I often find them.
Overview. Martin Luther King Memorial. Washington DC. 2022.
Martin Luther King Memorial and Clouds. Washington DC. 2022.
Tree and Potomac River from parallel Canal Trail overlook. 2022.
A Walk Along the C&O Canal
Thanks to my good friend Dan Pence, I had an opportunity to walk along the C&O Canal (Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park) beside the Potomac River.
Construction on the canal started in 1828, it began operating in 1831 and was completed in 1850. The canal operated for more than 100 years. Railroads were eventually its biggest competition.
The canal was one of the first big civil engineering projects undertaken in the young United States, providing barge trade links for coal, lumber, and agricultural products from what was then referred to as the western states. 184 miles of the canal is now preserved in the National Historic Park.
It was a nice walk.
Forest. C&O Canal. Maryland. 2022.
Side Channel on Bear Island near Widewater connecting to the Potomac River. C&O Canal. Maryland. 2022.
I was not prepared for an outing in the heat and sun at the C&O Canal. I’ve always got my hat and sunscreen, I had neither on this trip. It made the walk harder, but the rich shade of the forested side trails did keep pulling me in and provided the physical shelter that such side paths have always provided emotionally.
The contrast of the open sun and deep shade did provide some technical and contrast challenges. I did a few handheld HDR exposure sets, and that helped, Although technically hard to record the range of illumination before me, it was still enjoyable to wander and explore. Sometimes the complexity of what I see is part of the intrigue. It is certainly part of the challenge.
Tree Hugging for Holly. 2022. Photo by Dan Pence.
Tree and Side Channel. C&O Canal. Washington DC. 2022.
The Golden Gate Park Workshop
Tree Palm Forest. Golden Gate Park. San Francisco, CA. 2022.
My Golden Gate Park workshop went very well, good and curious students, beautiful scenes.
At the end, we were very tired though, after two days of walking, looking, and concentrating. It’s hard to explain to people how exhausting field photography can be. But it is. Seeing intensely is very taxing. Rising to the challenge of technical issues takes the mind in an entirely different direction. It is almost schizophrenic.
My itinerary for the workshop split the park in two, east on the first day, middle and west on day two. There was never a shortage of subjects or technical issues to discuss.
Mallard Mamas and Chicks. Golden Gate Park. San Francisco, CA. 2022.
Oak Woodlands. Golden Gate Park. San Francisco, CA. 2022.
Bull. Maryland. 2022.
Recent Photographs
The variety of what I notice continues to stretch my vision and document my visual life experiences.
I’m always on the look out for how we use animals as symbols, enticements, and cementing culture norms. Such views gave birth to my Western Artifacts Series and continues to hold my interest even as it has long since stretched way beyond its beginnings in the west in the 1980s.
On my recent flight, I adopted my normal airplane photography mode, a black shirt, a window seat opposite the sun, and in front of the wings or as far back as I can get. Sometimes I may just want to sleep, and do, but the parade of views is often too seductive to miss.
River and Hills. Chasing the Sunset over the American West. 2022.
iPhone Journal May 24, 2022
These clouds
Fragile ephemeral forms
Scaleless
Complex
beyond comprehension
Flying over the United States of America. A patchwork quilt of loosely organized community and independence. This land is vast. The thin human layer complex, even if spread out. From 35,000 feet, this land is dusty tan today, desaturated and somewhat gray.
Apparently I was sitting next to a doctor. A call went out for a medical professional. He and others answered, gathered around someone in distress about 12 rows up. Oxygen and a defibrillator were unpacked. A surrounding crowd watched intently.
Meanwhile, the sparsely populated farmland and grassland continue to pass beneath us. Flying over America, a life onboard perhaps in jeopardy.
A mist has surrounded the plane, separating us further from ground. An odd and sourceless reservoir appears, then passes into more endless patchwork.
The medical situation may have just been a low blood pressure pass out, but the rapid attention was heartwarming.
The hazy mist seems to shift westward as we pull through the sky to the east. A town comes into view near a large highway, perhaps an interstate. Now a huge elongated racetrack comes into view, just before the cloud cover thickens, and the track vanishes. Another highway comes into view, winding down a valley from north to south. The river it follows is far more complex, meandering toward us, old meanders cut off as small lakes. Rivers and their remnants become time machines of past wanders.
For awhile now, the ride has been so smooth as to seem as though we’re not moving at all. But the constant clouds betray our motion. Turbulent shakes return and confirm it. The shakes betray that our movement is unnatural. At odds with the winds. The carbon we are pouring out into this sacred air is another indicator. The hypocrisy of caring, and being here is obvious to me. And doesn’t feel good.
Seeing my 1 yr old grandsons is the motivating force. At 2500 miles away, only occasional visits are possible. The costs are so high.
Leaving San Francisco. 2022.
Arriving in DC Region. Interstate 95 Exchange. Alexandria, VA. 2022.
Recently at Stephen Johnson Photography
Western Fence Lizard. San Pedro Valley Park. Pacifica, CA. 2022.
Decaying Whale. Pacifica, CA. 2022
Another dead whale
decaying on the rocks
Seems small
for a whale
seems young
Inspected sliced flesh
rolling with the waves
So hard to see
but compelled to witness
A sentient being
cut up, left to rot
How long did its mother swim with her dead child after it died
Up until it came to these rocks?
Where has its soul gone?
What was in its mind as it died?
Did its family have a name for it?
What did it love while it lived and breathed?
Collector Framed Prints Available
Trees, Fitzgerald Reserve. 1994.
Trees, Fitzgerald Reserve. 1994. 40x50 inch pigment inkjet print in 53x62 inch maple frame. Original price $5900. Make offer.
Framed Prints Available
Steve with 50 inch Fitzgerald Reserve print in his Gallery. 2018.
A collector is downsizing and is trading in a few very large framed prints for smaller versions. This means I suddenly have an inventory of a few very custom prints available for sale. The prints are all framed in beautiful solid maple with a sturdy back brace constructed by San Francisco Art Framing Services.
Alluvial Sweep. Haleakala National Park.. 1996
Alluvial Sweep. Haleakala National Park. 1996. From With a New Eye: The Digital National Parks Project. 27x34 inch pigment inkjet print in 39x47 inch frame. Original price $4200. Make offer.
Drying Staghorn Fern. 2013. From the Life Form Project.
Drying Staghorn Fern. 2013. From the Life Form Project. 27x34 inch pigment inkjet print in 39x47 inch frame. Original price $4200. Make offer.
I am proud to offer for sale a boxed set of original pigment prints from 2020 through May of 2021. A view of my photographic endeavors and fascinations just before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Twenty 14 inch prints in boxed set. Signed and sleeved. $4500.
Virtual Educational Experiences
Steve in his Life Form Gallery. April 2021.
Virtual Classes and Lectures have now become a regular part of my workshop program. Critiques are now virtual. In fact, as you might imagine, most all teaching is virtual at the moment. To flush that out, here is a list of the virtual educational opportunities we are offering.
Virtual Classes and Lectures. A series of new online live classes on various topics with limited space and Q&A sessions.
Photoshop for Photographers: Starting Up, Getting Comfortable and Being Empowered June 18, 2022.
Photo Chats
I’ve been doing weekly virtual Photo Chats with groups of photo friends to keep everyone encouraged to keep working, creates 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)
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.
Although the gallery is not open to regular visits with the corona virus regulations, limited visitation can be arranged by appointment.
Come see the shows when you can. Space and awesome life! A dive into cosmic extremes.
The 50 Years of Space Photography Gallery with the five extra Apollo 11 prints.
In front of the Apollo 14 Panoramic, 3rd. Graders from Ocean Shore School in Pacifica visiting the Space Exhibit. 2019. Photo by Sheila Gamble.
Class Visits
Post-virus, when school is back in classroom, we will again welcome teachers bringing their classes by, kids and college students. The kid’s reactions have been inspiring to me, both for the space exhibition and Life Form.
Links to custom reproductions Steve has created because of his love of the work, with the skills to make beautiful copies, and to let more people enjoy these beautiful photographs and maps.
Life Form Exhibition
Life Form opened in the Main Gallery at Stephen Johnson Photography in July 2018. The show has been extended into 2021. We have had many visitors come by the gallery since the opening. Many have then joined workshops and certainly helped build community. Please come see the show, by appointment (masked), or after the virus. Pass the word.
Seeking Good Venues for Life Form
We are seeking good venues to show the Life Form Series. The series is now available for museum and gallery exhibition.
Life Form Announcement. 2018
Don't forget to Check out our next workshops
Next Field Workshop
Next Virtual Seminar
The Studio, Scholarships, Mentoring and Tutorials
As part of our ongoing commitment to photographic education, there is one student scholarship spot in many of our classes. Please pass the word along.
For discounted time studying with Steve, keep in mind our 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. We want to remind you of our Virtual Online Consulting Program. This service allows all of you out there around the globe to consult online live with Steve on technical, aesthetic and workflow issues using Skype and your webcam.
Our Essays and Tutorials from the past couple of years can now be found on our Newsletter Archive and some on my neglected Blog.
We hope you can come by the gallery after the virus 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. We invite you to join us on a workshop, rent lab space, or just say hello and let us know what you are up to photographically and what you might like to see us offer. We 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, I am starting a Print Mentoring Program that 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 $475
Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM Lens $425
Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM Lens $625
Gift Certificates Available for Prints and Workshops!
New Space Photography Products
Apollo 11 Collectors Portfolio examples.
Apollo 11 Collectors Portfolio
A suite of photographs from Apollo 11 including twelve pigment inkjet prints on letter-sized paper selected, edited and printed by photographer Stephen Johnson, in a portfolio box. The set includes a Mission Summary book, original US Postal Stamp commemorating the Mission, the Mission patch and a schematic of the Lunar Module. $250
50 Years of Space Photography Exhibition Catalog
The Exhibtion catalog featuring photograhs from Planetary probes, the Hublle Space Telescope, Lunar explorations, the Apollo program and Space Shuttle/Space Station images. Includes an exploration of the imaging technologies emplyed by the spacecraft.
68 pages, 8.5x11 inches
Other Worldly Exhibition Catalog.
Apollo 11 Photography Book
A 96 page 8.5x11 inch collection of Apollo 11 photographs from launch to recovery including contact sheets for every surface Hasselblad photograph.
It’s the collection I wish I could have bought, so I made it.
-96 pages
-7 sections, Lunar Photo Equipment, Preparation, On the Way, Lunar Orbit, Tranquility Base, Heading Home, Relics
-Film Magazine proofs
Life Form Folio
The Life Form Folio
When we 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 wire bound book, 5 years of work from 2013 to 2018 exploring these magnificent lives.
Photographs from 2013-2018
36 pages
11x17 wire-bound book
$40
Exquisite Earth Exhibition Catalog
page 13
Page 41
The Exquisite Earth Exhibition Catalog
As I've been on a roll on fixing bodies of work into POD books, I decided before the Exquisite Earth show could come down for new upcoming show, I wanted to create a printed record. So, now available is the 56 page 11x17 wire bound book, 5 years of work from 2005 to 2010 traveling this wondrous planet.
Photographs from 2005-2010
56 pages
11x17 wire-bound book
$40
Pacifica Book
Page 7
Page 27
A collection of photographs in and around Pacifica California. Include a trail map.
74 pages
11x17 wire-bound book for full lay-flat opening and enjoyment
Pacifica Trail Map
32 years in Pacifica
10 years of calendars
$50
Pacifica Trail Map by Pease Maps special to the Pacifica Land Trust.
11" x 17" folded
$10 (free shipping) proceeds go the Pacifica Land Trust a non-profit 501c3.
Gift Certificates for Prints and Workshops!
Emailed or shipped with beautiful gift note card.
Life Form Note cards
5x7 inches (sold-out, on backorder)
$25
12 image Note card set with envelopes featuring photographs from Steve's new Life Form work.
Printed by Steve in his studio in very limited numbers on a color laser digital press
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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.