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Kelsey Johnson

Travel and lifestyle photographer based in the United States

Kelsey Johnson, now a full-time traveler and freelance photographer, hails from San Francisco. As a teen, she worked as a professional model gaining valuable exposure to the world of photography. And the chance to travel. After going to college and gaining a position at a PR firm, she worked for several years in her 9 to 5 job before deciding to quit to chase the life she always dreamed of.

Along the road trips Kelsey did in college she discovered her passion for travel and photography. “I started going to photography meet ups in the city and I went on trips with those photo friends. Finding that community was so huge for me. All they did was going out to explore and taking photos. Then we started to go to all these trips and special locations together. That was the tipping point, meeting incredibly creative people.”

Johnson, having been inspired by Lizzy Gadd (@elizabethgadd), ordered a $200 red dress to use on photo shoots; and nowadays, she takes it everywhere with her.  

On her most memorable hike, she visited Pulpit Rock in Norway. “It was the hardest hike to get up there in the middle of the night in order to see the sunrise. We made it just in time and that contributed to my extreme level of euphoria. I literally cried!”

On the challenges of being a landscape photographer, she says, “It is that crazy journey what gives landscape photography that extra dimension and that is why it can be so rewarding to capture a photo in the location you had in mind.”

Today, she’s always ready for the next adventure!

Kelsey Johnson

Welcome Kelsey! In one of your captions you mentioned the following: “The red dress photo that started it all.” What has been the influence of such dress in your current path as a landscape photographer and social media influencer?

A couple years ago, I was inspired by Lizzy Gadd’s (@elizabethgadd) self portraits wearing a red dress around Iceland. I loved the concept and artistic style, and wanted to take my own spin on it. So, I ordered a red gown online and took photos in it, assisted by photographer friends, on my first trip to Iceland in 2016. Some of the red dress images from that trip are still some of my favorite photos to this day, and afterwards I just kept bringing the red dress on different trips. The series kind of took on a life of it’s own. 

Before I started photography professionally, I worked as a model in the fashion industry for four years where I got really used to being on camera. Doing the series lets me merge both photo and modeling to create a more dynamic image. And I love putting a human subject in my landscape shots to give them more of an emotion.

Kelsey Johnson

This was your first trip to Europe?

Not my first trip to Europe, but my first one to Iceland as well as the first time I shot in the red dress. After that trip, I posted the dress images and a lot of photographers reached out saying they liked the concept and wanted to collaborate shooting it. Then the dress came with me pretty much everywhere I went, which sometime makes for some insane shooting conditions since I tend to travel to freezing Scandinavian countries.

But when shooting self portraits in the dress, I realized I really liked being my own model because then I could have complete creative control over an image. In my head, I know how I want the photo to be like – the composition and the pose – and it’s easier to realize that myself instead of having to communicate my vision to someone else. I I can just go out there and execute it on my own, which is a really rewarding as well.

Indeed, I think that this photo taken in Germany is a good example actually. Don’t you think?

Yeah, definitely. In my head, before we planned the trip, I was thinking: I need to go to this castle, I need to shoot the dress there, I want to be running down the path, and it has to be sunrise…So I had this image in my head for SIX months! I swear! And then we got to go there and do it. It is such a nice feeling when you can make all of those ideas you have in your head into a reality. It’s rare for an image to end up lining up perfectly like that.

Kelsey Johnson
Kelsey Johnson

Amazing! This is something you plan to keep doing, right? The dress is also part of your brand nowadays?

It’s a little tougher to keep shooting because it doesn’t really fit my “adventure girl” brand, it’s a little more fine art than the rest of my stuff. But I love shooting the series, it’s a personal project really close to my heart, so I want to keep doing it whether or not I keep sharing it on social media.

Some day, I want to have a gallery with prints of all the images after years of shooting the dress, and I want to create this juxtaposition of a ball gown, completely in tatters from all the adventures it’s been on.

Where does your passion for traveling and photography come from?

Photography has always been an important part of my life, but I didn’t realize it for a long time. It took me awhile to realize how much I loved it. 

I got my first digital point and shoot camera when I was 10 or 11, just shooting photos on family trips. I took both film and digital photography in high school. I was a total nerd and spent a lot of my lunches in the dark room developing photos. It’s hilarious now, but back then I thought shooting landscapes and photos of trees was really boring, so I set up a studio in the basement of our art building and would pull friends out of class to take their portrait. At the same time, I signed with a modeling agency in San Francisco and got to ditch school about once a week to go to photoshoots and learned a lot about what it takes to create an image.

I got out of photo and modeling during college, but after graduation, when I got a job at a PR agency in San Francisco, I found my way back to photo. 

"I started going to photography meet ups in the city, taking photos again, and then I started going on trips with those photo friends. Finding that community was so huge for me. It all sort of snowballed into more trips, longer trips, trying harder at photography, and it just took off from there."
Kelsey Johnson
Kelsey Johnson Travel and Lifestyle Photographer

That was the tipping point, meeting incredible creative people in SF. Almost everything I’ve learned about photo has been from the talented people I know.

Did you discover your passion for traveling at the same time?

They both go hand in hand, there’s no doubt about that. I choose where I want to travel based on the photos I want to take there. That being said, I think I’ve always had the desire to be somewhere else. There’s a German word, “Fernweh”, that means feeling homesick for a place you’ve never been. I’ve always identified with that word.

I didn’t get many opportunities to travel much growing up, and I had actually started modeling because, at the age of 16, I was convinced I wanted to leave my hometown as soon as possible and move to New York City.

Then in college I started to get into road trips, which I had never experienced before. Then later, photography started to dictate where I wanted to go on those trips. Then the more I traveled, I got a lot more confident in it and met more people that were traveling essentially full time, which made me realize that that’s what I wanted to be doing.

Why are you so passionate about travel and photography? How does these two things combined make you feel?

Honestly, traveling on a budget is hard. You get hardly any sleep, are usually living in a hostel or camper van, and are camping all the time. It’s not the easiest conditions to live in constantly, but I love it. Because it all comes together and is more than worth it when you have those huge moments, those unforgettable memories that you’re going to remember forever. Specific times that you’d never have even imagined otherwise. They are few and far between, but I feel like I’ve had these awestruck moments in every country I’ve been to.

Kelsey Johnson
"For example, one of those moments for me was hiking to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) in Norway for sunrise."
Kelsey Johnson

It was a tough uphill hike in pitch black in order to get there, and we made it just in time to see the most incredible sunrise. It felt euphoric..I literally cried it was so beautiful!

 Those are the moments in life that I’m constantly chasing when I travel. And better, yet, I get to preserve them in time forever with photography.

 Do you find landscape photography to be a challenge?

I feel like what makes landscape photography so interesting is that it’s so much of a challenge to get the perfect shot. Honestly, I’m a competitive person and I get bored really easily, so landscape and travel photography its a good way to always push myself. For example, I got into camping and backpacking because of specific photos I wanted to take that required it. Now I love doing both, but I wouldn’t even consider attempting these two activities a few years back.

What makes landscapes tough is that you need to reach a destination that could be half the world away, in the middle of nowhere, etc. so you have to figure out how to get there. Then, you have to hope you get the perfect weather conditions or else you’ll have to wait there for days just to get one shot. But it’s the crazy journey behind getting that shot that makes it so interesting. It tells a story. And the challenge it took to get it makes it so rewarding in the end.

Kelsey Johnson
Kelsey Johnson

You have visited many countries already. Among all the countries you have visited, is there any country that surprised you in a positive way?

I think that the most surprising country I have been to is Iceland, because it’s become such a cliché in this industry, every adventure travel photographer goes there, but there is still something so incredibly magical about that place. The first time I traveled through Iceland I felt connected to it in a way I hadn’t felt before about any other foreign country.

 What is your favorite spot in Iceland?

My favorite spot is a little more personal, not the most grandiose of photo locations. We were driving through back roads deep in East Iceland, far away from any tourists, and we stumbled upon this gorgeous waterfall on the side of the road that was completely unmarked. We immediately puled the care over and took my favorite ever red dress photo there. Later on, we looked it up and found out it was called Gufufoss.

Kelsey Johnson

How do you sustain a life full of travels? Is there any tip or trick that you can share with us?

I recently quit my desk job and I am now a freelance travel photographer full time. But whether or not you can quit your job to have more time to travel, what it really comes down to at the end of the day is sacrifice, and prioritizing travel over everything else. Reducing your daily spending habits and other activities so that you can save up to travel is key. Also, getting better at budget travel – car camping vs. staying at hotels, etc. – will mean that you’re able to travel for longer periods of time.

So that I could sustain travel full time, I let go of my apartment and sold off most of my things I didn’t need for traveling. I had saved up for years from my full time job, and had racked up a ton of airline miles from travel credit cards, which helps for flights.

Now, my income is about 70% commercial photography and 30% influencer marketing. I have a few awesome ongoing clients I work for on a regular basis, which I’m super appreciative of, and then I usually have some one-off projects come through each month.

Kelsey Johnson

What are the best strategies to monetize social media?

In my case, my background helped me a lot since I worked in PR for so many years and actually used to run influencer marketing campaigns for my clients. So, I know the mindset you have to be in to secure projects. You can’t just sit back and wait for the work to come to you, you have to go out and get it.

I try to reach out and pitch new companies almost every day of the week. When pitching, it’s super important to know what your strengths are, especially compared to other people in your field. For me, I may not have a huge follower count, but I’ve been building a pretty solid commercial portfolio and client list, so I try to put myself forward as a photographer first and an influencer second. Learning the business side of things, from how much you should charge to negotiating contracts, is crucial. There’s so much more to the business side of this industry, it’s not just taking pretty photos.

Kelsey Johnson

Imagine yourself at the beginning of your professional career as a photographer. What four pieces of advice would you give to yourself?

1. There are so many free online resources you can learn from. You can get to know anything you want from the Internet. Just go on YouTube and find the free lessons you need to keep improving.

2. It’s okay to feel frustrated sometimes at your progress. But the thing is, most people give up along the way. All you have to do is keep going, never give up, and eventually you’re going to get to where you want to be.

3. Get really good at editing early on. Spend as many hours as possible learning and practicing your own editing style on Lightroom and Photoshop.

4. If you find something you really want more than anything, go after it as hard as you possibly can. I spent so much time not taking photo seriously because I didn’t think it was a viable career choice. If I had been more confident sooner, I’d be further in my photography career today.

Do you think that traveling helped you in any way, both professionally or personally? 

Traveling completely changed my life. It makes me happier, determined what I should be doing with my life, and makes me feel accomplished by all the amazing stories I’ve been able to create while traveling.

Now I know so much more about other cultures and people that are different from myself. I grew up in a very small town in California that was super American. I think the population was 95% white for instance, and I didn’t know anything about other people and cultures anywhere else. It was through traveling that I really understand the world and how big it really is. In my opinion, you can’t really understand people that are different from yourself unless you really go out there and meet them, and immerse yourself in other cultures.

The following may be a cliché, but I think that if everyone had the chance to travel further from home, we would have less conflicts, especially in the United States. If I accomplish anything through photo, I hope it’s to inspire people to travel and, in turn, be more accepting and caring of other people as well as the environment.

Kelsey Johnson

Is there any artist that has inspired your art?

My first photographer inspiration was Richard Avedon. He took incredible portraits exclusively in black and white film. He was quickly followed by Annie Leibovitz, who’s body of work is just mind blowing. I think there’s still a lot we can learn from the original photography legends.

 This one’s probably a surprise because his work is so different from mine, but another big inspiration who I discovered a few years back is Kyle Thompson (@kylejthompson). He has this dark, abandoned, conceptual self-portrait style that really makes you feel something when you look at his work. It is so different from anyone else.

 In terms of what I’m trying to achieve on social media, Renee Hahnel’s (@reneeroaming) Instagram account is so good. There are just not that many big female outdoor travel photographers in the business, it’s almost all guys. So it’s great to see a female that’s absolutely killing the game.

 What does your family say about your goal? Are they supportive?

I think most people in my life knew that pursing photo seriously was something I’ve been working towards for a long time, so everyone has been really supportive. Although my mom is of course nervous that I’m traveling far away all the time, so…if you’re reading this Mom, thanks for hanging in there!

Kelsey Johnson
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