Commercial work

My photography became a source of income even when I was still a schoolboy, team and year photos through print sales, social photography was next.

In London I took advantage of the opportunities at Tony Stone Images to have them license first my travel images and then my creative compositing work, this originally done with film and pin registration under the enlarger and then electronically through Unix workstations running Barco Creator 5 software that preceded Photoshop.

Some of these images are of their time (80s and 90s) but some still have commercial value and are available for license still.

All colour stock images are Rights Protected images meaning that you can with confidence buy a licence from me that is unique to you.
As Getty and other suppliers move towards royalty free and the resulting rights chaos its good to know there is an alternative.

Contact me now for a quote: stephen@stephenjohnson.co.uk

(There are no outstanding licenses on these images presently – if you discover them published elswhere then please let me know)

Commercial Stock Imagery

I made a wide variety of conceptual stock imagery from the mid 1980s all the way to the early 2000s. At first images were created in camera with multiple exposures or sometimes in the darkroom where I used pin registration to make composites. With electronic imaging becoming affordable in the 1990s I first composed using Barco Creator on Silicon Graphics machines and later using Photoshop.

Many of these images have proved timeless so they are available for licence for use. Welcome clients doing reverse image lookup, you have found the copyright owner! – please feel free to get in touch for a rights protected licence.

Some guidance needed

This image sold well on Getty Images when I used the agency but has also been stolen many times by religious groups on Facebook and various blogging sites – I’m coming for you!

The maze started life as a black and white line drawing that was then extruded using the landscape generator software “Bryce” that was popular in the 1990s. Other elements shot on film and scanned before being put together on a Silicon Graphics Indy computer running Barco Creator software.

Please note that I do not provide sharing links for commercial images on this site, these are for viewing on this website only If you wish to purchase a license to use the image then just get in touch)

Mother of Pearl

St.Stephens Tower (aka Elizabeth Tower) clock face, Parliament,UK. Taken in 1988.

I had just bought a second hand 500mm mirror telephoto lens for my camera and thought the clock face would be a suitable image for Tony Stone Images stock library.

The IRA were still bombing the mainland in those days but I was left undisturbed in Parliament Square that evening even though the large lens on my camera mounted on a low tripod was the spitting image of a rocket launcher.

A late Summers evening as the sun picked out the beauty of the clock face.

Taken with a Pentax K1000 camera using a Tamron SP 500mm lens on 35mm Fujichrome Provia film.

Light reading

Syndicated through Getty Images late 1990s.
35mm transparency scanned and textured in Barco Creator software. Model released shoot.

(Please note that I do not provide sharing links for commercial images on this site, these are for viewing on this website only If you wish to purchase a license to use the image then just get in touch)

A taste of the future

A hybrid image. The main element of the ball and stand were shot conventionally (Horseman LX 5×4 studio camera onto Fuji Velvia film). The patterned light was created in software using a variety of Kai Krause filters on a windows PC. Both elements were then combined in Barco Creator software.

Many thanks to Simon Thornley for the loan of the crystal ball.

Still Point

Shot at the London Marathon in Greenwich. This image was syndicated through Getty Images in the 1990s. A straight scan of a 35mm transparency with no image manipulation.

A bit weird

Conceptual image made for syndication through Getty Images.
As the 1990s progressed a new market in imaging software was opening up. Here I used a straightforward studio image shot on 5″ x 4″ transparency film and then processed through a special filter from the Kai’s Power Tool set.

Kai Krause developed a number of innovative imaging programs and filters and his interface design was ahead of anyone else, exciting times.

New directions

Taken towards the end of the film / drum scanner / Silicon Graphics period of electronic imaging.
The seascape was photographed at my new home town of Sheringham on the North Norfolk Coast.

Using a grain/noise to soften the components and combined with a re-colouring to help combine the elements together.

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