Stephen Johnson Photography News
August 2017
Next Workshop:
Welcome to the August 2017 Edition of the Stephen Johnson Photography Newsletter.
Just back from eastern Oregon, a final run through before my Crater Lake Eclipse workshop, always finding new places and interesting situations to make photographs.
— Steve
This month's View From Here column recalls last week's trip to eastern Oregon. We hope you find the column interesting and will consider sending us some comments.
FEATURED PRINT August 2017
Mt. Hood. 2017.
Canon EOS-5DSr
9.5x14 Pigment Inkjet Print on Cotton paper
$195 each.
Looking up to the summit after a ride up on the ski lift.
LATEST NEWS:
I just finished work on a new Pacifica book, a gathering of work from my Pacifica Calendar series over the last few years and other photographs I've made in the course of living here for 30 years. I'm happy to have Ben Pease's great trail map as part of our outreach to bring attention to the natural wonders of Pacifica.
2017 Workshop Schedule is building with these and other great courses coming up. See what a great experience students have had on Steve's Workshops by exploring Workshop Testimonials.
Upcoming Events & Workshops
Custom Workshop Scheduling: We have set up polls for recently requested workshops to see who might be interested and able to make some dates:
The Studio, Scholarships and Mentoring
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 Google Blogger.
We hope you can come by the gallery and see the new Panoramic Prints we've added to the National Parks Gallery, and 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.
NEW PHOTOGRAPH
THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson
New printers in the lab, new explorations now to assess. As always, too much to do to actually finish it all, but so much opportunity keep curiosity, learning and exploration going.
Eastern Oregon
With my Crater Lake/Eclipse workshop coming up I wanted to once again explore the best places to watch the event from and other areas I wanted to be sure to take our class. This led to six days out on the road with my good friend Stuart Worley who had been helping with the workshop.
The light was intense, and it was hot. Heat haze hung in the air. Oregon is far more complex than we normally think of it. The volcanic Cascades may split the state east and west, but there is much complexity and stark beauty to the east than we often remember, with deserts, still more mountains and forests. Most of Oregon lies to the east of the volcanic Cascade range. Most of the people are in Portland and surrounding areas.
Oregon is full of volcanoes. Although we associate most of the volcanism to the Cascade Range, the lava flows extend all of the way to Idaho and Craters of the Moon. It is a far more dynamic area than we usually understand.
For years now I've been remarking to my Mono Lake Workshops while on top of Panum Crater about the one molecule thickness of an obsidian break, being sharper than a surgeon's scalpel. It was great to see a graphic, complete with micrographs depicting the difference as we walked along the trail at Newberry.
The extremely rough terrain of Newberry's lava fields made me make a number of stereo pairs. I love 3D photography, and always have. View masters were part of my youthful seduction into photography.
I simply make two photographs a few inches a part, then assemble them in Photoshop into my own stereo cards.
Newberry's two lakes drain into Paulina Creek which shortly tumbles over Paulina Falls. On the day we were there, people were preparing an excursion over the cliffs, repelling by rope into the cavern below tha falls. It seemed a poor idea to us, but we didn't know their plans.
East of the Cascades stretches through desert and forested mountains. Even moving through a fair amount of heat, as we drove up Highway 26 near Bandit, we came across a beautiful stand of pines and flowers with insects buzzing and some cooler air near the trees.
The geologic history of this region is very complex, with waves of volcanism and sedimentary mudflows and layers. The fossil record is the region is among the richest we have of north America. The John Day Fossil Bed National Monument is a testament to that fact and the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center near Dayville is amazing.
Last year I was able to visit the Columbia River and the Bonneville Dam for the first time in decades. Arriving at the dam at dusk, there was only a little time before night fell and the visitor's area closed. This trip I wanted to go back and spend some time.
The torrent of water through the Powerhouse, the fish ladders and the underwater view of eels sucking on the glass gave us quite a variety of visuals to take in. Not to mention the wild blackberries so big and ripe that it was hard to walk away.
The Quirks of the Road
From Bigfoot to power pole osprey nests, this road trip around the West was peppered by the quirks that make the West so uniquely its own place.
It is interesting how a sense of the West can permeate everything from rain-forest to stark high desert. There is a broad sense of the rural West, a sense of place, a sense of space, and a value placed on uniqueness, not just the expected. I like that about my homeland.
I am a child of the west. I know it is where my heart is most at home. I seem to need all of its different environments to sustain the whole man I've become. The desert, alpine expanses, deep forest and magnificent coastline of the western United States. –all of these places are part of me, and I have long been part of these places. It is emotional, seems physical, and sounds spiritual.
We build for us, to serve our needs. But occasionally we see add-ons to our constructions attempting to mitigate or enhance our constructs for other beings. Two such examples caught my eye on this trip.
The heat, the dusty brush and sage created a scented wave of hot air. I felt present under the sun, connected to it. This as we wandered through potential eclipse viewing sites. The connection felt real, despite my sunscreen, long sleeve shirts and constant hat.
What would any trip through the west be without road junctions and the communites that spring up around them. Antelope has been around since 1871 resting along side a wagon road connecting gold mines to the Columbia river. A religious group flooded the township in 1984 and renamed it Rajneesh. The name reverted to Antelope a little over a year later. Stories are everywhere.
On my first trip to Antarctica in 2005, I was privileged to meet a pair of brothers along on our photo journey together. As I recall, early in the voyage, we were chatting when one brother, Stuart, remarked that I seemed interested in the space program. I presumed I mentioned that interest in one of my presentations. Naturally I said yes, very interested, at which point Stuart introduces me to his brother Eugene Worley, one of the builders of the Saturn V rocket that took us to the moon. Eugene and Stuart have joined me on workshops over the years including their brother Jim on a trip to Death Valley.
When we were out on the road last week in Oregon, this Lego Saturn Apollo model came up in conversation." Both Eugene and I built one" he said. It sounded like such a great thing to do I was pleased to photograph Stuart with the model he and his daughter Laura built. In my imgination, there is now also an image of Eugene building the model of the spacecraft he helped actually build. I'd like to make a photograph of Eugene and his Saturn/Apollo someday.
Recently at Stephen Johnson Photography
We've done a few printing courses over the last month or so and seen some very dedicated students and and some fine photogaphs. Thought I'd share a few reviews from Yelp:
I was extremely fortunate to have attended Stephen's digital printing workshop this past weekend. The breath of knowledge and care shared with the class was absolutely wonderful....inspiring and exciting. Stephen is a wonderful teacher and master printer. He is exceptionally patient and articulate in Making sure to all questions are answered and provides and exceptional road map to successful confidence in printing that one can take home with them when they leave. If you have been thinking of attending this workshop...stop, and just sign up. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from a genuine teacher.
David S. from Danville, CA. 7/19/17
I took my digital inkjet printing to a whole new level after spending four days in Stephen's teaching studio learning about color management, consistent workflow across my devices & software, software printing controls, intricacies of various color spaces, viewing light, and most importantly - the making and managing of paper-specific printing profiles.
Also, Stephen is just a very nice person to work with. The course was very well structured and he kept to his learning outcomes, while also managing student questions and requests. You won't be disappointed.
Pablo K, Cherry Hill, NJ 7/31/17
Featured Products
New Exquisite Earth Exhibition Catalog
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
$50
New Pacifica Book
74 pages
11x17 wire-bound book
Pacifica Trail Map
32 years in Pacifica
10 years of calendars
$75
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.
20 scenes in and around Pacifica, California where Stephen Johnson Photography is located. Full page trail map included. Printed on a color laser digital press.
11" x 17" $25.00
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
National Park Note cards
National Park Color Note Card Set
Stephen Johnson
12 cards/envelopes $20 set
From "With a New Eye" Beautiful 300 line screen offset reproductions with envelopes in clear box. A great gift.
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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.