Blog

  • Two Days in Oregon

    In August I had an opportunity to take moments of two days to explore parts of Oregon that I have always wanted to visit and photograph.

    It’s always tricky for me to plan photo compositions and lighting situations for locations I’ve never seen with my own eyes. The countless images from other photographers, maps, and apps help with planning, but it is always completely different once I am on location. Then comes the flood of preparatory questions. How’s the lighting? What are my viewpoints? Where can I set up without being obtrusive and interfering with other people’s experience? Then finally what’s my exposure and lens? For both of these locations, I decided to focus on black-and-white images. The light was just too harsh to capture colors appropriately to portray a beautiful cohesive representation of the locations. I can use black-and-white as a technique to tone down the sun’s intensity and develop drama and movement through different tonality variations.

    Day One: Multnomah Falls.

    It is a beautiful tall waterfall along the Columbia River and just a short car ride from Portland.




    Day Two: Cannon Beach.

    The famous Haystack Rock towers over the beach, attracting people, birds, and sea life.

    Thank you for taking the time to view a small collection that has inspired me to return and explore.

    Purchase artwork on my Fine Art America online store.

  • Waves

    An ongoing photographic study of ocean waves.

    The beauty of ocean waves lies not only in their sheer power and magnitude but also in the mesmerizing patterns they create. As the ocean swells and crashes against the shore, it gives birth to an ever-changing canvas of patterns that captivate our senses. The graceful arcs and peaks of the waves paint a vivid picture of fluid motion, while the interplay of light and shadow on their surfaces creates a spectacle of color and texture. From the delicate foamy crests that form atop each wave to the rhythmic undulations that ripple across the vast expanse of the ocean, these patterns reflect the harmony and rhythm of nature. Standing near the shore, witnessing the infinite iterations of these patterns, one cannot help but marvel at the beauty and grandeur of the ever-evolving ocean waves.

    I cannot get enough of the ocean and its ever-changing beauty. I somewhat feel obsessed when I am standing on the shoreline photographing the same scenes repeatedly in search of unseen patterns.

    Artwork for sale on my online store.

    Aerial photograph of a crashing wave along the Big Island of Hawaii coastline

    Thank you for viewing my work.

  • Humpback Whales – 2023

    An ongoing collection of Humpback whale images during the 2023 migration season and a short story.
    From the shoreline, I tested my comfort limits of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. I was unbelievably surprised that I could fly comfortably over 1 mile. Previously I was reluctant to fly too far from the shoreline for fear of losing the drone in the ocean; not only for the loss of an investment but also for directly littering the ocean.
    With this newfound reach, I spent a lot of time capturing the beauty of a Humpback whale family resting and swimming in the calm blue waters surrounding the Big Island of Hawaii. It was exciting to watch them swim up to the surface to catch a breath. Swim and play for a bit and then dive back down to rest.
    Now several flights after this first uncomfortable trial flight I have found myself continuing the adventure out into the ocean to photograph these amazing animals. I feel blessed that I am able to comfortably send my camera out to sea and capture unforgettable moments that normally I wouldn’t be able to without getting on a boat every day.
    I hope you enjoy the images I was able to capture as much as I do.
    © Christopher Johnson
    Images for sale on Fine Art America
    Looking for more images? Check out last year’s Humpback Whale images.
  • Mauna Loa Volcanic Eruption of 2022

    After 38 years of inactivity, Mauna Loa is now erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii.

    This is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Due to the massive size of Mauna Loa and the number of people that live on its slopes, it is fantastic that the flow isn’t devastating the island. Instead, we are witnessing a very beautiful event and one that is drawing a lot of attention.

    Without looking into it I would guess that hundreds of thousands of people have ventured out to see the lava. I’ve taken 4 trips up the mountain and every time there are hoards of people. What is normally a 45-minute drive is now over 1.5 hours. There is a steady line of traffic both ways from Saddle Road to Kona and until the lava severs the road I don’t think this will stop.

    Here are a few of the images I took while viewing from Mauna Kea. Enjoy!

    Prints are available on my Fine Art America store.

  • Spinner Dolphins

    A collection of aerial photographs of spinner dolphins

    A pod of dolphins swimming just off the Kona shoreline in the morning. The ocean was clear, made up of beautiful shades of blue. This was a perfect setup for photographing these majestic animals.

    It didn’t come without difficulty. I made 7 separate trips. Most of the time the dolphins were nowhere to be seen and I discovered that the presence of tiger sharks scared them off. Other times they were around, but my shutter settings were too slow. I walked away with a lot of blurry images. Nothing more frustrating. This last trip was a huge success.

    I hope you enjoy the images.

    Fine art prints are available at YellowKorner Galleries.

    Check out another Pod of Dolphins post taken in 2019.

  • Tiger Shark

    A large tiger shark swimming around the calm morning ocean near Kailua Kona.

    I frequent this location in search for new unique aerial images. The waters are mostly protected from high surf so I most often find animals that are resting or seeking shelter. My goal is to find animals that make a visual impact and draw interest. When I noticed the large tiger shark swimming around the shallow waters I was super excited and started to follow it around.

    Like photographing the Humpback Whales, I had to work to keep up with quick movement. Makes it difficult to take still images when after every press of the shutter I needed to adjust positions. In retrospect I should have had a burst shutter selected to get multiple images while capturing subtle movements. I was in such an adrenaline state that I wasn’t thinking.

    This collection is the exhausting of three drone batteries during an amazing summer morning.

    Prints are available for purchase on my online store.

    Tiger shark swimming in the beautiful blue Hawaii ocean

    Check out the Honokohau Bait Ball post

  • Honokohau Bait Ball

    This bait ball was formed just inside the entrance to Honokohau harbor.

    I set out for an early morning flight to take advantage of the indirect warm sunlight. My goal was to locate dolphins that are usually close to the Honokohau bay. After a few laps of not seeing any life around the waters I started checking out the coastline. Just rounding the rocky edge and into the harbor I spotted the dark shape of a large bait ball. I was amazed at how clear the water was when I navigated closer to get some different angles. The southern swells were just starting to let up, so I was anticipating some debris from sand being kicked up with each passing wave. The fish must have been just within the break to be safe from turbulence. This worked in my favor and allowed me to slowly frame each shot.

    Usually fish form this large ball when they feel threatened. They use their numbers as a defense to protect themselves. I was hoping to see a shark feeding, but instead witnessed 2 Yellowfin Tuna chasing the fish around. In one shot it appears that there is a tiger shark resting under the fish in an opening. I have not concluded what the shape actually is, but when zooming in I can make out fins and gills. There is a tiger shark that is known to stay around this marina.

    Prints are available at my FineArtAmerica store front.

    Check out another bait ball post here Kiholo Bait Ball

  • Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset

    The Beautiful Pu’u Poa Beach in Princeville Kauai

    August, 8th 2022

    The first time I visited this beach a year ago I came without my camera and was kicking myself for not being prepared. Not a total loss as I did have my drone and got some killer aerial shots around the bay, however, I talked myself out of taking additional gear. I learned my lesson and packed my camera, lenses, and dismantled my tripod into several pieces in-order to fit in my carry on. The tripod is a huge waste of space. This is when I discovered that Peak Designs makes an amazing travel tripod that has the smallest profile of any tripod I have ever seen. More on this after my review in a few weeks.

    Pu’u Poa beach is beautiful. A great place to relax and enjoy the day with the ability to sunbathe or seek shelter under the natural overhanging canopy of the tropical almond trees. The golden sand meets the warm shallow water while the canopy of leaves kiss the ocean a couple feet away from the shoreline. A few openings in the leaves reveal the distant mountains and open waters of Hanalei Bay. It’s at one of these openings that I am setup and waiting for the light to be perfect.

    Summer time is difficult to photograph due to the tropical storms and hurricanes. Extra humidity fills the air and clouds form just over the horizon making the colors die quickly. That was the case during this shoot. This is why I always begin shooting early to capture the light that is just a little warmer, but in a lot of cases too bright for slow shutter effects. My focus is on the backlit leaves and to make them fairly sharp and to frame the distant mountains. Lucky enough the sun gave me a little bit of color just before it faded. This is the resulting image. I plan to return for another attempt.

    Thank you for reading.

    Buy a Print

    Beautiful photograph of a Hawaiian sunset viewed through the back lit leaves of a tree.
    Sunset through overhanging Tropical Almond Tree leaves on the beautiful sandy Pu’u Poa beach on Kauai.
    Additional images taken while waiting for the sun to start setting.
    Under the canopy of tropical almond tree branches at the Pu'u Poa beach in Princeville, Kauai
    Footprints in the sandy beach of Pu’u Poa beach
    Soft light filters through the canopy of tree branches along Pu'u Poa beach
    Sunlight filters through the overhanging tree branches along the Pu’u Poa coastline
    Sunstar seem through the tropical almond branches of Pu'u Poa beach
    Sunstar shining through the tropical almond tree branches
    Mountains of Haena seen through the tree branches from Princeville
    The distant mountains of Haena seen through the tropical almond tree branches of Pu’u Poa beach

     

    For more images of Kauai please view my Kauai Aerial Images post.

  • Aerial views from Princeville to Haena

    A collection of aerial photographs I captured from Princeville to Haena on the beautiful garden island of Kauai.

    It is always a pleasure to be able to visit another island. The Big Island is beautiful and has a lot of very unique qualities, but it is a young island. Erosion hasn’t taken place like it has on the other islands. Kauai is the oldest island of the Hawaiian island chain with an estimated 5 million years. Stepping from a landscape of lava rock and gentle sloping mountain to a lush green landscape with towering chiseled mountains and waterfalls is exciting for me.

    With the Mavic 2 Pro drone I went exploring. I took advantage of the early morning and late afternoon’s warm light which accented the tropical landscapes. This is a collection of the images I created from the beautiful sandy beaches of Hideaways and Pu’u Poa as well as along the coastline to Haena.

    I look forward to returning to Kauai so that I can continue to explore this magical island.

    Additional non-drone images check out the Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset post.

    Sunset reflected in the Hanalei river on the beautiful island of Kauai
    The Hanalei river reflecting the surrounding mountains during sunset.
    Hideaway Beach Sand Design
    Shoreline designs of Hideaways Beach in Princeville
    Aerial panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Shoreline design of Haena beach
    Haena beach on the island of Kauai
    The Lamaha'i river meets the Lumaha'i beach
    The point where the Lumaha’i river meets the Lumaha’i beach.
    Hideaways beach in Princeville on the island of Kauai
    Beautiful Hideaways Beach in Princeville Kauai
    Panoramic aerial view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai
    A panorama of the beautiful Hanalei bay in Kauai.

    Purchase prints of the above images by visiting Fine Art America or by contacting me through my Contact Page.

  • Mother and Baby Humpback Whales

    A beautiful adventure.

    I was waiting for the moment to photograph and video Humpback whales through the eyes of a drone. I kept a close eye to the ocean along the Big Island but didn’t have much luck scouting any whales. It wasn’t until I had an opportunity to visit with my parents on Maui that I saw an abundance of spouts and splashes peppering the ocean. A very exciting moment for me. What I didn’t expect was how difficult it was to find the whales from the air.

    Along the cliffs on the west side of Maui we stood looking for some whales close by. We were extremely lucky to find a couple whales within 400 yards from us. Now all I needed to do was get to them.

    From 400 feet in the air, you would think finding a 50-foot, 30-ton mammal would be easy to find, but it’s definitely not. Thinking you out far enough is a huge challenge. Often times I was way too close and had to go out way further, however, once I determined I wasn’t far enough the whales had either swam away or drifted. By the time I was 500 yards away I couldn’t find the drone in the sky to determine if I was nearby, so I had to fly back until I spotted it and adjusted and began the search.

    My heart raced the moment I finally spotted the whales and then I had a huge smile on my face when I noticed what I was looking at was a mother and her baby. It was so peaceful watching the baby coming up for air, swimming around, and twirling before diving back down to mamma. Super amazing moment that I felt very privileged to be watching.

    After this first trip we made several attempts to capture more amazing moments and with patience we were lucky to find another mother and her baby close to the first location. These photographs are a collection of the two successful flights.

    Photographs were taken with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone and Smart Controller.

    Purchase Prints – FineArtAmerica.com

    Humpback Whales
    Mother and baby humpback whales in the blue Maui ocean
    Humpback whales
    Mother and baby humpback whales swimming side by side.
    Humpback Whales
    Mother and baby humpback whales
    Humpback Whales
    Mother and baby humpback whales together in the beautiful blue Maui waters
    Humpback Whales
    A humpback whale tail seen before the final decent.
    Humpback Whales breathe a rainbow in the mist with their spout
    A mother Humpback whale and her baby breathe a rainbow with mist as they take their breaths

    View more aerial images I took on trips to other islands like in my Aerial Views from Princeville to Haena post.

  • Kiholo Bay Aerial 2021

    First flight of 2021 over Kiholo Bay with a Mavic 2 Pro drone

    It was morning before any wind or people showed up. The sun had been up for an hour. Kiholo Bay was perfect. I couldn’t wait to fly the drone and capture the beauty of this magical place.

    Immediately I noticed two black figures in the water from 100ft in the air and came down lower to check them out. A pair of Eagle Rays were playing in the turquoise waters. I followed them for a bit and then took off to explore other parts of the coastline. Schools of fish, turtles, and unique designs of the lava rock shoreline captured my attention for a while. At the end of the flight I noticed a family of five Eagle Rays swimming together.

    I am always amazed at the beauty of Kiholo Bay.

    Prints are available on my FineArtAmerica store.

     

    Marine life in Kiholo Bay
    Five Eagle Rays swimming in turquoise waters
    Aerial view of a section of Kiholo bay matched up to a section of the ocean
    The turquoise blue of Kiholo Bay contrasted with the blues of the ocean
    Aerial view of three eagle rays swimming in the turquoise waters of Kiholo Bay
    Three Eagle Rays swimming together in the beautiful turquoise waters of Kiholo bay
    Aerial view of Kiholo Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii
    An aerial view of Kiholo Bay

    If you like areal images of marine animals check out this Humpback whale post.

  • Golden Leaf Trees

    Golden leaves look like autumn trees on a grassy hill.

    Buy a print

    I wanted to try something new. Being stuck creatively because of the VOG filled sky left me to play with macro compositions.

    I had been walking by golden leaves that had fallen on the stained concrete for a few months now. I always thought leaves look like small trees and wanted to play with this idea. With the moss ground covering along the edges of the concrete pathway I lined some leaves along it to play with a tree on a hill concept. I took two different focal shots and stacked them in Photoshop for sharpness and then began working on darkening the background for depth.

    It was a lot of fun trying to create a concept photograph. This exercise opened up my mind to a new way of photographing nature.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Kauai Drive Guide

    Kauai Drive Guide Vacation Planner cover shot

     

    Excited to find my photograph of a beautiful orange Hibiscus flower was purchased for the cover of the Kauai Drive Guide for the months of April – July, 2017.

  • Island Naturals Art Display

    Photography For February 2017

     

    For the month of February 2017, I will be displaying my photography in the dining area of the Island Naturals natural food store in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. If you are in the area please come by and check it out.


    If you are at my site because you saw my artwork and wanted to view more I would like to say THANK YOU … it means a lot to me.

    The images on display are for sale along with those on this site. I have a growing storefront on RedBubble where prints, mugs, phone cases, and more can be purchased. If you are looking for an image that isn’t available please contact me using the Contact Page or by my phone number on my flyer or business card.

     

    30″x40″ – Chameleon – “This Isn’t Working” – $580.00

    30″x40″ – Sunset – “Keahole Sunset” – $580.00

    30″x40″ – Purple Flower – “Macro” – $580.00

    16″x48″ – Paddle Board Sunset – “Relax” – $390.00

     

     

  • Kamokuna At Night

    Photographing the Kamokuna Lava Ocean Entry at Night

     

    On December 31st there was a drastic change to the shoreline at the Kamokuna ocean entry. The lower shelf that the lava once gradually flowed over before entering into the ocean as well as part of an old lookout point fell into the ocean. Somewhere around 17 acres of land suddenly disappeared. I had to go see it and so as a last minute plan we headed over. I couldn’t believe the amount of roadblocks we encountered on the way. Dead car battery, flat bike tires, missing headlamps, and an accident that closed the road for 30min. While sitting in traffic I turned to my wife and said. “I don’t think we’re gonna make it in time.” At that point we considered abandoning the mission, but to our surprise the road opened up and we were on our way. Lucky it did because I don’t know when we would be able to get back over there.

    The trail was light with people, so we were able to ride with ease without having to worry about everyone and made it with plenty of daylight to spare. When we came prior to the collapse, in August of 2016, the road went on further and we were able to get close to the lava. Close enough where we were able to see a lot of action with our naked eyes. Now the new lookout puts us several hundreds of yards away. The action is harder to see without binoculars or zoom lenses. With the amount of smoke billowing off of the entry even seeing the lava is difficult. A gust of wind would swoop in and push the smoke where we would get a glimpse of the large lava river draining into the ocean. It was impressive to see even with the great distance.

    My family walked around and explored all the viewing areas while I found a spot I liked and didn’t move from that spot the entire time we were there. With the small crowds of people I wanted to make sure that I had a front row spot where I didn’t need to worry about someone moving in front of me. Even still I had the occasional tourist think I was their husband and stand next to me while telling me about how they nearly fell down in the dark. I would slowly look up and watch them get flustered with embarrassment and walk away. Strangely enough it happened more than once.

    My lens of choice was the 300mm telephoto for the distance. It was windy, so I needed to weigh the tripod down with my bag and crank down all the setting nobs. I also used a cable release and waited for the wind to die down before taking the shots in order to reduce camera shake. Any slight movement while fully zoomed in will move the composition a couple feet.

    It was at night that the lava glowed and showed life with a lot of small explosions. I decided to capture the night sky with my wide angle before leaving. I took 8 to 10 – 30 second shots while my kids grew impatient. They were definitely ready to start the long bike ride back and get something to eat.

    As I stepped off my bike at the car I was relieved the bike ride was over. Any longer and the extra hard, value engineered, cheap ass seat would have to be surgically removed from me. It has been a couple weeks since then, but I swear I walk differently now. We had fun.

    © Christopher Johnson

     

    View more lava images - http://www.fromhereonin.com/volcanic-activity/