Andrea Johnson Photography - Behind the scenes adventures of a professional photojournalist and video/multimedia producer specializing in the wine, food, spirits, and travel industries.

March 12, 2017

Aerial photography Tips for drone, helicopter & airplane shoots

I’ve always loved heights. I’ve progressed from a kid climbing trees and the roof of my house, to my first trip as a teenager parasailing, to skydiving, paragliding, to hundreds of photography shoots from helicopters and small craft airplanes. There’s nothing to compare with the thrill of experiencing a birds eye perspective.

Recently I’ve added a drone to my kit, though I must admit I was hesitant at first. I’d worked with a phenomenal team of aerial cinematographers, Dane Henry and Sean Haverstock for our Washington State Wine videos: http://lumariaproductions.com/work/wa-wine-consumer/. And I’d seen firsthand the expertise to operate high end octocopter drones with movi image stabilizer kits capable of carrying DSLR cameras and a two person drone/ camera operator team. As much as I’d love for my clients to have the budgets of projects like this Red Bull rock climbing project in Lebanaon, that is not the reality for most boutique wine clients. https://www.danehenrydigital.com/blog/2017/1/25/t7swubm1394hwfgylgb0s60ticmgpo

Then in 2016 with the release of the latest DJI phantom 4 drone, I was convinced on the DJI’s quality and ease of use for video. While I’d primarily purchased the drone for video aerial work, I was pleasantly surprised by it’s capability for still photography.

I’m often asked by clients how to best capture aerials of their properties, and to compare the pros and cons of drones vs helicoters vs airplanes. So here’s examples of my work, and my thoughts on each type of aerial photography.

Drone Photography examples:

Drone shot over pinot noir grapes being harvested at Cristom vineyards

Drones excel in close proximity, and shorter duration aerial photography. I’ve done helicopter photoshoots over many vineyards and sadly seen the workers literally run or hide from the helicopter in fear of INS immigration raids. Not to mention the noise and dust even from a small helicopter at 20 feet above the ground is quite distracting for the subjects. Though I have successfully captured several large group photos at groundbreaking wine events, I can’t imagine flying over a winemaker dinner at close proximity without major disruption!

Drone shot over Brooks Vineyard

In addition, when I need to capture both aerial and ground perspectives for time sensitive activities such as harvest, I’m able to cover both in quick proximity and with less budget than landing a helicopter and paying for standby time. My drone was also helpful on a recent snow day in Oregon, where I wasn’t sure if the vineyard was completely covered in white and I also needed to quickly capture ground views before the snow melted.

Drone shot over Montinore wine harvest

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February 8, 2017

Wine Spectator Oregon Story 2017

I always love photographing the Oregon story for Wine Spectator – hard to believe it’s been over a decade I’ve been photographing these features, and how much the Oregon wine industry has succeeded and grown!

Here’s tearsheets from the hot off the press March 31, 2017 issue:

Stoller Family Estate, Wine Spectator, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Willamette Valley

Stoller Family Estate – Opening Spread of Wine Spectator Magazine’s Oregon Wine Feature story, March 31, 2017

Bergstrom Winery & Eminent Domaine ,wine, Wine Spectator, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Willamette Valley

Bergstrom Winery & Eminent Domaine – Page 3-4

Willakenzie Estate & Lingua Franca -page 5-6

BJÖRNSON & Walter Scott Wines , wine, Wine Spectator, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Willamette Valley

BJÖRNSON & Walter Scott Wines – Page 7-8

December 15, 2016

Wine Spectator Washington Wine feature story 2016

Congratulations to the wineries featured in the latest issue – love photographing these stories, hard to believe it’s now been a decade photographing the great Pacific Northwest wineries for Wine Spectator magazine.

Opening spread, Rick & Darcey Small of Woodward Canyon Winery

Chris Figgins of Figgins Family Wines & Leonetti Cellars

Quilceda Creek, Columbia Crest, and Trey Busch / Jerry Solomon of Sleight of Hand Cellars

Marty Clubb, L’Ecole No. 41 winery

November 21, 2016

Varanasi, India – a photographer’s personal reflections

Every dawn and dusk thousands of pilgrims travel to the Ganges and perform the Ganga Aarti ceremony; making a wish, lighting a candle, and setting it afloat on the river. One of my wishes – to align my life and photography in a more balanced way. How? A surprising example may be this story of the photo I didn’t take.

Hindu girl selling small candles inside a cup of leaves and flowers.

The Sadhu was striking in appearance – white long hair, golden robe, radient weathered face and sinuous body. Something about the way he walked, held his head, and his calm eyes was different than the other Sadhus I’d encountered, too many eager to ask for a donation to pose for a photo. And it was obvious that I was in search of photographs, walking the ghats with two cameras around my shoulders, my eyes scanning the scene for images. As our paths converged in a relatively quiet area, where perfect morning light softly lit the colorful, graphic stairs of the ghat, we glanced at each other as we passed. I think we both took each other by surprise – that I didn’t raise my camera to take his photo, and that he didn’t stretch his hand out for a donation. I turned around to glance at the Sadhu one more time, and he turned simultaneously. He paused, the slightest gesture of his head communicated that he was inquisitive, possibly even open to being photographed and certainly curious that I hadn’t asked or tried to candidly captured the moment.

But I was tired of the superficial transaction I knew taking a quick photo would be, briefly regretting that I couldn’t linger here for days. For awhile I’ve been focusing more on capturing the perfect photo than the experience. Now I was searching for something more. In this circumstance, by not taking a photo I was able to connect – if only for a moment – authentically with him as a person. In the holiest of all places for Hindus, I had to believe there were still some things sacred. I smiled at him, did a slight bow and brought my hands to prayer as a sign of Namaste in greeting , and he graced me with his smile. He was indeed a “real” Sadhu, and this may be the most memorable experiences I had in India.

The bustle in one of the world’s oldest cities, Varanassi, is never ending and can be simultaneously wonderful and overwhelming to the senses. This photo of the cow serenely standing in the middle of the road with traffic buzzing by on both sides exemplifies the spirit of India to me, the ability to maintain calm in chaos, and the importance of finding your own center balance to adapt to the environment yet stay steady.
In 1897 Mark Twain said “Benares (aka Varanasi) is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”

Cow roaming ancient back streets of Varanasi, India

The Untouchables. Politically active Untouchables prefer the term Dalit, which means “oppressed.” They are the Hindu caste in charge of cremating bodies. We walked through their neighborhood on the way to the cremation ghats on the Ganges, I wasn’t sure what to expect but certainly not outward signs of normalcy. Or warmth in their smiles as they greeted us, children playing, goats wandering, same scenes we’d encountered in so many rural villages. But where are the men you may ask? The scene blocks away from this neighborhood was entirely different. And the caste issue runs far deeper than I can do justice in a caption

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November 17, 2016

Rajasthan, India

Camel silhouettes, Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Although we set up this scene for our photo tour, it was still a
challenge to find a clear spot without background distractions, and enough distance to use my 300mm lens on my Nikon d500 (dx sensor making non dx lens focal length 400mm). I love the gesture of the camel leg kicking up the sand and the individual postures of each person & camel. I chose to bracket this scene, allowing for a little bit of detail to show in the camel’s decorative blankets. India’s skies are extremely polluted in comparison to what I’m accustomed to, in this circumstance it worked well to shoot straight into the sun for the orange glow (no filter needed).

One of the world’s largest camel fairs in the world is held in the town of Pushkar, India. Each November at the time of the full moon, historically over 11,000 camels, horses, and cattle are traded over this two week festival. The men were sifting the sand out of the grain to feed their their camels to be traded. We camped on site and witnessed this epic spectacle from dawn to dusk

I’ll never know exactly what this Camel trader at Pushkar festival was thinking, but I have a good idea. I took this photo the day after the USA presidential election results were announced (we were lucky -or not depending on your perspective – to get news via a borrowed cell phone hotspot in the middle of the remote Rajasthan desert). It was a surreal place to hear news that will effect the world, yet for these camel herders the big news was the sudden halt on the most common currency notes – 500 and 1,000 rupees in effort to stop counterfeiting of the current banknotes allegedly used for funding terroism and black money in the market. Though most agree the intent of this ban is good, it has had serious repercussions – especially for many of India’s 260 million farmers have no bank accounts. Although I typically don’t pay money for photos, this time I sympathized with the traders dilemma and am sure the tips he made from foreigners that day outweighed cash earned by camel trading. And the lessons I learned from those in India to be flexible and adaptable in the face of great adversity is priceless.

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