Northern Rockies
Malawi 2017
“Camp Chisomo is a place for kids to be kids; where they learn about God’s grace and the power it gives to live with dignity in the present and hope for the future.”
Jay + Sarah
We spent part of our Saturday hiding in the trees as the sky poured down buckets on buckets of rain. It was THEE greatest. Never have I been so happy to be soaked by the rain and while hiding a camera under an umbrella.
We were able to capture one of thee most joy filled humans kneel down under an umbrella & ask his favorite human to be his forever. And as the rain fell harder and harder, we watched a confident, grateful, & joyous yes be said. We celebrated from afar with them as we snapped their first moments as future Mr. & Mrs. & thanked Jesus for providing them such a gift in one another.
It wasn’t too long until Jay pointed us out and we were able to run over and give them a big celebratory squeeze. The rain continued to fall and we caught an oh so happy Sarah and Jay continue to stand in awe of what just happened.
We won’t ever get over the gift it is to enter into stories like these!! We hope the images from that day give you a little glimpse of the joy and tears and the “I really get to marry this human?!” gasps that filled this moment.
-Courtney
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.
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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:
Deaf Can! Coffee
"Deaf Can! Coffee exists to affirm young people in their identity as a Deaf person and as someone made in the image of God. Success is defined as young men and women accepting themselves, believing in their inherent gifts and talents, taking responsibility for their future and becoming a leader in their families, communities and careers. We are an outreach of HarvestCall Jamaica, a not-for-profit organization founded to obey God and love others." [www.deafcancoffee.com]
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Wayne Coyne - Waterloo Center for the Arts
Here are a handful of photos I took for the Waterloo Center for the Arts at the opening of Wayne Coyne's (of the Flaming Lips) exhibit, featuring "King's Mouth" along with an assortment of other artwork and film by Coyne.
If you live near Waterloo, I would highly recommend going to see this exhibit - simply experiencing the King's Mouth is definitely worth it!
The exhibit is set to run until April 23rd. For more info, visit www.waterloocenterforthearts.org or like the Center's Facebook Page.
If you feel inclined, please like our Facebook Page to stay up to date with all our upcoming projects - it's much appreciated!
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Gear used:
Sony a7s + a6300
Rokinon 14mm 2.8
Canon 24mm 1.4
Canon FD 50mm 1.8
Canon 85mm 1.2
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.
Jake + Kayla
These two are near and dear to me for many a reasons, but one is that they were my very first solo shoot without Neal. On thee hottest of July days I got to follow these two around as they danced, laughed, and explored the home that they will soon share. Meanwhile, this friend is holding back all the happy-thankful-"wow, our God is so good" kind of tears behind the camera.
Getting to photograph one of your best friends + her to-be husband as giddy as can be is about as good as it gets. It has been a gift to walk alongside this friend throughout many different seasons the past ten years, but man has this been a sweet one. These were days that we prayed & hoped for. And I am continually awe of the way He has answered those prayers. For it has been far greater than anything we could have asked for.
This weekend these two will say yes to forever with the help of Jesus & I am honored that I get to watch. I can't wait to see how He uses them for His kingdom. However, I have a feeling that Jake + Kayla are going to be bringing the world a whole lot of hope, laughter, encouragement, nerf gun battles, salsa reviews, and joy upon joy.
-Courtney
