Michelle Ranee Johnson Photography

Michelle Ranee Johnson Photography An award-winning landscape, climbing, and fine-art photographer who has been on exhibit with National Geographic Yourshot at Photofest 2019 in Mexico.

I am so excited and honored to announce that I will be helping out at the FIRST Yosemite Filmmaking Festival and Storyte...
06/24/2026

I am so excited and honored to announce that I will be helping out at the FIRST Yosemite Filmmaking Festival and Storyteller’s Summit over the next few days (starting Thursday, June 25, and ending on Sunday, June 28). Each day will feature various films shown in Yosemite’s Auditorium and Theater (near the The Ansel Adams Gallery), along with photowalks (led by yours truly :D), panel discussions, book signings (ahem… I think everyone wants a book signed by the amazing Corey Rich), and much more! Many of the filmmakers will be there and many wonderful people from the Yosemite Climbing Association will be there. And many surprises I don’t want to mention ahead of time! This will be an exciting event, and I can’t wait to see everyone!

Also, I will be super busy at the Festival and won’t have time to post. I will check in and post stories when I have time. I will post again sometime next week when I get back!

If you’re able to go, let me know in a comment below so I know to look for you!

Hope to see you there!

Photos: One of the pages of the program for the photowalk on Friday showcasing my photo of Kylie Cullen (Kylie Cullen | Professional Rock Climber) on Xavier’s Roof. I am leading two free photowalks (you need to rsvp - spots limited to 7 - Friday is about Capturing Emotions in a landscape and Saturday will be Finding Perspectives. Both will be landscape photography based). The second is the program cover (and Amit Kulshrestha’s artwork is AMAZING!). I just had to also share a photo of my friend Lee Morphew (Lee Morphew) on Little Blue Anastasia (V8), Yosemite National Park, CA (Ahwahne), CA with Washington Column looming above. November 2019. Ahwahnechee Ancestral Homeland. , NikonUSA, . The last two are pages of the itinerary of the Festival - even if you can only come for one day, it will be worth it! And if I forgot to tag people, i apologize (on little sleep).

“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears....
06/22/2026

“Choose your leaders
with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward
is to be controlled
by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool
is to be led
by the opportunists
who control the fool.
To be led by a thief
is to offer up
your most precious treasures
to be stolen.
To be led by a liar
is to ask
to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant
is to sell yourself
and those you love
into slavery.”
― Octavia E. Butler.

Octavia Estelle Butler was born in Pasadena, CA, on June 22, 1947, and passed on February 24, 2006, in Lake Forest Park, WA. She was a science fiction writer who won numerous awards. She was also the first science-fiction writer to win a MacArthur Fellowship (1995).

She grew up shy, but reading books in the library made her imagination run wild with amazing stories, and her writing began to grow. She attended the Clarion workshop during college (where she met her lifelong friend Samuel R. Delany), which focused on science fiction. She soon sold her first stories, and by the 1970s, she was successful enough to write full-time. She is a fantastic writer and has written not just books (such as Kindred, The Patternist Series, Bloodchild, and the Parable Series) but also essays (such as “A World Without Racism”).

Awards: 1980: Creative Arts Award, L.A. YMCA; 1984: Hugo Award & Nebula Award; 1985: Locus Award & Hugo Award; 2000: Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN American Center; 2005: Langston Hughes Medal of The City College & Inducted into Chicago State University’s International Black Writers Hall of Fame; Huntington Library holds all of her manuscripts and papers; 2021: Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame; and many more.

It is also World Rainforest Day Rainforest Partnership, and the topic is . How should we protect them? One way is through stopping deforestation - and we all need to come together as a global community to help protect them. They give us life. It is the least we can do to protect them. Does your culture have any ancestral knowledge you’d like to share pertaining to forests?

Sources & photo info in comment ⬇️

“My dad has given me the best gift anyone has ever given me. He gave me wings to fly.” - Adria Arjona.Happy to all the...
06/21/2026

“My dad has given me the best gift anyone has ever given me. He gave me wings to fly.” - Adria Arjona.

Happy to all the fathers out there (it’s Father’s Day in the United States)! This is the second Father’s Day since my dad passed in March 2025, and I’m spending the day with my mom (and my dog Max) as he is missed. Grief hits every day differently, and I almost didn’t post today.

It is also the today in the Northern Hemisphere and in Canada.

What are you celebrating today?

Photo: “Wings to Fly” - A lone egret flying over the Pacific Ocean near Montaña de Oro State Park during a dreamy pinkish-peach sunset. Obispeño, Chumash & Salinan Ancestral Homeland. May 2025. , NikonUSA, .

“I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” — Frederick Douglass. Happy...
06/19/2026

“I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” — Frederick Douglass.

Happy , everyone!!! Today (June 19), in 1865, in Galveston, Texas, enslaved African Americans were emancipated when Union Army General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3. Now, people throughout the United States celebrate this day as , , and other names of Freedom.

Many people and families make a pilgrimage back to Galveston to celebrate. Many meet at Emancipation Park, a 10-acre plot of land purchased by a group of African Americans in 1872. Some cities hold parades and various festivals. In 2021, a 5000 square foot mural made by the artist Reginald Adams (Adams Reginald) in Galveston, named “Absolute Equality” at the place where General Grainger gave his Order.

Are you going to, or have you been to, a Juneteenth celebration?

Sources: https://www.juneteenth.com, https://savingplaces.org/stories/absolute-equality-mural-reimagines-public-spaces-and-the-story-of-juneteenth, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth.

Photo: “Beverly Beach Sunrise Panorama” - I got up early to catch the sunrise at in October 2021. So many seagulls were hanging out at the beach that morning as the sky was this magnificent pink. Yakama, Cayuse, Umatilla, & Walla Walla, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, & Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Ancestral Homeland. NikonUSA

“Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, t...
06/18/2026

“Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.” — Ted Hughes.

Did you know that today (June 18) is ? So, if you love to fish, today is an excellent day to excuse yourself and find some alone (or with friends) time at the ocean, lake, or stream to go fishing. Do you like to fish? Many people consider it a form of meditation; it can be a challenge, and if you fish with friends, it can be a bonding experience. Do you have a favorite type of fish you like to cast your line for? If you can’t go fishing today, maybe eat some fish today!

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.” — Henry David Thoreau.

Source: https://nationaltoday.com/national-go-fishing-day/

Photo: “Fisherman at Cayucos” — A lone fisherman enjoying the sunset at Cayucos, CA. Cayucos, CA. Jan 2020. Chumash, Salinan, & Obispeño Ancestral Homeland. , NikonUSA, . In the last photo, I used Artrooms | Art mockup app for artists to showcase my photo on a wall

“The territory is our body. It is also the location of the natural resources and social wealth of our communities. We ar...
06/17/2026

“The territory is our body. It is also the location of the natural resources and social wealth of our communities. We are the guardians of the territories, of the rivers, of the continuity of life. We understand the cycles of the moon, the spirituality of grandmothers, and the secrets of all the rituals of our communities. So when a corporation comes in and tries to destroy that social fabric and symbols of the community, the damage done is very deep. We are here to prevent this. Women defenders are making a lot of contributions, and often they are not recognized.” — Ana Maria Hernandez (Director of the grantee partner Consortio Oaxaca (a coalition of Mexican female activists) and land defender.

Today, we mark the United Nations World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, a significant event that started in 1994, highlighting the urgent need to protect our lands and resources.

This year’s theme is “Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.” Did you know that >50% of our planet’s surface is rangeland, which is very important for our sustenance, biodiversity, and climate resilience? Rangelands support >2 billion people worldwide. This year is also the . Unfortunately, ~50% of the world’s rangelands are at risk of degradation, leading to significant challenges to food and water security and resilience. This year’s theme, led by the beautiful country of Mongolia and various organizations, aims to shed light on the need to protect our world’s rangelands.

How do you feel we can best fight the desertification of our lands and protect our rangelands?

Also, for my Islamic friends and followers: Happy Hijri New Year! Begins tonight at sundown!

Sources: https://www.un.org/en/observances/desertification-day

Photo: “Montana Range” - On the way to Yellowstone National Park from Livingston (Montana), this beautiful landscape is seen before you get to Gardiner, MT. Tsėhésenėstsestȯtse (Cheyenne) & Apsáalooke (Crow) Ancestral Homeland. October 2024. , NikonUSA, . I used Artrooms | Art mockup app for artists to showcase my photograph on a wall.

“Whoever’s reading this, if anyone is reading it: does it matter that our old selves are lost to us as surely as the pas...
06/16/2026

“Whoever’s reading this, if anyone is reading it: does it matter that our old selves are lost to us as surely as the past is lost, or is it enough to know yes we lived then, and we are living now, and the connection must be there? Like a river hundreds of miles long exists both at its source and at its mouth, simultaneously?” — Joyce Carol Oates (Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang).

Today has two topics: First, it is ! I absolutely love waterfalls, and always get excited to see one - no matter how small or large!

Also, it is the birthday of author Joyce Carol Oates. She was born in New York on June 16, 1938, and turns 88 today! She published her first book in 1963 and has published 58 novels, several plays and novellas, and many poems, short stories, and even non-fiction. Several works were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize (Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), Blonde (2000), and her short story series The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014). She has also won many awards, including (not limited to) 2 O. Henry Awards, the National Book Award (for her novel “them” (1969), and the National Humanities Medal.

She was also a professor at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014 and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, where she taught short fiction courses in the spring semesters.

I’m going to finish with a few more of her quotes:

“The ideal art, the noblest of art: working with the complexities of life, refusing to simplify, to ‘overcome’ doubt.” — Joyce Carol Oates (The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982).

“I suggest to my students that they write under a pseudonym for a week. That allows young men to write as women, and women as men. It allows them a lot of freedom they don’t have ordinarily.”

“How crucial for us to rehearse the future, in words.
Never to doubt that you will live to utter them.
Never to doubt that you will tell your story.”

Thank you, Joyce Carol Oates, for your beautiful words.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Carol_Oates and https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/06/the-unruly-genius-of-joyce-carol-oates.

Photo info ⬇️

Today is the 15th! You know what that means: ! To win a small print, you must:1. Like this post2. Follow me (Michelle R...
06/15/2026

Today is the 15th! You know what that means: ! To win a small print, you must:
1. Like this post
2. Follow me (Michelle Ranee Johnson)
3. Comment below on what you love most about nature.

This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by Instagram. I will announce the winner in my stories on January 18 around 5 pm PST. Now, on to our topic:

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” –Albert Einstein.
Today is a special day-it’s ! This day, initiated by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA; NANPA), celebrates the beauty of nature through photography. It’s a reminder of how our photos can contribute to local and global conservation efforts. Let’s join in and make a difference!

How are you going to celebrate?

Source: http://www.nanpa.org/events/nature-photography-day/

Photo: “Magical Bison” - I photographed this beautiful bison near the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma. . Kiowa-Comanche-Apache, Kiikaapoi, Osage, Gáuigú (Kiowa), Wichita, Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ (Comanche), and O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ (O-ga-xpa) Ancestral Homeland. March 2018. . NikonUSA

“Photography is a very subtle thing. You must let the camera take you by the hand, as it were, and lead you into your su...
06/14/2026

“Photography is a very subtle thing. You must let the camera take you by the hand, as it were, and lead you into your subject.” — Margaret Bourke-White.

On June 14, 1904, in The Bronx, NYC, a photographer named Margaret Bourke-White was born. On August 27, 1971, she passed away in Connecticut of Parkinson’s (she lived 18 years after the onset of symptoms). She is most famous for being the first foreign photographer allowed to photograph various industries in the Soviet Union under the Soviet Union’s “five-year plan.” She was also the first female United States war photojournalist, and her photo of the construction of the Fort Peck Dam appeared on the first cover of Life Magazine.

She took photographs of drought victims of the Dust Bowl, traveled to Europe to photograph how Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria were doing under Na**sm, and was “the first Western professional photographer permitted into the Soviet Union (https://loc.gov/rr/print/coll/womphotoj/bourkewhiteessay.html #:~:text=Margaret%20Bourke-White%20was%20a,zones%20during%20World%20War%20II.).

She took portraits of Joseph Stalin, his mother, Karl Radek, and Sergei Eisenstein, among others. She was the first female war correspondent and was allowed to work in a combat zone during WWII. When Germany invaded Moscow, she was the only foreign photographer there.

Here’s a quote about her: “The woman who had been torpedoed in the Mediterranean, strafed by the Luftwaffe, stranded on an Arctic island, bombarded in Moscow, and pulled out of the Chesapeake when her chopper crashed, was known to the Life staff as ‘Maggie the Indestructible.’ (https://web.archive.org/web/20131213075704/http://www.scoutproductions.com/mbwhite/ap.html.”

She is also well-known in Pakistan and India, where she chronicled the India-Pakistan partition violence. She even briefly interviewed and photographed Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948, before his assassination.

Awards, Sources, & photo info in comment ⬇️

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.” — Jeannette Rankin.Jeannette Pickering Rankin was born in Mo...
06/11/2026

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.” — Jeannette Rankin.

Jeannette Pickering Rankin was born in Montana on June 11, 1880, & passed in California at age 92 on May 18, 1973. She was a women’s rights advocate and pacifist. She was the first woman to hold federal office (as a U.S. Representative) in 1916 (and was elected again in 1940). She was also the first & only woman from Montana to be elected to Congress.

Her terms coincided with wars - the first with WWI & the second with WWII. Both times, she voted against war. In 1917, she was one of the 50 who opposed it, & in 1941, she was the only one in Congress to vote against the war after the Pearl Harbor attack. She was also a suffragist & lobbied for women in several states (Montana, North Dakota, & New York). When she was in Congress (1st term), she introduced the legislation that eventually became the 19th Amendment (giving women the right to vote). She also helped with civil rights cases & helped found the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), & she was its VP for some time. She became active again during the Vietnam War, organizing anti-war marches - including the anti-war march in Washington DC, which was the largest march by women since the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade.

Awards & Foundation: Her Montana residence is on the National Register of Historic Places; The Jeannette Rankin Foundation (aka Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund) helps low-income women 35+ get scholarships. Since 1978, they have awarded>$1.8 million in scholarships to >700 women. 1993: Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Many more.

I will leave you some of her quotes, as they are still accurate to this day, especially with everything that is happening in many parts of the world:

“We’re half the people; we should be half the Congress.”

“As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”

“Men and women are like right and left hands; it doesn’t make sense not to use both.”

“War is the slaughter of human beings, temporarily regarded as enemies, on as large a scale as possible.”

“I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last.”

Sources & photo info ⬇️

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