AC Johnson Photography Education » north shore

Throwing a Hail Mary

Alec — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:42:14 +0000

This set of images was taken on the night of Dec. 23 and during the day, Dec. 24, 2009. Our epic snowstorm blowing in, my friend Chet and I decide to head to Duluth and take what comes our way. We arrived in the harbor at night, but in reasonable conditions. The winds were blowing at 20 mph or higher and the temps were in the mid 20’s. Not bad by Duluth winter standards. We drove in to the Blatnick Bridge area and then the Harbor proper to catch an ore ship arriving. On the 24th traveled from Ilgen Falls back down to Split Rock Lighthouse in the snow and wind. A great two days.

All these images are experiments in post processing with Lab Color and Gradient Maps. Many of you don’t know what these are and don’t care. I hope you enjoy the images regardless. Some of you will understand these terms and are curious about how to work with them. If so, post a comment and ask. For those well versed in these, please feel free let the rest of us know how you use them.

A selection of these images and other landscape work of mine is available for purchase at my new gallery site. http://acjphoto.zenfolio.com Here you can order prints and framing. Its wonderfully easy to use and the product quality is excellent. Even better, with this service I was able to dramatically lower my prices!

Happy New Year to all!

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Landscape Photography: Giving Up #1

Alec — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:26:11 +0000

Today’s image is the first of three I’ll be posting as a series titled, “Giving Up.” In early Octoboer, 2009 I left Saint Paul at 3 am to catch sunrise on Lake Superior in Duluth. The forecast was for rain, it rained all the way up I35, then stopped in Duluth. Then started again in Two Harbors and never let up the rest of the day. “Perfect” I thought to myself. I’m not at a computer, I’m not working, I do have my cell phone, but thank you ATT for having bad service on the North Shore. No pushing. Its so easy to push hard, natural for many of us. To take hold of circumstances, engineer a vision or outcome, start pushing on the objects we think we need or can help us construct this vision, often times repeating the same processes we’ve employed in the past. This is not good or bad behavior, but we can’t assume it will actually produce the outcome we desire. My entrepreneur friends should notice I’m speaking directly at them.

Nor does it guarantee that we’ll feel good about the process when we’re done.

“Perfect” I thought again. I can’t lose today. Its horrible weather, so no expectations on the photography, just get settled into being here, explore areas I haven’t explored before, and just keep moving. At times I still love exploring. Maybe its just looking at land for sale around the arrowhead, maybe its taking the recommendation of my friend Lavonne; that gravel road “shortcut” to the top of Carleton Peak or the trail up the east side of the Beaver River that might give me a entirely new perspective (I’ve looked Lavonne, the trail isn’t there:)). In the next installment of Giving Up, it will be the turnout on Hwy1 near Finland. The “turnout.” Its not marked, its not used much. It was magical.

In taking this attitude, in avoiding the same routines I usually use, in giving up on the idea of taking good pictures, I was able to have one of the finest days of personal photography I’ve had in a long time. This was the last image created on that day in early October. I shot this at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, let Kaya out for a run, and headed home.

Technical: ISO 50, f/10, 2 second shutter, manual exposure mode, camera flash set to manual and rear curtain sync with no flash compensation

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(V) (I) Landscape Photography Tutorial: Duluth Harbor Black and White

Alec — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:26:01 +0000

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Hi Gang, today’s post is an image and video tutorial of a photo I captured on Oct. 2, 2009 in Duluth Harbor. Some may recall the storm that passed through there and I showed up on the back side of it, when things had calmed just a little. The structure in this image is the Fort Whitney unloading dock, used in the 1920’s to unload sand and gravel dug from the bottom of Lake Superior. To get a more complete story and great black and white photo from 1920, click here.

This image is also available for purchase in print form at my fine art site, ACJ FINE ART PHOTO, exclusively in 16×24 inches on traditional metallic photographic paper or canvas!

I’ve produced a 12 minute tutorial on black and white photography and the production of today’s image. I hope you enjoy it.

Creating The Image: Black and White Digital Photography from Alec Johnson on Vimeo.

Welcome to my New Photography Site

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Welcome to my New Photography Site

Alec — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:44:14 +0000

NEW NEWS Well, I did it again. I have a new site with a new domain name and for good reason. The short of it is a change of focus and a need for better SEO (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means). Those two simple sounding issues created a number of large headaches, now cured! Many, many thanks to my good friend, Matt Albiniak, for overseeing the overhaul. THANK YOU MATT!!!!!

What’s new? I’ll be offering more workshops and that information will be available here, including online workshops. I’ll be producing more video tutorials, and I’ll be blogging in a more traditional sense about photography. Most of this new blog activity will be found in the “News” category. I will blog frequently, but I don’t know if I’ll blog regularly. Hmmmm…..

So, if you’re in to pictures or you’re just a good friend that puts up with me, then I’ll send you an email when I’ve posted a new image (like today). If you’re really into photography, you may want to subscribe via RSS to keep up with the frequent “News” posts, or subscribe in the “ENEWS & UPDATES” area. If you prefer, you can follow on Facebook via Networked Blogs and always feel free to share a post on Facebook or other social media using the new sharing feature found in the posts. Ok, please subscribe one way or another, if you haven’t already.

OTHER NEW NEWS I’m in a new studio as of Wednesday, Oct. 30th, located in Edina, MN. I love referrals for studio work and if you have an idea for creative studio photography you’re interesting in trying, let me know. I’m usually game. You can view my portfolio of studio work at my commercial website.

Fine Art Gallery: Please visit the Fine Art Gallery to purchase fine art prints. The design needs tweaking but the site is fully functional. If you have questions regarding a print, feel free to contact me directly.

Regarding today’s post:

Today’s post was shot from a perspective shown to me by a 2009 Digital Landscape Workshop participant, Amy Okaya. I was so taken with the image she produced from this spot that a few weeks later I went back on Sept. 10, 2009 and shot my own take on it. This was sunrise at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. What stunned me was how many new ways there are to see an old subject and all it took was a fresh set of eyes to show me. Perhaps there is a lesson in there for all of us, regardless of what we pursue????

Technical: ISO100, f/8, 2 stop bracket exposure, 3 frames total, High Dynamic Range (HDR) with Photomatix software.

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Landscape Photography: Going Back in Time

Alec — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:27:08 +0000

Hi Gang,

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting exclusively landscapes. I’m going through some “throw-away” images, reworking some previously posted images and just re-posting some of my personal favorites.

I’d like to remind everyone that there are still openings available in my North Shore workshops, so please contact me directly at alec@acjohnsonphoto.com if you’re interested. Also please pass this workshop information on to anyone that might be interested.

You can view my gallery of North Shore images directly by click here, just in case you’re search for a bit of inspiration.

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Today’s image is a “throw-away” image, one I never intended on posting for a variety of reasons. It does represent some of the amazing characteristics of Lake Superior. For example, the lake is well known for its around the clock fog during the summer months. When warm, humid air runs up from the south and hits the notoriously cold water of the lake, bam…fog anytime of the day. I shot this image late in the day on a warm July afternoon two years ago. Fog can be a great landscape subject and Lake Superior often presents this opportunity. This particular image is of a “1000 footer” in harbor, Two Harbors, MN.

Landscape Photography: Giving Up #1

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Slap Zoom #2

Alec — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:30:00 +0000

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Well, on this historic day I wish I had something more profound to write. I don’t, so here’s a link to the video I produced, demonstrating how the images this week were made.

Click Here For Video.

Welcome to my New Photography Site

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Kaleidescope Images and Photoshop #1

Alec — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:00:36 +0000

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ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS of the print contest: I want to send out a big THANK YOU to all of you who continue to be present here at E X P E R I E N C E. For those who did comment on the Print Contest Images, I put your name in a bowl and drew two winners: Kevin Hawkins and Megan Uhan. Please choose an image from the blog galleries and send me an email with your mailing information.

Today’s post is a departure from the slap zoom and in camera multiple exposure technique I presented on Wednesday. With this image I DID do an in camera multiple exposure on a north shore fern and then flipped it horizontally and vertically, essentially creating 4 panels from 1 image.

Technical: Canon 1Ds Mark II, 24-70mm, Singh Ray Vari ND filter, 10 second shutter.

Canon IN CAMERA Multiple Exposure Method: Since Canon does not provide a multiple exposure feature, I figured out a way to trick it. During the exposure and during the MOVEMENT of the camera I cover the lens with a piece of black foam core. This minimizes blurring, allowing me to capture cleaner moments between movements of the camera.

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Lake Superior Print Contest

Alec — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:45:40 +0000

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Hi Everybody,

This is the last of my north shore series from Summer 2008. On Wednesday I’ll be posting a transition image that will lead to another set of strange, weird and provocative images based on landscapes. Until then, please leave a comment (with email address) and become eligible for a print of YOUR choosing (with my approval:)) from my entire collection of images.

Technical Information: Canon 1Ds Mark II, 16 – 35mm, Singh Ray Vari ND filter to slow the shutter, Singh Ray 2 stop Reverse Neutral Density for the sky. f/16 2 sec. shutter speed.

Location: On my stomach, in the sand with elbows in the water 50 yards from the mouth of the Brule River, South Shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin.

Which do you prefer and WHY (and of course you can say “I prefer neither of them”). Extra points given for creativity!

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