Stephen Johnson Photography Workshops

Just completed my second workshop with Steve and already signed up for a third. I took printing and image editing workshops and loved them both. Steve is amazing– he has the depth of knowledge of a true expert and the patience and sensitivity of a great teacher. He is also extremely receptive to feedback and eager to make adjustments based on students’ needs. After taking digital photography classes from several teachers, I can say there is simply no one better to teach you digital photography than Steve.

Just finished a photography workshop on digital printing with Stephen Johnson and I was so thrilled with both the workshop and the way it was taught. Stephen’s depth of knowledge is deep — and his teaching style is both patient and thorough. I came away with a whole new love for the art of printing. I would not hesitate to recommend any of his California photography workshops.

I took the weeklong workshop with my father and I was very impressed with Steve’s photography, information, history of digital photography and his articulate teaching style. Not only does he know a tremendous amount of details, but he is very approachable about any questions you may have. He really has a great lab and wonderful tools to see how the professionals and indeed how the cutting edge technology is being applied. Don’t miss out on this valuable teacher.

Stephen Johnson is a Fine Arts photographer that previously specialized in landscapes and abstract photographic art. He is now branching out into new areas.
As someone who lives just 10 miles away from his studio, I have signed up for both individual tutoring and group workshops. I have noticed at the workshops, that some people fly from foreign countries, such as this week, a couple flew from London, just to attend this workshop.
If you live locally, his courses are wonderful to attend and very reasonably priced… since you don’t have to fly to attend. But many people do indeed, fly to attend his courses, because of his extraordinary talent.
I just took a one-​week course from him on Photoshop, a program that I have been using exclusively since 1996, and I did learn some important new concepts and workflows, even though I have used this program for over a decade.
There are very few questions that he cannot answer in detail.
On the negative side: Steve almost knows too much about photography and printing, so you may need to ask questions to draw him back to the basics tools that you may need.
If you use Photoshop and are a local to the San Francisco Bay Area, this is a great chance to polish your skills. If you do not use Photoshop and Camera Raw you will have a steeper learning curve.
Either way, you will come away with new tools and new information. Specific skills you learn will need additional practice after the class. So expect that you will need to spend several hours practicing what you learned at his classes, before you are good at implementing these techniques.

I’ve just taken my second workshop with Stephen Johnson; this time it was the Mono Lake workshop in the Eastern Sierras. If you are looking for a source of inspiration for your photography, and enjoy experiencing the spirit of a place as well as the challenges of capturing it digitally, you can’t get a better workshop than this one.
Stephen took us to many hidden areas that the tourist simply passing through the area would not find. Each was unique in terrain: volcanic craters, huge boulder fields, glowing aspen groves in canyons, and of course the famous eerie tufas of the lake basin. Knowing the terrain is one plus, but knowing what time of the day to visit to capture the unique light is another. From dawn to dusk we photographed as Stephen advised us on composition as well as the importance of reading histograms.
Evenings were spent analyzing and critiquing our day’s work, so we could benefit the next day in our shooting. HIs love for and involvement in this special area made it a very memorable experience.

I’ve gone on two workshop trips with Stephen Johnson, after buying a few of his prints and books over the years. I took my eldest son (in his early 20s) on the Galapagos trip a couple of years back: an incredible experience on a small boat with a top photographer. Plus, I this year did one of his Death Valley expeditions. Stephen bends over backwards to help you at the level where you are. I now get histograms and why they are important to capture the best images, thanks to both real-​time feedback as well as the evening photo review sessions.
He has a mastery of both composition and the technical aspects of capturing the best best photographs both at the time of taking the photo and the post-​processing using raw tools and Photoshop.

Just finished a class with Stephen Johnson and was very impressed with both his expertise and his compassion about photography and the well being of his class. I highly recommend for both beginners and advanced photographers. You will be amazed at all the insights.

I’ve struggled getting my prints to look the same as the images on my monitor. Stephen taught me how to calibrate my monitor and create profiles for several paper types that I use. He also gave me lots of personal time to get my images ready for print.
Now I am getting prints that look like what I shot. Stephen is patient and certainly at the top of the fine art printing pyramid. We’re lucky to have him in the bay area.