Cameras: Sony a7rii / Sony a7iii
Lenses: Voitlander 15mm 4.5 / Sony Zeiss 35mm 2.8 / Sony 85mm 1.8 / Sony 70-200mm 4
Filters: Lee Circular Polariser / Lee Big Stopper
Software: Lightroom / Mastin Labs Presets
Prints available here.
Italy 2021
Redwoods
Malawi
“Camp Chisomo is located in southern Malawi, a region that is rich in natural resources and cultural beauty. Camp Chisomo is established in the heart of the villages we have spent years working with in order to continue building relationships and implementing sustainable resources and practices.
Camp Chisomo provides an opportunity for stateside high school and college students to spend a summer as counselors, learning about the culture while running programming sessions for the children at camp. Campers are local children that have been nominated by village officials to attend, while stateside sponsorships allows campers to attend camp without the burden of financial responsibility.
Our camp facilities are intended to bring structure and safety to our campers, while providing them with the new and exciting experiences. Our staff are currently constructing our Staff Housing building, allowing our staff and counselors to reside on our land as we run camp programming and continue the construction of future buildings. Our future goals include cabins used as housing for counselors and campers, which will likely be the first time these children will sleep in a bed or under a mosquito net to protect them during the night. We desire to have a chapel that will be used each morning and night with campers, and a mess hall that will be used for meals and activities.”
We spent a few weeks this last November with the Camp Chisomo Team. We were able to capture the beginning stages of building on the Camp’s land while seeing some old friends. We love every thing camp stands for and we hope that you’d follow along with their journey!
Here is a link to video footage of our time with Camp Chisomo:
Morocco
When a dear friends asks you to adventure with her to Morocco while chasing some new business dreams….YOU SAY YES!!!!
Here is a look at our week in Marrakech, Morocco. A place that is extremely hard to put words to. They simply can’t do it justice. I hope these images spark your interest and encourage you to take a trip yourself!
Be sure to keep you eyes peeled for “Driftless Styles,” Kelsie Kunkle’s newest adventure!
Fall Colors 2018
Northern Rockies
Ireland - Travel Photography Recap
I don't feel qualified to write anything about photographing Ireland. We were only there for a week and saw such a small portion of it, but alas - here are some photos and some thoughts.
Here's where we stayed along our route:
Dublin
Kinsale
Kenmare (just south of Killarney National Park)
Ventry (near Dingle)
Dublin
-Neal
Moab - Travel Photography Recap
Courtney Susan and I went to Moab with some pals for spring break this year.
I hadn't been to any desert regions of the US since before I was taking photos, so it was cool to get to experience it with a camera this time.
There's 2 National Parks in the Moab area:
- Arches - Well known and well attended, if you wait too long into the day the entrance line really got big. It was about 30 minutes of driving one way to get to the farthest trailheads or landmark spots.
- Canyonlands - Split up into 3 sections with 3 separate entrances, this one sees less than half the traffic of Arches per year but is amazing in a completely different way (and we only were there for a day and just saw the uppermost section called Island in the Sky, the other sections apparently are different kind of landscapes all-together)
Cool. Let's look at some photos.
-Neal
Thanks for reading/looking with your eyeballs! If you enjoyed this format and think it would be helpful for other people wanting to get images in Moab, sharing it on the interwebs and social media is always encouraged.
Austria - Travel Photography Recap
I've been wanting to make more photography-centric blog posts for a while now, specifically when it comes to travel and landscape. The motive is relatively simple: there's some resources for location scouting before a photo trip (Location Scout is an example), and there's waaaaay too many blog posts vying for every tourists ad revenue for just about every place imaginable (which is the majority of sites that come up with a simple search such as "travel photography Salzburg Austria"), but there's not a whole lot of sites that get straight to the point.
So I'm going to try to create blog posts of what I would want to see when researching a place. These are my tentative requirements:
- Nothing too wordy. Not necessarily because humans have lost the ability to read for more than 5 seconds, but more because I'm concerned with the story of the images and how they were shot rather than writing a novel about it.
- A bit technical. I'm going to try to put the camera settings below each image that was thought out and planned. Some images are simply going to make the blog because it pertains to the location or I like it a lot, but that may change in the future.
- Location heavy. When I search a potential location, it's great to come across someone who describes the location in some detail. Is it a 5 minute walk from the car lot or an hour hike in the woods, etc.
-Neal
AUSTRIA 2018
The Dean and I went to Austria on a whim in March. Because there was essentially zero planning, we tried to fit in some classic locations but did a lot of wandering around as well. We were there for about 4 days, spending 3 in Salzburg and 1 in Hallstadt.
Thanks for reading/looking with your eyeballs! If you enjoyed this format and/or think it would be helpful for other people wanting to get images in Salzburg and Hallstadt, sharing it on the interwebs and social media is always encouraged.
Yosemite
Italy
We're big fans of Italy. We love the language, the food, the cities, and especially their slow pace of life. We're also big fans of other people experiencing places that we love - so our hope is that as soon as you are done scrolling through these images, the next thing you do is book a ticket to lo Stivale (the boot)
Click on any image to view it fullscreen. If you are interested in buying travel prints, click here
Blevio
Our first stop was Blevio, a small town on the Southwest finger of Lake Como in Northern Italy. We chose to make this our first stop so we could spend a few days relaxing away from the tourist hotspots on the lake, and the view from our Airbnb definitely helped. Also our hosts gave us some free Red Orange juice, which is an automatic 5 star rating for the Johnsons.
Featured
Lake Como
We took a ferry around Lake Como, and it was definitely worth the 25 Euros. You get to relax on a boat as it cruises around a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, so there's not much to complain about unless you are prone to seasickness.
Anytime the ferry stops to pick up more people, you can get off and explore the town then hop back on the next available ferry.
Bellagio
Bellagio is one of those tourist hotspots that I mentioned earlier, but everyone says that it's a must see if you're on Lake Como, so we hopped off the ferry and spent about 2 hours walking around "The Pearl of the Lake".
Como
Our last stop in the Lake Como area was the city of Como. We stayed in a hostel called Ostello Bello, and everything was painted yellow so it gets a 5 star rating from Courtney Susan.
We took a day trip up to Brunate, where the Faro Voltiano Lighthouse gives a great view of the Lake.
San Miniato
Next we went down south to San Miniato, in the Tuscany region. This small town was significant in ancient times, sitting right along the Via Francigena - a path connecting Rome and Northern Europe.
Today it's most known for its well preserved city walls and buildings, along with the White Truffle festival that is held there every year.
We lucked out and got to go to their monthly Farmer's Market, which helped the city lock down a solid 5 stars from us.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre has become overrun by tourists in recent years, but it still is definitely worth a see if you get the chance. It's well-known colorful houses are cool, but it's the feeling of being stuck in time that seems to be most attractive to visitors. Cars aren't allowed in most of the villages, so time moves extra slow.
After about 48 hours of insane travel across the pond, our friends finally made it up to Monterosso al Mare at 1 in the morning, and we started the 15 minute trek up the hillside to our lemon grove Airbnb.
Florence
Next up was Florence, the capital of Tuscany. There's way too many historic buildings, churches, and landmarks within this city to sum up in a few sentences, so you're going to have to Wikipedia it when you're done here.
Chianti Region
One of the last adventures that we got to go on was a wine tour around the Chianti Region. It taught us one very important thing - our Balsamic Vinegar is super fake.
If you are interested in buying prints from this trip or other travel prints, click here
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Also, one more thing - here's a home vid that we made while in Italy:
Washington D.C.
Last November we had a two day layover in D.C. and ever since we have been itching to get back. We took advantage of a few free days over spring break to visit some family & get back to one of our favorite places. We wouldn't consider ourselves "big city people,", but man has D.C. stolen our hearts in many a ways.
I went into our three-day trip with bigs hopes to see all the things, but soon realized that it will take years for me to fully see all the sights, learn all the history, try all the local eateries, and admire all the beauty of our nation's capitol. It's not a place you can rush through and I think thats the thing that has allowed D.C. to win a top spot on my list of places I love. It makes you slow down, reflect, question, give thanks for your past, & hope for what's to come.
Our three days spent in D.C. were just enough to remind me of those things. Take a peak at our quick trip through the lens of our good 'ol trusty film camera. We hope these photos encourage you to plan a trip to D.C., grab a history book, or seek out the history in your own backyard.
Our days were filled with lots of riding, walking, reading, and learning. I love the fact that there is a place to reflect & learn around every corner. This trip's highlights included a tour of the Supreme Court building & the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument. My gratefulness grew right along with my understanding.
We were lucky enough to arrive to lots of blooms. D.C. is famous for their cherry blossoms & I now understand why! As if those beauties weren't enough, we stumbled upon the U.S. Botanical Gardens as well. This place is full of beauty- from a cacao tree to more succulents than you could dream of. It was a quick trip through some of what I would consider the wonders of the world. What beauty we are surrounded by.
Exploring the different neighborhoods in D.C. made me love the city that much more. Colored buildings, a coffee shop with a story, & the local eateries are all it took.
Here are a few places we were big fans of:
Ebenezer's Coffeehouse, a coffeehouse owned & operated by National Community Church. They brew fair-trade coffee & their profits go towards community outreach projects.
We, The Pizza, a pizza place that focuses on community while serving up one mean slice of pizza.
Good Stuff Eatery, a classic American restaurant with high quality burgers & fries. Oh, and don't forget the handspun milk shakes.
What a place. Hope to see you again soon, D.C.!
7 countries in 2 weeks
Late November I travelled with Tim Dodd across the pond for a few days of adventure and then 3 days of work in Ethiopia. Within a span of two weeks, I touched ground in 7 different countries (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ethiopia, England, and the good ole USA) - here are a few photos, mostly from the Benelux region and Germany, with (hopefully) accurate captions of where each one was taken.
To see more travel blog posts like this, click here.
Grand Teton National Park
