Who I am

 

Hello, my name is Kelton Johnson and I am currently 25 years old and a graduate of UVU earning my degree in aviation science with a commercial pilot focus! While I do have a passion for flying and plan on doing so for my career, I also love photography. Most of my free time is spent either out in the field, editing, researching, or working on this website. I think it all started with my interest in how things work and wanting to learn how to operate them. When I was in my childhood I’d often look up to the stars or rush outside at the sound of an aircraft just to stand, watch, and wonder. I liken this to when I first held and used a DSLR camera in my high school photography class. After seeing all the different ways I could manipulate the settings on a camera to take the picture I wanted immediately hooked me. Since that experience in 2018 I have been working on my skills and understanding almost daily.

 

My favorite types of photography consist of primarily wildlife, deep sky astrophotography (DSO), landscapes, and aviation. Images that take a long time to produce give me a wealth of satisfaction and these areas of photography seem to do just the trick for me. 

 

I share my photography in a different way in that I only reveal my full work from the year on an annual basis in my annual galleries. I do this so I can spend as much time on my images as I need and to hopefully help myself stand out amongst the millions of photographers out there.

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What are my goals

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First, I want to teach and make aware of the awesome wildlife surrounding us. Each species is remarkable in their own way, and I am lucky enough to enter a glimpse into their lives to document it. But they are vulnerable and at risk. We have to be their voice and each species matters. Did you know that when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park that the rivers altered their course? Though we may not see a direct link between us and wildlife, natures domino effect will create that link for us. 

 

Second, I want people to realize the beauty in our night sky. So much of our daily lives we look at our place in the dirt and never stop to look up. Back in 1994 a power outage in LA caused mass calls to Griffith Observatory and 911 claiming something strange was in the sky. What these folks were seeing was the Milky Way. What a sad thought. Now 30 years later, light pollution has only gotten worse, to the point where most of humanity will never see the Milky Way with their own eyes.  We have gone from planning entire wars and building massive long lasting structures based on the alignment of the stars, to cities and towns that will only ever see the light of the Moon. Not only do I think that this is sad but honestly...dangerous. 

 

However, there is also so much beauty in the night sky, so much perspective that we are losing. I want people to every once in a while look at their place in the stars instead of constantly looking down at their place in the dirt (quote from interstellar, best movie ever.) I hope that through my photography, the artistry of space can inspire someone to look up.