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When asked why he got into photography, 23-year-old legally blind photographer Dylan Johnson said the camera enabled him to see better than he ever could in his entire life.
“In the beginning, I really enjoyed taking photos but I didn’t really care how they looked. Photography was secondary to the fact that I could see better and clearer with a camera,” he said. “I could put a telephoto lens on my camera and I could see further than I’ve ever actually been able to see before. It was incredible. I’ve never been able to see that way before.”
Johnson got serious about photography after the photos he took at a sports tournament turned out badly. This prompted the then-amateur photo enthusiast to learn what he was doing wrong and correct it.
A portrait by legally blind photographer Dylan Johnson.
Johnson founded his Ottawa-based business CaptiVision Photography at the crisp age of 21 and it has been thriving ever since. He shoots at least four or five clients a month. He works nights as a full-time security guard and his wife just had their second child, a daughter named Charlotte, on Monday.
The business name CaptiVision was originally suggested to him by a friend as a play on words, or as Johnson calls it, “a play on vision.”
“It’s something interesting that incorporates the fact that I’m legally blind,” Johnson said.
“Normal” vision is generally considered to be 20/20. Anyone whose vision can be corrected to 20/20 through the use of glasses or contact lenses is not considered legally blind.
Johnson’s left eye has 20/60 vision with as much correction as possible, while his right eye, incapable of being corrected, has 20/400 vision. To better understand the numbers, if a person with 20/20 vision could see a tree in detail from 60 feet away, Johnson would have to be 20 feet away to see the same detail with his left eye.
“I also have very bad peripheral vision. In my left eye, I have 20 degrees of peripheral vision that I can use and in my right eye it’s probably a little worse but I never really use my right eye much because it’s never been good. However, I can put a huge telephoto lens on my camera and I see a lot further than I otherwise could. It helps me see better and it feels good.”
Johnson currently shoots with a Canon 5D Mark II, which he uses on manual mode to assess the background and take a good look around. He also makes sure he has time to shoot for himself, which is why he was working as a photographer at this year’s Dragon Boat Festival in June.
He says he continues to love photography and hopes to keep the business going as long as possible despite the challenges.
“The biggest challenge is that maybe I’m a little slower than someone else when it comes to examining the scenery and my subject. I’m shooting a little more carefully because if I’m not paying attention to something, that might make or break a shot for me.”
Sometimes, however, the biggest challenge is an emotional one for Johnson; he has to deal with critical commenters on the Internet and skeptical customers.
“Every once in a while, I’ll get comments that say the title of the article sounds like quick bait because I’m not blind, I can still see. But I let them go, I don’t care. Unless you’re physically in my shoes, you’re not going to understand what I’m seeing until you see through my eyes, even if I explain it to you.”
He says a lot of people don’t know what legally blind versus blind means and encourages people to learn more about the different factors. Johnson himself learns something new every day, although that is more photography related.
“I’m always learning something new, because you never really stop learning. I feel like that makes me a better and a more well-rounded photographer,” he said.
avoski@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/anaisvoski
查看原文...
“In the beginning, I really enjoyed taking photos but I didn’t really care how they looked. Photography was secondary to the fact that I could see better and clearer with a camera,” he said. “I could put a telephoto lens on my camera and I could see further than I’ve ever actually been able to see before. It was incredible. I’ve never been able to see that way before.”
Johnson got serious about photography after the photos he took at a sports tournament turned out badly. This prompted the then-amateur photo enthusiast to learn what he was doing wrong and correct it.
A portrait by legally blind photographer Dylan Johnson.
Johnson founded his Ottawa-based business CaptiVision Photography at the crisp age of 21 and it has been thriving ever since. He shoots at least four or five clients a month. He works nights as a full-time security guard and his wife just had their second child, a daughter named Charlotte, on Monday.
The business name CaptiVision was originally suggested to him by a friend as a play on words, or as Johnson calls it, “a play on vision.”
“It’s something interesting that incorporates the fact that I’m legally blind,” Johnson said.
“Normal” vision is generally considered to be 20/20. Anyone whose vision can be corrected to 20/20 through the use of glasses or contact lenses is not considered legally blind.
Johnson’s left eye has 20/60 vision with as much correction as possible, while his right eye, incapable of being corrected, has 20/400 vision. To better understand the numbers, if a person with 20/20 vision could see a tree in detail from 60 feet away, Johnson would have to be 20 feet away to see the same detail with his left eye.
“I also have very bad peripheral vision. In my left eye, I have 20 degrees of peripheral vision that I can use and in my right eye it’s probably a little worse but I never really use my right eye much because it’s never been good. However, I can put a huge telephoto lens on my camera and I see a lot further than I otherwise could. It helps me see better and it feels good.”
Johnson currently shoots with a Canon 5D Mark II, which he uses on manual mode to assess the background and take a good look around. He also makes sure he has time to shoot for himself, which is why he was working as a photographer at this year’s Dragon Boat Festival in June.
He says he continues to love photography and hopes to keep the business going as long as possible despite the challenges.
“The biggest challenge is that maybe I’m a little slower than someone else when it comes to examining the scenery and my subject. I’m shooting a little more carefully because if I’m not paying attention to something, that might make or break a shot for me.”
Sometimes, however, the biggest challenge is an emotional one for Johnson; he has to deal with critical commenters on the Internet and skeptical customers.
“Every once in a while, I’ll get comments that say the title of the article sounds like quick bait because I’m not blind, I can still see. But I let them go, I don’t care. Unless you’re physically in my shoes, you’re not going to understand what I’m seeing until you see through my eyes, even if I explain it to you.”
He says a lot of people don’t know what legally blind versus blind means and encourages people to learn more about the different factors. Johnson himself learns something new every day, although that is more photography related.
“I’m always learning something new, because you never really stop learning. I feel like that makes me a better and a more well-rounded photographer,” he said.
avoski@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/anaisvoski
查看原文...
