California Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Loree Johnson Photography

Always learning…

by Loree | Mar 26, 2014 | Birds, Gratitude, Mountains, Oregon, Siskiyou County, Waterfalls, Wildlife

I posted a few months ago about how photography has taught me to see in ways I never did before. Lately I’ve been pondering all the other things I’ve learned as a result of photography. I’m not talking about f-stops, exposure, ISO and such, although I have learned and continue to learn more and more about all those things. What amazes me sometimes are the things I learn almost by accident because of my photography. For example, I learned how to tell the difference between a golden eagle and an immature bald eagle because they look similar and I wanted to know which bird I had photographed.

Golden Eagle Perched

In this image, you can clearly see the golden feathers on the back of the head and neck which are characteristic of golden eagles, no matter their age. In the image below, no such golden feathers are present, meaning it is a bald eagle which hasn’t matured enough to be “bald” yet.

Eagle in the Sun

I’ve learned the weather conditions which cause lenticular clouds to form because I want to be prepared to go out with my camera when these beautiful and photogenic clouds materialize around the local cloud generator–Mount Shasta.

Cloud Dance

I’ve learned the phases of the moon and the patterns of rise and set times for both the moon and the sun because then I can plan a photo shoot to either capture the moon

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A full moon rises near Mount Shasta in northern California

or capture the stars in the dark night sky when there is no moon.

Milky Way

I’ve learned the terminology for different types of waterfalls. Not only so that I can describe them accurately, but also so that I know what to expect when making a trip to a waterfall I’ve not been to before. This is a plunge waterfall.

Autumn at Watson Falls

This is a fan waterfall.

Wahkeena Falls

And this is a block waterfall.

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Sunset at Middle Falls

There are other types, too, as well as “combination” waterfalls that have characteristics of more than one type.

These are just a few of the many things I’ve learned because of my photography. As I continue to challenge myself and photograph new things in new ways, I’m excited about all the things I’m likely to learn along the way. My sincere hope is that for as long as I live, I will never stop learning.

Missed the shot!

by Loree | Mar 7, 2014 | Birds, Gratitude, Mountains, Photography, Siskiyou County, Waterfalls, Wildlife

I cannot count how many times this has happened to me. Sometimes, it’s my fault. I’ll shoot something only to find out that the camera settings were all wrong, and the opportunity has passed. Or sometimes, it’s because my thinking is messed up. Like the time I drove right by a perfectly beautiful shot of the Shasta River, on my way to the Klamath River. Thinking at the time, well if there is morning mist rising from the tiny little Shasta River, imagine how beautiful and misty the big ole’ Klamath will be. But, it wasn’t. And of course, by the time I got back to the Shasta River, it wasn’t either. Sometimes I miss the shot through no fault of my own. Like the time I was driving back from the Tulelake Wildlife Refuge and noticed the most beautiful sunset colors reflected in the marsh along Stateline Road. But, there was no where to pull over and there was a big-rig right on my tail. By the time I found a safe place to stop, the color had faded.

For the longest time, I would get angry at myself, or sad, or disappointed when I missed a great shot. It was as if I somehow failed as a photographer to have seen something beautiful and not captured it to share with the rest of the world. Then, a few weeks ago, I realized something. There is infinitely more beauty in this world than I will ever be able to see, much less photograph. I have been extremely lucky in my life to see some amazing things, and even luckier to have photographed a few of them. So now, if I miss a shot, instead of being upset about not capturing it inside the camera, I feel grateful for having witnessed it at all. And I also feel grateful for the amazing things I have been able to capture. Here are a few of them:

…Before the Storm

Sandhill Crane Mating Dance

Gold in the River

Bald Eagle Couple

All I can say is I hope there are many, many more opportunities ahead, even though I know that I will miss some of them.

How did editing photos become a bad thing?

by Loree | Feb 6, 2014 | Art, Blog, Mountains, Oregon, Photography, Siskiyou County

Have you ever taken a photograph of something you saw as beautiful only to be disappointed later when you looked at the actual image? I would guess that nearly everyone has had this experience. When it happens, you end up apologizing with phrases like “you really had to be there” or “photos just don’t do it justice.” This is the main reason why I edit and manipulate photos. I want to present an image of the scene the way I saw it, not necessarily the way the camera recorded it. Yet, often I read comments like “too bad it’s Photoshopped” or “that’s not how it really looks,” as if editing a photo is something that shouldn’t be done. In fact, even the word Photoshop seems to have become a negative. Now I understand if you are an editorial photographer capturing images to illustrate a news story, it would be dishonest to manipulate the image. But why do some people hold fine art photographers to the same standard? Isn’t art supposed to be about the vision of the artist? In the words of the late Ansel Adams: “The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.” Many people rightfully respect Adams’ skill as a photographer, yet not many like to acknowledge that his images were highly edited and manipulated.

Image credit: ALINDER GALLERY

This is a photo of Ansel Adams with his famous image “Moonrise” next to the same image as captured on the film negative without manipulation. Would the image on the left have been as collectible and highly sought after as the image on the right? I doubt it.

These days, the RAW file is the equivalent of the negative, and the darkroom has been replaced by software, but the transformation is the same. Photographers who aspire to be artists must develop not only the skills required to properly capture a photograph, but also the skills to properly develop the image. This is where the artistic vision is revealed. While some images take many hours to be developed to my satisfaction, others take only a few minutes. But, it is a fact that none of my photographs are what would be considered “straight out of the camera.”

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Shast Alpenglow with Historic Church

My goal in editing an image is to convey my vision of the scene, and with any luck, some of the emotion I felt when I was there. It is never to mislead or “pull one over” on anyone. I’m not ashamed that my photos are edited, in fact, I’m rather proud of they way they turn out.

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Gothic Lamp and Bridge

So, if you wanted to ask, I will save you the trouble. Are my images edited? Yes. All of them. Some are “more” edited than others, but every single one is edited and no image I post is ever straight out of the camera. And that’s because it’s my vision, not the camera’s, that makes it uniquely mine. I hope you enjoy my art. Oh, and if you really want to know how any particular image was made, I will be happy to share. Just ask me.

You say goodbye, and I say hello…

by Loree | Dec 31, 2013 | Blog, Gratitude, Ocean

Another year has come and gone, the calendar is on the last day of the last page, 2013 is down to it’s final hours. It’s been a pretty good year, but I’m not sad to say goodbye. Hello 2014! I have a good feeling about you and am looking forward to making your acquaintance. It’s been a year of trial and error, of reconnecting with old friends, and of finding my feet in the new world of following my bliss. I’ve learned a lot this year, about photography and life, and look forward to using that knowledge in the coming year. Looking back, it feels like 2013 was a year of preparation for 2014 and beyond. Now, the real adventure begins!

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Golden Gate Sunset from Berkeley Marina

Traveling to Santa Cruz for Christmas seems like such a fitting way to cap off this year and prepare for next year. Getting lost in the forest on a one-lane road for an hour was just a lesson in patience, and a reminder to listen to my instincts. Even GPS’s make mistakes! And even though my plan was to shoot the skyline of San Francisco from the Berkeley Marina, the silhouette of the Golden Gate Bridge is the shot I ended up with. Another lesson. Don’t get so caught up in your plans that you miss the real opportunities.

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Four Mile Beach Sunset

As the sun sets on this year, and the dawn of the new year begins, I can’t help feeling grateful for all the beauty in this world, and the opportunity to take it in. And although I continue to make plans for the coming year, I also remain flexible and attentive to whatever comes my way. I’m very much looking forward to whatever surprises the coming year has in store.

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Christmas at Santa Cruz Harbor

Just as Christmas in Santa Cruz was non-traditional and unexpected, if you really think about it, so is much of life. And those are the things we remember. So, here’s to a year of unexpected and amazing experiences.

On the Road

Maybe I will see you out on the road in 2014…

Rekindling a sense of adventure

by Loree | Dec 10, 2013 | Blog, Gratitude, Hikes, Lakes, Mountains, National Parks, Oregon, Photography, Siskiyou County, Waterfalls

Continuing with the subject of gratitude, this week’s post is about rediscovering a sense of adventure. There was a time when I was adventurous by nature. I think most of us are when we are young and unafraid of our own mortality. Then, as we get older, security becomes important and fear of losing it takes over, and slowly, the sense of adventure is lost. I know this isn’t true for everyone, but it has been for me.

While I’ll likely never be as brave (or reckless) as I was in my twenties (and that’s probably a good thing!), lately I’ve found myself taking risks that I never would have taken just a few short years ago. For example, on a trip through Arizona, I found myself staking out a spot very close to the edge of a 1000 ft. cliff in order to get a shot. This may not sound like a big adventure to some, but for me and my fear of heights, it was something of an accomplishment!

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Horseshoe Bend Sunset

I was there for over an hour, and my knees were wobbly the whole time! The wind was blowing fiercely, and there were times when I thought it might blow me right over the edge. Which reminds me, I’m also grateful for my tripod, since I could never get a steady shot in a situation like this without it!

Then there was the time I set out with a friend on a five-mile hike to a place we had never been, armed with nothing but some vague directions printed off the internet. After following the directions as best we could, we came to a very steep drop-off. He went and looked over the edge, then came back to where I was resting. I said “that’s the trail, isn’t it?” He nodded and grimaced. We talked it over and decided we had come this far and were not going back without seeing the waterfall we came for. So we climbed (more like slid on our butts, actually) about 60 feet straight down, knowing that we would either have to figure out a way to get back up, or find another route back to the trail.

I don’t consider this to be one of my best waterfall images, but it has a special place in my heart because of the adrenaline induced adventure I went on to get there.

Burstarse Falls

Not only that, but I got an appreciation for why they named this waterfall “Burstarse Falls.”

Climbing a ten foot snowbank was never on my list of things I wanted to do, until I found myself at Crater Lake in February. As it turns out, I will gladly scale a wall of snow left behind by the plows, if there is something worth photographing on the other side.

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Wizard Magic

Admittedly, these are small adventures in comparison to the risks taken by those who thrive on thrill-seeking. But, for me, they are big departures from my comfort zone, and a revival of the wonderful feeling that it’s great to be alive. Or, as I heard recently in a talk given by filmmaker Kevin Smith, I’ve stopped asking myself “why?” and started asking myself “why not?”

Why not go someplace I’ve never been before? Why not get up before sunrise to shoot the dawn? Why not give up a steady, well-paying, but tedious job in order to fulfill my passion? Why not, indeed. And that has been, and continues to be, the biggest adventure of my life. So here’s to adventure, and passion, and uncertainty, and satisfaction, and the dawn. Why not?

Fire Lake