Happy Distractions

Lisa Johnson’s goal with the close-up photos she captures with her Tamron 70-300mm telephoto and 50-400mm VC ultra-telephoto lenses: to elicit joy.

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By Jenn Gidman
Images by Lisa Johnson


When Lisa Johnson’s three children were growing up, her photography centered on their sporting activities. “I was on the sidelines of every football game, on the pool deck for all of my daughter’s swim meets, and on the field for lacrosse matches,” she says.

Eventually, the kids grew up and moved out, and Lisa relocated from Chicago to Denver. “I thought: What do I do now?” she recalls. “That’s when I started exploring macro photography. My apartment backs right up to the Denver Botanic Gardens, and I discovered a seemingly infinite number of photographic options right in my own backyard. Plus, this kind of photography has become a sort of meditation for me—a calming effect in a chaotic world.”


70-300mm (259mm), F16, 1/250 sec., ISO 1000
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70-300mm (300mm), F6.3, 1/400 sec., ISO 100
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On her wanderings around Denver, Lisa brings her Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD telephoto zoom and 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD ultra telephoto zoom, both for her Sony mirrorless camera system. “I picked up the 70-300mm first and fell in love with it for its light weight,” she says. “I have arthritis in my hands, so I need a lens that I can carry around for hours.”

Then the 50-400mm came out, which Lisa supplements with a close-up filter to capture even more detail that her naked eye can’t see anymore. “I get such range with that lens,” she says. “I not only use it for my macro photography, thanks to its minimum object distance (MOD) of 9.8 inches and a maximum magnification rate of 1:2. I can also use the telephoto end to take pictures of the snowcapped mountains in the distance.”

Although Lisa appreciates the technical finesse that her Tamron lenses bring to her photography, her goal for taking pictures is a much more visceral one. “I love bringing joy,” she says. “When I started posting my pictures on Facebook, my friends would tell me, ‘Your pictures just make me so happy.’ With so many challenges in the world today, I’m glad I can put that kind of happiness out there for others to see.”

LISA’S QUICK TIPS

Know the rules of composition, then break them.
Experiment with compositions that are counterintuitive, and don’t be afraid to mix those compositions up. For instance, there’s nothing wrong with center compositions, but if that’s all you ever do, your portfolio will start to feel static. For the pink petals filling the frame in the one image shown here, I tried many different focal points, finally settling on that one corner, where the most detail appears.


50-400mm (400mm), F6.3, 1/250 sec., ISO 640
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Let the light guide your perspective.
Get underneath a flower or tree, or on top of it, or approach it from the side. I love warm light, which is why I usually head out to take pictures during golden hour, and so I’ll try to add even more of that warmth to my photos however I can. That’s what happened as I stood underneath these autumn leaves, where the light backlit that one leaf so beautifully. It was glowing.


50-400mm (400mm), F6.3, 1/640 sec., ISO 1000
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Learn to be an observer, and slow down.
Now that my kids are grown, I’ve attended more photo conferences and retreats, which has been phenomenal. One thing I’ve learned is that everyone is usually so hyperfocused on capturing iconic shots that they’re passing right by other great photo opps.

It was very early one morning, right after a fresh snowfall, when I spotted these purple flowers peeking out of the snow as I was dropping my son off at the airport. It’s important to always be scanning for the unexpected. I do it even when I don’t have my camera with me. It helps me enjoy nature, and life, more.


50-400mm (50mm), F6.3, 1/125 sec., ISO 400
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I attended a conference where photographer Alan Shapiro had us pick a flower in the botanical gardens we were visiting and take 30 pictures of it in five minutes. Next he told us to use another five minutes to take just three pictures of the same flower. It was an excellent exercise in learning to take your time in crafting each picture.


70-300mm (300mm), F11, 1/400 sec., ISO 200
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Don’t compare your work to others’.
As someone famous once said, comparison is the thief of joy. Along those same lines, a flower doesn’t look at the flower next to it; it just blooms. I think as photographers we all struggle with imposter syndrome once in a while—even well-known photographers I’ve met admit to that—but remember that the work you’re seeing on Instagram is everybody’s best work. Keep learning, keep experimenting, and keep having fun.


70-300mm (300mm), F6.3, 1/250 sec., ISO 800
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To see more of Lisa Johnson’s work, check out her Instagram accounts.

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