Orange County Fair - 2008

Last year was the first year I got into the Orange County Fair. I'm happy to say that I have been accepted this year as well! The two images above are my two entries in the fair in what is basically the super-modified division.

Using HDR (high dynamic range) techniques, these photographs almost look like paintings or digital art, so I felt that was the appropriate division to put them in. That means this weekend I need to get some prints made and get the images framed per the Fair's specific guidelines.

I'm hoping this year I might get some recognition for my work either by placing in the contest, or at least having someone interested in purchasing a print (that is a major advantage of entering the fair as a professional - you can sell your print).

These are two of my strongest images I've done to date, and I'm very pleased they were accepted into the fair.

Images at Work

Well I've been hard at work on my images from my big trip to Europe. I think this is definitely my best work to date, and hopefully other people will feel the same.

Above are two examples of what I captured while overseas, both HDR. As I mentioned before, I brought my tripod on this trip so I could bracket my shots in sets of 3, each exposed 1 step above the next so I could combine them to create HDR images. When comparing my "regular" non-HDR shots to the HDR version, I'm finding I really love the texture and detail of the HDR version and prefer it. I hate to be a 1 trick HDR pony, but I have to go with what I feel is the best quality image. However, I do have some great non-HDR shots that I'm proud of and should have ready soon.

I'm also preparing to submit 3 images to this year's Orange County Fair. I've decided on a different strategy this time around. It seems to me there aren't as many photos in the division where you can submit highly modified images compared to the regular portrait and landscape divisions, so I'm thinking I will submit 3 HDR images into the one division in the hopes of winning something. I also think they are the 3 strongest images I took over the entire trip. I'll be putting them up on another post after I've submitted them.

Fortunately the due date was moved from May 22 to June 1st. For the first time photographers are allowed to submit their images to the fair by e-mail. The judges will review the images and let us know if we are accepted into the contest. With the date being moved out, it gave me time to get the images printed before I submit them. They all look fantastic on the screen, but it occurred to me they may not translate so well in print, and that's what really counts when it comes to judging. I was delighted to find out they look as amazing in print as they do on the screen, so I think I have a good chance of winning something.

My only concern is the competition is pretty strong at the fair, and sometimes the judges award images that I personally don't find terribly impressive. If I'm not on the same page as the judges, that may not bode well for me. Time will tell. I'm still proud of what I've done.

Steven M. Johnson - International Photographer

My wife and I returned from a 2 1/2 week trip through Europe on Monday, 5/12. It's a trip we've been talking about doing, and my wife has been planning (she's a fantastic planner) for a long time now, and it finally happened!

She visited Europe a long time ago with a large tour group, and I had never been before. Together we thought we would conquer the major Europeon cities so get a basic flavor of each country. We started in London, then took the Eurostar (or "chunnel" as it is sometimes referred to because it goes under the English Channel) to Paris. From Paris we flew to Venice, then took a train to Florence, then took a train to Rome, then flew home.

Naturally, being a photographer, I had to bring my gear, which I keep in my photo backpack. For this trip, I brought my 28mm prime lense, my 50mm prime lens, my Tamaron 28 - 105mm zoom, and my Cannon 70 - 200mm zoom. Unfortunately, I broke my 28mm prime lens in London as I was going through my backup, but it turned out to be ok because my 28-105mm zoom was great for letting me crop my landscapes in the camera, giving me more options.

I knew in each country I wanted to get shots of the most famous landmarks, weather permitting. In London, I was able to capture the Tower Bridge perfectly, but due to rain it was difficult to get a whole lot more. However, I've done a rough draft of the image and I think it turned out great. In Paris I was able to get shots of the Arc du Triumph, Notre Dame, and Eiffel Tower. In Venice I got shots of the Plaza San Marcos and, of course, the gondolas. In Florence, I got shots of the Pontevecchio bridge, the Duomo, some other famous churches, and some statues. In Rome I got shots of the Collosseum and all kinds of other famous landmarks.

On this trip, I specifically brought my tripod because I planned on doing HDR shots of most of the iconic landmarks in Europe. I really like the HDR look because it's a hybrid between a photograph and a painting. It also gives objects a dreamy sort of etheral effect. There are a few methods to create an HDR photo, but my preferred method is to auto bracket 3 separate shots, each separated by one stop, and then combining them together to make the HDR image. This allows me to get a far wider range of shadows and highlights than just one image (be it digital or film) is capable of getting. In fact, if you look at my gallery, you can see some HDR images I've done in the past of the Manhattan Bridge, the Ruby's on the Balboa Pier, and Balboa Pavilion.

Besides the fantastic scenery and history in Europe, my wife also did a ton of research and found some fantastic restaurants for us to try. We were not disappointed, and had some of the most amazing food either of us have either experienced.

A preview of some images and a review of the restaurants will be coming up in future blog posts. For now, it's great to be back home!

The Epic Journey

So we've been planning it for nearly a year now. My wife and I are going to be travelling to Europe. This will be my very first trip, and her second.

We will be there for 2 1/2 weeks. We'll fly into London, and from there we will be travelling to Paris, Venice, Florence, and finally Rome. If ever there was a place to take some great pictures, these are the cities to do it.

The plan is we will both keep a journal of our trip. Of course I will also be taking pictures. I will transfer my journal into my Blog when I get back. Unfortunately, internet access is a difficult thing to come by inexpensively when you're not living in Europe, so that's as good as it gets.

I believe I took some of my best pictures when I visited New York and Washington DC. This time I'm hoping to capture my best images ever.

Images From the Desert

Well I still haven't been taking a ton of pictures, but I did visit my parents in Arizona a couple weeks ago. I didn't get a lot of images there, but I did manage to take a few.

Because I have the fantastic Photomatix HDR software, when I take images using my tripod, I always do at least 3 different exposures so I can combine them together. That's exactly what I did with these images of the Superstition Mountains. While they looked ok without Photomatix, the amount of detail and the impact they make when doing them HDR style makes a huge difference.

#1 On Google

In this day of technology, you know when you have arrived in at least once sense when you've reached the top of the Google Search - and I have!

When you look up Steven M. Johnson in either Google Web Search or Google Images, you will either see my photography Web site, or you will see two of my photographs on http://www.jpgmag.com/.

I was actually #3 on Google for a while, but I guess somehow I moved up to the #1 position. Perhaps it's from all my activity on LinkedIN?

Whatever the reason, it's nice that if anyone looks up Steven M. Johnson, I will be the first person they find.

It's Been a While...

I know I know...I haven't blogged since last year. Well I haven't done a lot lately in terms of photography that was worth mentioning until recently.

I lost my inspiration for a while. I wasn't photographing people, and I didn't travel anywhere after Ensenada that I felt I could get any good pictures. Things were pretty stagnant for a while. However, I went to a networking event for people living in Orange County through the social networking site LinkedIN. Unlike Facebook and MySpace, LinkedIn specializes in people who want to network for their career, not to meet friends and date. I've found it to be a really good site and highly recommend it.

So I went to a live event to meet with other business people in Orange County and do some networking regarding my daytime job which is e-Learning design and development. The other reason why I really wanted to go to this event is because it was being hosted at the studio of Steve Anderson Photography. You should check out his site, he's got some great stuff, and I wanted to pick his brain.

So I went to the event and mingled with a few people for a while until I was introduced to Mr. Anderson himself. He is a very nice guy, and he was more than happy to give advice to a few of us up-and-coming photographers who showed up to this LinkedIn event. He also told us all a bit of advice that I had heard before, but needed to hear again - find yourself a niche. Specialize. Those that specialize in a particular type of photography are more successful than those who don't.

I had heard this before, and that's one of the reasons why I decided to try and make my brand more people-based. I don't think I have the patience for weddings, but people photography tends to be popular, so I thought doing portraits would be more lucrative than just landscapes. The problem is, there are a lot of photographers out there (like Steve Anderson) who do portrait work, AND they have nice studios with lights and fancy equipment that I can't afford as a part-time photographer. They also take some great pictures. That's some tough competition in an already ultra-competitive field.

So I pondered...and I thought. I love photography, and I didn't want to give it up, but I didn't think doing portraits was the right path for me. But if not portraits - what was my brand? What would my niche be? What could I do to set myself apart from others? Then I had an epiphany, although the answer had been in front of me the whole time.

From the very beginning when I studied with Robert Hansen, he thought my pier pictures at sunset should be my emphasis because they were my strongest work. I had resisted because I didn't want to be a one-trick pony just taking shots of piers all the time. But as I looked back at my work, particularly my most popular ones - including many of my pier pictures, I noticed they all had one look in common - they were all long exposures. My most popular photos purchased on http://www.istockphoto.com/ were long exposures. My most viewed pictures of Flickr were long exposures. My most creative work in New York were long exposures. The kind of photography that excited me the most almost always involved long exposures.

So that's it. That's my niche. That's my emphasis. That's my strength. I am a long exposure photographer.

With this in mind, I've already thought of lots of other images I can't wait to create. Of course, I always have in the back of my mind, "What if this leads nowhere? Should I have stuck with just doing portraits?" Well another thing I learned from Steve Anderson is to go with your passion, and my passion involves taking long exposures. It's what I love to do, and it's what I'm doing, and hopefully one day it will be noticed and bring me success as a photographer.

And if it doesn't - I'm going to have a lot of fun doing it anyway.