Don Johnson is our Open Competition Judge on March 8

Don Johnson has been a serious amateur photographer since the mid-1980’s.  He first learned the basic elements of photographic design, composition, and equipment while in college. Although career and family became minor distractions, he always maintained an avid interest in photography.

As his life progressed, Don’s hobby of photography became a more serious interest to him.  His wife was an instrumental part of this change when she gave him a new camera as a gift one year for the holidays. He quickly became a camera junkie, and the new equipment he purchased did help him produce better quality images.

Over the years, a number of Don’s images have appeared in many well known publications such as Popular Photography.  His photographs have been showcased on the covers of Nature’s Best and The AOPA Pilot.  His award-winning photos for Zoo and Aquariums were featured at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History for a full year.  Don’s images have also been published in books, periodicals and on websites including the Smithsonian’s Zoogoer and in the Photoshop Elements Techniques magazine.

Don has won a number of awards in both local and national photography competitions.  He is the former President of the Frederick Camera Clique as well as the Gaithersburg Camera Club, and is an active member of the FONZ Photography Club.

Don loves to travel and always has his camera with him.  He especially loves taking pictures of flowers, zoo animals, famous places, and producing abstracts.  For Don, photography is a life-long hobby that he plans to continue until he is no longer able to push the shutter button.