Stephen Johnson Photography News

June 2025

Hello to my subscribers and guests. Thanks for visiting my June 2025 newsletter.

This month's View From Here column explores current exhibitions, including the creation of the new Resist exhibit, our Art Center under threat, a night owl photograph and the loss of a photographer friend. The Resist Opening is Saturday June 7, 2-5pm.

My new preview of my Urban Eden Golden Gate Park work will be up at least through August Come see this first showing of my most recent project.

The Gallery is open most Saturday’s 2-5pm, when I am here working, and by appointment. Call or email to set up a time to visit 650 355-7507.

This summer I am really looking forward to teaching my Reimagining Black and White class for the Los Angles Center for Photography July 19-20. Please spread the word.

My Highway One Coastal Workshop is July 26-27. Join us for the great coastal explore. Upcoming Studio classes are Image Editing Two Day Intensive Sept. 6-7, 2025 and the Masterful Fine Art Digital Photography Printing Class Sept. 27-30, 2025

— Steve

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

Scholarships

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.

Horsetail Ferns, Mussel Rock. Pacifica, CA 2025.

This garden of Horsetail Ferns has been growing ever larger over the last few months, getting ever more complex and delicate. The low afternoon light dappled them nicely.

I’m offering a 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $195. Larger prints can be ordered. This print at this price is offered through June 30. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by July 15, 2024. The image reverts to its normal price after that, $800 for an 11x14, $1500 for a 16x20 print.

Parasail, Pilot and Setting Sun. Pacifica, CA. 2025

A fortuitous alignment that I couldn’t resist on my late afternoon sunset on the cliffs walk.

THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson

Resist! Explore and Come See

I keep thinking that once the current task is complete, whatever it is, that there will be a time to wander down the road again. I need to wander. But my own mind keeps coming up with new ways of using the studio, gathering my work together, and inviting people in. It seems often before I know it, I’m in the midst of something I didn’t even imagine. That’s how the Resist show came to be. The imperative to act with the opportunity to showcase proved irresistible. It is part of what my Studios and Galleries has meant for the last 20 years, I have been able to pursue so many ideas and turn them into realized and exhibited bodies of work. These efforts have often resulted in catalogs of these shows. This has been an extraordinary privilege.

I have gathered my protest signs and protest photos into the Resist! Standing Up for Parks and Democracy Exhibition. It is up now for viewing this month

My preview of the Urban Eden: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park continues, and is getting very good reactions from visitors. Please come by the see this view into the 5 year project. My next show is almost all printed, the first showcase of my Western Artifacts project.

My Highway One Coastal Journey: A Field Photography Class Jul 26- 27, 2025 is open for enrollmentent.

An April Night Owl Photo Story

Going out to my van in mid-April around 10pm, I noticed some movement on a telephone pole across from my driveway. It seemed to be an owl landing. Without much hesitation, and in the hopes of the bird staying put, I grabbed my Canon R5 and its 800mm lens and tripod. Much to my amazement the owl was still there as I managed to set up the tripod and attempt to focus. I could barely see a form through the electoric view, but managed an image, confirmed it was a Great Horned Owl and proceeded to try to balance a needed high ISO, a long shutter speed and a living breathing bird that might fly off at any second. I kept trying, hoping for at least one or two photographs where it was relatively still.

The f11 fixed focal length of my 800mm lens was a problem limiting what I could see and record. Just as I started to go for a faster, but shorter focal length lens, the owl flew away. I wished I had just grabbed my 400mm f5.6 lens instead, but my longing for getting close overrode what would have been a big light-gathering advantage.

The images I made were very noisy, dark and in a various states of bird movement. I worked with the file, brightened it up, ran noise reduction and then various kinds of sharpening. Color banding from the original camera Bayer color filter pattern creating moire led me to try a black and white version. The result was so interpretive as to not even seem like a photograph any longer, but a highly interpretive photo rendition. Nonetheless, here it is.

Urban Eden: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. A Preview

Through Summer 2025

Urban Eden: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park

As I build the exhibition from my Golden Gate Park Project, I am mounting a temporary preview on my Guest Wall to move the selection process forward. Join us for this peek into the larger project to come.

Urban Eden explores San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park combining Stephen Johnson’s new original photographs with his work made over the past 30 years.

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is 1017 acres of human transformed sand dunes and rocky hills made into an expansive urban park, offering refuge to one of the great cities of the world. Urban Eden is a photographic exploration of the beauty, diversity, and sheer power of will in planning and creating spaces. Set up a time to come by and see the preview.

Resist! Standing Up for Parks and Democracy Exhibition

Stephen Johnson Photography, Pacifica Center for the Arts through June 2025

I have created an exhibition featuring some of the signs I’ve been making for our local Pro-Parks and Pro-Democracy protests here in Pacifica over the last few months and pictures of recent protesters and their signs from various protests these last few months.

I’ve been struck by the facial expressions, sincerity, and frustration of the people attending the protests and the signs they carried. This exhibition is a tribute to them by fellow protesters, encouragement to find ways of resisting this attack on our constitution, the rule of law and the poor.

The exhibition will be on display through June 2025.

I am very pleased to be showing this work at the same time as the Sanchez Art Center is showing Living Through History with work by Robin L Bernstein, Lidia Hasenauer and James Shefik. Their work is described as “Following the tradition of art as a mirror held up to society, raising awareness and confronting power structures, these artists' works meld the history we are living in today with the past, reflecting on themes of environmental chaos, disinformation, immigration, (in)justice, and the atrocities of war, capped with the hope for peace.”

This show is very much worth seeing and fits well next to my gallery and the Resist! show.

Our Hearts Need Parks

Ongoing Demonstration of Support for the Parks

Gather on Saturdays at noon to lobby the passing cars on Highway One to be aware of parks funding cuts and the need to restore funds.

Come join us: Saturdays at Noon at Highway One and Mori Point Road, Pacifica, CA

Standing Up

for Our Parks, the Constitution and the Rule of Law

Pacifica and area residents have continued to gather to protest funding cuts and anti-constituional actions by the Trump Administration. Since Saturday March 1st, people have been gathering to protest funding cuts and layoffs at our National Parks on Highway One at Mori Point Road here in Pacifica. We have been welcomed by scores of honking support, 72 people joined us on May 31, with 732 honks of support. We will try to grow the group and encourage people to come out every Saturday at noon until funds are restored. See Resistance Rangers for more and continuing information.

Check out our events. For Protests in your area check out Indivisible on Mobilze.

News from the Studio and Galleries

Recent Prints in the Gallery

There are always new prints available to see in the gallery, from the Hale Telescope, to the Golden Gate Park Project, to the evolving Animal Series and new selections in the discounted print bins.

Current Exhibitions

The current exhibitions in the gallery include my new Resist! exhibition, and the Golden Gate Park project preview. Continuing in the gallery is my Life Form exhibition.

Visiting the Gallery

My galleries and studio are generally open by appointment, but I am often there 10am–5pm on weekdays. Write to inquire or call 650 355-7507 to schedule an appointment.

I hope you can come by the gallery and see the original prints in the Life Form Gallery and its Life Form Portfolio. 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.

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 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.

Virtual Consulting

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.

Virtual Mentoring/Consulting

Existing Online Tutorials

My Essays and Tutorials from the past couple of years can now be found on my Newsletter Archive.

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.

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.

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 produced the print 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. 

Recent Print On Demand Book Projects

Click on the book covers above to learn more and purchase.

I finished three new books in 2023. Water: A Photographic Portrait launched the 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 links here go to my printer Magcloud, where you can order them directly.