More Snow Dog / November 12, 2017 by Michael Johns

Noosa makes a great subject for photographing snowy scenes.

Wedding Preview / November 5, 2017 by Michael Johns

Like any amateur photographer, I've occasionally toyed with the idea of getting into shooting weddings. So just for fun, I've photographed some of the items that appeared in my own wedding in an art studio in Seattle that just wrapped up last night. Something to look back on while Casey and I wait in anticipation for the full suite of images from the photographers we hired.

I used the idea of a geologic stratigraphic column to represent the layers of our relationship timeline. This piece of art served as the backdrop for guests to sign during the reception. The beautiful simple floral arrangements, like the one in the foreground, were made by Casey's close friends Laura, Lee, Angela, and Lexi.

Our close friend and officiant Rachel Osias, who happens to be a potter, spend weeks making these small ceramic plates with our wedding logo stamped in the center. These served as gifts for our guests to take home with them. She made 90, and they turned out amazing!

Our good friends in the far north, Alexis and Kyle, surprised us with these awesome custom labels for our wedding beers. Kyle brewed four special varieties that were a big hit during the reception, and Alexis designed the amazing labels that feature both of our study species, our dog Noosa, and a family trip to the Brook's Range. Like Rachel with the plates, these two went way beyond our already high expectations for the beers.

We requested support for our honeymoon as a wedding gift, but my longtime friend Tram and her husband Russell won best wedding gift of them all with this sweet ass print of the Belafonte from "The Life Aquatic". She knows me too well!

Our penthouse above the venue featured this amazing tub, which was used pre and post wedding.

Nothing special here, I just liked my shoes. Plus wedding photographers seem required to photograph shoes.

Relaxing after a long weekend.

No trip to Seattle would be complete without paying a visit to the Chihuly museum.

Snow Dog / October 31, 2017 by Michael Johns

A quick winter photoshoot with Noosa before a pulse of warm air from the south turned the snow into rain and melted everything.

Spontaneous Camping Trip / September 8, 2017 by Michael Johns

A massive coronal mass ejection aimed dead on Earth smashed into the magnetosphere last night. Geomagnetic storms were forecasted to be severe, with visible auroras possible from the poles down to the lower 48. It's hard to stay home when the data looks this good. So we didn't. Casey and I quickly pilled the camping gear into the truck and drove above the tree line to achieve sweeping views of the horizon. The auroras ended up being less than we expected, and will likely be best tonight, but we managed to see some displays before the chill of the wind whipping across the open tundra forced us to retreat back into the tent.

Overnight Trip to the Arctic / September 6, 2017 by Michael Johns

Casey and I decided to get a preview of fall by driving past the Arctic Circle to the Brooks Range. The 9 hour drive along the Dalton Highway, from Fairbanks to Galbraith Lake where we camped for the night, slowly progressed into large expanses of fiery colors. As we approached the mountains to the north, the foothills of red and yellow transitioned into a snow-capped winter landscape. Below are some photos of our brief overnight getaway.