david Johnston Archives | Outdoor Photography Guide

Living Beyond Travel Photography

August 5, 2019 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles.

Recently, I made a drastic life change that allowed me to completely re-evaluate my thoughts and practice of travel photography. I moved from Nashville, Tennessee to one of the most rural areas of the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti. Normally when you think about travel photography experiences your mind journeys to a few…

Trip Report: Savannah, Georgia

August 1, 2019 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles.

There are a lot of famous photography locations in the United States. There are national parks like Yosemite, Death Valley, and Glacier that boast numerous photography spots. However, there are also many photography locations that aren’t necessarily less popular; they’re just less explored. In this post, we are going to examine the the less experienced…

How to Photograph Shapes Instead of Landscapes

November 16, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Landscape Photography Articles, Tips & Techniques Articles.

I believe that the three biggest concepts in photography are gear, composition, and post-processing. The smallest of those three is gear, the second smallest is post-processing, and the one that is most essential is composition. If I had to attach percentages to them, it would go like this: Gear: 10% Composition: 65% Post Processing: 25%…

Trip Report: Great Sand Dunes National Park

June 15, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Trip Report.

I believe that photographers should have a great idea of the shots that they want to take when they travel to a new location. I’m not talking about vague, general ideas about the shots you want to walk away with and add to your portfolio. I’m talking about very exact details of photographs that you…

Why Post-Processing Your Water Photos is Different

May 24, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Landscape Photography Articles, Tips & Techniques Articles.

Whenever I’m teaching someone in a photography workshop or in a classroom setting, I always try to get them into a comfortable workflow they can follow for every photograph they edit. However, every photograph is different which forces the photographer to make decisions on some extra edits they should make. A workflow is important because…

The One Big Thing About Water Photography

April 21, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Landscape Photography Articles, Tips & Techniques Articles.

If you’ve been an outdoor photographer for very long you might have noticed by now that you spend a lot of time near the water. There’s no doubt that water features add a lot to any landscape nature scene. Ponds are a tremendous feature to shoot with mountains, waterfalls are always a beautiful cascading subject,…

5 Tips for Better Adventure Photography

February 22, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Tips & Techniques Articles, Travel Photography Articles.

I’ve been in quite the quandary the past few months because I fear there is a division among some people who consider themselves to be outdoor photographers. On one side there is the old guard of outdoor photographers who desire to keep the shooting pure. It’s not outdoor photography unless it’s a photograph of only…

How to Maximize a Great Photography Location

January 25, 2017 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Landscape Photography Articles, Tips & Techniques Articles.

As a professional photographer, I’ve had the joy of having a career that allows me to travel to some amazing locations. I’ve seen some of the most famous places during my travels, but just like a lot of people I still have a long list of places to see (and it seems to be getting…

Behind the Shot: Quoddy Lighthouse

November 17, 2016 By David Johnston & filed under All Articles, Behind the Shot.

Earlier this year in May, I was co-leading a night photography workshop in Acadia National Park with Adam Woodworth. Acadia National Park is amazing in May. The weather is still crisp, the park isn’t crowded at all, and there are still plenty of things to photograph during the day. This workshop in particular was one…

Meet the Photographer: David Johnston

September 12, 2016 By Editor & filed under All Articles, Meet the Photographer.

When David Johnston isn’t leading photography workshops and tutorials, he can be found traveling the world taking photos to awe and inspire his viewers. He can now add contributor at Outdoor Photography Guide to his resume. We sat down with David to learn more about his work. Read on. Outdoor Photography Guide: How did you…