Blog

  • Lava in the Halemaumau crater at the Hawaii Volcano National Park
    Dec
    2016
    02
    2016 / Dec / 02

    Halemaumau Crater

    Photo of the lava churning and spattering in the Halemaumau crater

     

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    Having heard the lava was very active due to a piece of the crater wall collapsing into the lava lake, I was extremely excited to visit the Jaggar museum that night. I headed out after work with my family and arrived at the Volcano hours later with the unfortunate drizzle of rain. I wasn’t expecting much, in fact I wasn’t expecting I was going to see anything due to heavy fog or rain clouds. On a previous trip I knew we were getting close because the sky had an amazing bright orange glow, however, this trip wasn’t as apparent. My hopes were fading.

    We arrived at the Jaggar museum lookout along with many others. Gathering up our gear took a while, but eventually we set out to the view point. With the glow of the lava and the orange night step lights leading our way to the lookout, we were all amazed at the amazing sight of the active lava lake. Never before have I been able to see the lava lake from the Jaggar museum. Usually just a glow of light as smoke billowed away. There were cracks of bright yellow and orange moving around. Forming new connections with other cracks while closing others. The most mystical sight was the sputtering lava against the crater wall.

    Photographing the lava was difficult. I needed a higher iso in order to stop the motion of the lava, but not too high as to pixelate the image beyond usability. In order to capture the lava up close I needed the full range of my telephoto lens at 300mm. This all doesn’t seem difficult, but adding wind and rain to the equation made this difficult. Any small movement of the lens would move the image drastically, which generated a blurry image. I had to wait for relief in the wind, but then the rain would speckle the lens. It was a little bit of a dance to get the shots.

    For the image above I shot two focal ranges. The trees were several feet in front of me, while the lava was hundreds of feet away. Maybe thousands. It took a lot of blending and luminosity masks in Photoshop to merge the images to one.

    Aloha!

    © Christopher Johnson

     

    Purchase this piece by visiting my RedBubble page.

  • Smoke plumes from the lava entering the ocean at Kamokuna.
    Oct
    2016
    09
    2016 / Oct / 09

    Kilauea From Above

    Celebrating our 16th anniversary, my wife and I went on an amazing helicopter tour around the Big Island with Blue Hawaiian. We began towards the volcano, then made our way north along the Hamakua coastline to the amazing valleys north of Waipio. This is one of the coolest, most breathtaking Hawaiian adventures I have ever taken. I strongly recommend going.

    This post is mainly to show images of the smoke that is coming out of the volcano. I will be showing the valleys in a later post.

    Enjoy!

    © Christopher Johnson

  • 61G lava flow detail
    Aug
    2016
    10
    2016 / Aug / 10

    Volcanic Activity

    A photography trip to the Kamomuna lava flow and Halemaumau Crater

     

    A last minute decision to see the lava flow from the Kalapana side made a lot of amazing memories. My wife an I were amazed to see the island expanding right before our eyes and inches from our feet.

    A 4.5 mile trip, I would recommend riding a bike, will get you to the flow that covered the gravel emergency access road. Where you park there are a lot of people renting bikes, selling food, water, and artwork.  Bring as much water as you can pack. They park service recommends 1 gallon for each person.  This is not a leisure activity. The trek is long and hot.

    It took us about 45 minutes to make the bike ride to the lava flow at a mild pace. The sun was setting as we arrived and we decided to venture up the hills of lava to see the lava flowing over the earth. Immediately I was in total amazement as I witnessed the lava slowly pouring down the hillside amongst a crowd of people. It was amazing to feel how hot the lava was. Like opening an oven door. I stepped up close to get a few close shots, but had to step back quickly to cool down.

    After about 20min we retreated down to the ocean entry where the cliffside was outlined with spectators. Watching the waves battle against the hot molten lava. The energy explodes and lets off smoke and steam which is highlighted by a red glow as it blows over the landscape. We sat until we ached from sitting on the hard ground and then decided to venture back up to the lava flow again.

    The masses of people continued to populate the area, so we decided to leave and check out the Volcano National Park.

    It was an amazing adventure that hooked me on volcanic photography.

    © Christopher Johnson

     

    Check out my new image of the Halemaumau Crater - http://www.fromhereonin.com/halemaumau-crater

  • Peaberry Galette in Keauhou art display
    Jul
    2016
    24
    2016 / Jul / 24

    Peaberry & Galette

    I displaying artwork from June 10th to August 1st, 2016 at the Peaberry & Galette Cafe in the Keauhou shopping center located next to the Theatre.

     

    Artwork is for sale.

    The 30X40 framed Chameleon, Sea Arch, and Purple Flower canvas prints are available for $380 each.

    The 16X48 framed Wave canvas print is available for $200.

  • Waves rush around a large hole in the reef during a golden Hawaiian sunset
    Feb
    2016
    17
    2016 / Feb / 17

    Two Fifteen

    I visited this location two days in a row when the sunset had some promise. The first day was disappointing when the sun popped under the clouds as a dull glowing ball surrounded by the colorless grey haze, blocking any chance of color and light. I was successful when I shot while the sun was high, but during the finale the absence of light pushed my shutter speed too slow. While I wan’t going to compromise any more on aperture and ISO I packed up. However, the next day I was graced with the appearance of the sun. Again I watched as the sun faded behind the low lying haze that trapped the sunlight from under lighting the belly of the clouds, but I was happy to witness some color on the horizon.
    My goal with this shot, against this sunset, was to capture the color and texture of the seaweed with a 1 second shutter. The surf was high and I didn’t want to risk a tight ground shot, so instead, I framed a glimpse of the foreground.
    Enjoy…
    © Christopher Johnson

  • Christopher Johnson shooting at the edge of a large blow hole
    Feb
    2016
    06
    2016 / Feb / 06

    On Location

    My wife had taken a picture of me while I photographed a large hole in the Keahole Point coastline. For over 3 years I have been visiting this, and many other, blow holes along the coastline, but I never really understood how big they actually were until now. Seeing an image of me standing on the edge with the water completely drained may have me second guess my approach the next time I re-visit any one of the six blow holes I frequent, but I hope not.

    The next image is the shot I took from this location. I think it’s cool to see these images together.

     

    © Christopher Johnson

     

  • Dense forest of Eucalyptus trees
    Jan
    2016
    23
    2016 / Jan / 23

    Eucalyptus Forest

    Large Eucalyptus trees along the Hamakua coast on the Big Island.

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    I have been meaning to stop and take the time to venture into these trees for a very long time, but every time I drove by I was either in a hurry or the lighting wasn’t right. This time, however, was perfect. The sun was setting making the harsh highlights from the sun non-existent, but instead offered a soft even glow around each tree.

    Entering the forest was a challenge since the grassy trail was taller than me.  As I made my way through the grass and spider webs 🙁 …. and the deeper I went into the forest, the grass was a lot shorter and more manageable to photograph.  With the light quickly fleeting I was able to shoot a handful of images. Two of which are what I set out to capture.

    © Christopher Johnson

    Purchase a print by visiting my RedBubble page

  • Flame image on the wall of the Loews hotel in Minneapolis
    Jan
    2016
    10
    2016 / Jan / 10

    Loews Minneapolis

    I was contracted by Indiewalls for my flame image to be installed in a suite room of the Loews hotel in Minneapolis. I found this image on the Indiewalls Pinterest website.

    Image size is roughly 10′ x 5′.

  • Dark trees amongst the snow falling in Lake Tahoe
    Jan
    2016
    02
    2016 / Jan / 02

    Snow Storm

    Photograph of a winter forest in Lake Tahoe

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    During a recent trip to Lake Tahoe the weather was stormy for the first week. I have always wanted to shoot the snow falling in a forest, but for some reason I never did during the 6 years I practiced photography in Tahoe. I would always wait until the storm was over before I ventured out. Fresh fallen snow that has blanketed the trees and ground is amazing, but I wanted to capture the storm so I ventured out into the snowy forest.

    It’s not easy to wander the forest in the snow. There isn’t a ‘get there quickly’ while snow is around your waist and large snow drifts blast you in the face; chilling to the bone. I worked extremely hard to go 100 yards and I was cold, but I was in a magical place. The forest was quiet. In the distance I would see the trees vanish as snow swirled off the branches showing me the character of wind as it sweeps through the forest.  Snow continued to fall while covering me and my camera another inch.

    I shot several scenes, but it was at the end of my journey into the forest where I noticed a couple of tall dark trees behind a grouping of small baby trees on the far side of an open field. This composition, in a tight field of view, was the scene and feel I wanted to shoot which captures what this storm felt like. The gusts of wind that would completely cover the trees as it blew towards me. The snow flakes that speckled the atmosphere. The enchanted dark forest with new growth that is covered in a blanket of snow. This was where I decided to capture the moment.

    © Christopher Johnson

    Purchase a print by visiting my RedBubble page.

  • Waves raging under a sea arch
    Dec
    2015
    13
    2015 / Dec / 13

    Shoot RAW

    Shoot Raw … a Rude Reminder

     

    Long breaks from shooting have proved to be bad for me. This is following my Failure To Focus post from last month. This next lesson came from an entire shoot that was mostly of un-useable images. Such a drag since the location I walked to was a couple miles along a treacherous terrain. Hopefully I won’t make the same mistake again.

    12 years ago I made the change from shooting all JPEG to shooting all RAW images. It didn’t really matter if the subject I was shooting needed to be RAW because it was going to be shot RAW anyway. Well now I have become so custom to developing RAW images that I forgot what the difference really was. Well I learned the difference today.

    My camera is getting old. The last photo shoot I had was underwater at Mahaiula beach. Unfortunately the housing leaked and when I removed the camera, although the camera worked fine, the settings began to change on their own. ISO, focus, white balance, and PASM; I just didn’t realize the RAW capture settings changed as well. I had thought something was different when I noticed the 1250 number on the screen, but it didn’t dawn on me what that number actually represented. The 1250 was the available images I could shoot on the memory card, where that number usually is around 200. Thinking it was the ISO I went to adjust the settings, but it was already at 100. It was at this moment I should have stopped to figure it out, but of course I didn’t and proceeded to shoot the new location.

    I left thinking I may have gotten some great shots… I was wrong. Once I saw the JPEG at the end of the files while loading them on my hard drive I was mortified. “Maybe they will be fine” I thought to myself. That was until I began to work on the images.

    The first thing I began to notice was the amount of artifacts in under exposed areas. Then the minor adjustments in the highlights and shadows really started to make the images look fake. Instead of having the ability to fine tune these areas, small adjustments would completely blow them out or flatten the image. Then there was a lot of blotchy areas where the pixels try to make up the detail in dark and highlighted areas. Followed by the objects in the distance at the far end of focus had a weird sharpening look to them. Almost like the objects were wrapped in plastic. These camera compressed images were total crap. All flexibility for development is gone. The only way this JPEG setting worked is if the image shot was technically perfect and in a tight focal range.

    The shot I posted needed very little development and for the most part worked. With a little bit of loss in the shadowy areas I am fairly happy with it, but as for the rest, it was a sad night.

     

  • Through a rocky inlet to a secluded tide pool along the coastline of Kohanaiki
    Nov
    2015
    26
    2015 / Nov / 26

    Failure to Focus

    After 3 months of not shooting anything I was pretty rusty that I forgot one of the most fundamental steps in photography.

    On November 22, I ventured out to a hidden spot in Kohanaiki with hopes of a great sunset shot. Earlier this year this spot was brought to my attention and on my first trip noticed the sun set just right of the spot that I thought would be the sweet spot. The two rocks converged just below the ocean, leaving a small triangle where I would have the sun set on my next trip. This was my next trip.

    In the rush to make it to the location in time I hurried to assemble my camera and get into the surging water to compose the shot. Now setting up the tripod I noticed I was a month too late because the sun was now setting too far to the left. In attempts to make the composition work I was getting into a rough surging area and with the on shore winds the sea spray was covering the filter. Needless to say I was getting frustrated. Instead I retreated back to explore the composition at my original location, 10 feet back.

    With the hurrying, attempting to set up, and then the filter cleaning I forgot to perform one fundamental step… focus! How could I forget to focus the camera? It wasn’t until I shifted locations to another area 50 feet away that I began to realize I hadn’t been focusing. It didn’t even dawn on me right away. I continued to shoot a few frames when I began to kick myself. “Well it’s nice to be out shooting and enjoying the sunset.” I told myself.

    After I had loaded the images into Lightoom, I was pleasantly surprised that this time I got off with a warning. The majority of my images were in focus and that with very little post processing I had come home with a handful of nice images.

    Cheers to f22!

  • Keahole Point sunset on the edge of a shoreline blow hole
    Jan
    2015
    05
    2015 / Jan / 05

    In And Out

    Dark clouds began to build from the massive storm about to hit the Hawaiian Islands. On shore winds made this location extremely challenging to shoot. With each wave crash, sea spray would speckle the filter causing another cleaning. I wasn’t anticipating the wind otherwise I would have brought some sort of shield. Instead I used my shirt, slipping it over the camera while cleaning the filter carefully keeping still on the slippery rock face as giant waves raged toward me. Must have been a sight to watch… somewhat embarrassing.
    I shot several images of the wave action, but this one I feel captures the violence and movement of the ocean during the storm.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Pattern of Koi fish
    Jul
    2014
    04
    2014 / Jul / 04

    Overcrowding!

    Fourth of July Mauna Lani turtle release was CHAOS!

    The image of the Koi fish is a visual to how the turtle release event was. My family and I thought to go to the event and see these amazing Green Sea Turtles being released into the wild. Opening with a couple native Hawaiian dances to the freeing of 4 Honu. What we envisioned was totally different than what we experienced.

    We were a little late to the event due to the amazing amounts of traffic of other people thinking to do the same thing with their families. This was all understandable, but as we walked in to the event we began to see the amount of people. I turned to my wife and indicated that there is no way we would be able to see the event. A large rectangle border was created like a runway from the sandy beach and into the water where hundreds of people crowded against it as if to outline the lines. There must have been a row of seven people in front of us. As I looked around people were climbing the trees and rocks to get better views.

    As the event began to start we could see glimpses of what was happening through the dodging heads of the crowds. I am much to short for this as were a lot of other people around me as they held their cameras over their heads to get a picture. My kids were lucky enough to get up front, however, others weren’t so fortunate. Arguments erupted from people that had staked their claim early in the day when someone put their foot in their territory for a moment as everyone lunged foreword to get a better view. I wanted to leave and so did my family, but the crowding wasn’t over.

    We were told when we were dropped off to catch the shuttles at the hotel drive around. It was there we waited for what seemed like an eternity. Grumpy eager people jostling all around us in what was one of the most un-organized situations I have been in. You would think they, the hotel staff, would have this under control as this wasn’t their first event. Instead everyone made their own line and of course theirs is the line because they found a place up front. And then the shuttle arrived.

    The moment the shuttle had stopped behind a car in traffic there was a mad dash of people rushing it as if there was a celebrity to be interviewed by the media. It took us several attempts at the shuttles before we made it with a sigh of relief. “Never again” we told each other as we left.

  • Looking back toward Hualalai mountain across Kiholo Bay. This turquoise water is where the turtles like to play.
    Dec
    2011
    02
    2011 / Dec / 02

    Kiholo Bay

    This was a long-awaited trip I have been wanting to take to Kiholo Bay. The beautiful finger of turquoise water can be seen from HWY 19 and was so inviting. What’s down there? Well this last weekend was my chance to look.

    The access road has been blocked to visitors, so we had to park alongside the road and make the long trek down. To me that is not such a bad thing. For one, it keeps the crowds down. Two, I heard this area had become a tent city for the Micronesians, who were abusing the natural wonders leaving trash everywhere and sudsing up the queens bath. Not a nice thing to see for tourists and locals who want to enjoy the treasures of the islands. Nevertheless, clean up has begun. We began out trip down a cool path through the Kiawe trees and lava rock, deviated through some private property down by the shoreline, and b-lined it straight to the base of the fish pond. As soon as I dropped off my things at a sandy spot on the south edge of the pond I left to explore.

    The other name for this pond is Turtle Bay, and I soon realized why. Some turtles gracefully swam and fed while others sun bathed, speckling the peninsula with their salty white shells. I navigated around every finger of the old Mauna Loa lava flow, which nearly took out all of this fish pond, excited to see the large grouping of fish along the edge of the water and the random turtle sighting. I made it to the far end of the pond and paused to take this picture looking back toward the mountains. What a cool magical place.

    I look forward to returning.

    by Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com

     

  • Honu, turtle, making it's way up the beach to rest
    Sep
    2011
    30
    2011 / Sep / 30

    Honu Coming To Rest on Anaehoomalu Beach, Waikoloa

    This was an amazing day for turtle sightings. Upon arrival to the Anaehoomalu Beach, AKA A-Bay, my family and I made our way down the coastline away from the hotels only to discover turtle after turtle after turtle. By the time we made it to a little cove, literally around the corner from the main beach, we had counted 15 turtles.

    The turtle pictured here was number 15. It was making it’s way up the beach to rest as the waves continued to pound all around making it struggle. Eventually it made it and slept pretty hardy 20 feet from where we were.

    To give the waves more character and motion I set my camera to aperture priority, enough to slow the shutter to 1/13th sec. This, with Image Stabilizing turned on kept the turtle in focus while blurring the crashing waves slightly. Then in Photoshop, I converted the image to black and white and overexposed +1 to lighten the darks of the turtle and blow out the highlights of the water just enough to make it less distracting.

    The image was nice in color, however, I was adjusting it to work for the Monochrome contest hosted by Popular Photography. Please vote for my image here – http://www.popphoto.com/photo-contest/septphotochallenge2011/photos/all/200250

    by Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com