Harold Davis's Blog, page 110

Old Olive Tree

I photographed this ancient olive tree on the grounds of Robert Graves’s home. The house and grounds have been turned into a small museum. The location is in the world-heritage town of Deia, perched on a rocky mountain on the south coast of Mallorca, the largest of Spain’s Balearic islands. The scenery is of the Mediterranean, spectacular mountains, and small stone and white-washed villages clinging to the cliffs.

Old Olive Tree © Harold Davis

If you don’t know him, Robert Graves is worth your time. Robert Graves was a poet, classicist, historical novelist, critic, and essayist; also, a thoroughly unconventional fellow in terms of his various living arrangements. He’s perhaps best known for his historical novel of the ancient Roman empire, I Claudius, but he also (among many other books) wrote the first biography of Lawrence of Arabia (and the only biography authorized by T.E.Lawrence) and a compelling memoir of life in the trenches of the first world war, Goodbye to All That (the title also refers to the definitive passing of the old order and class structure brought about by the war).

Bend in the Dronne River

This peaceful scene along the banks of the Dronne River is in the small Dordogne town of Bourdeilles, France.

Dronne River © Harold Davis

French Signage

French signage found in small towns in “deep France” around the Dordogne: Enchanted Mushroom (for a speciality restaurant); Dog on a toilet (for a doggie run); and two pigs for a charcuterie shop.

Enchanted Mushroom © Harold Davis

Doggie Do © Harold Davis

Pig 1 © Harold Davis

Pig 2 © Harold Davis

iPhoneography as Art

iPhoneography can be art, and a great source of prints. Doodling with the iPhone apps in post-production is also a great way to stave off boredom. Here are two new images!

Perigueux Cathedral © Harold Davis

Above: Perigueux Cathedral on a cloudy day (the architect who “remodeled” this cathedral at the end of the 19th century also designed Sacre Coeur in Paris, one can see the resemblance), camera app, processed in Waterlogue and blended with itself, then processed in Glaze, and blended with the Waterlogue version.

Below: A view to the abbey from the Brantome bell tower (probably the oldest bell tower in France); two camera app exposures, blended manually in True HDR, process in Glaze and blended with the HDR version, with a glow and a frame added in Snapseed.

Brantome © Harold Davis

Window and Door

Window © Harold Davis

Always nice to photograph interesting windows and doors. Window (above) photographed in the back streets of St Emilion, France. Door (below) an iPhone capture in Bordeilles, with the Waterlogue version layered over the original and masked in on the wall (but not the door) using the Leanardo app.

Door © Harold Davis

iPhone Workflow in Brantome

Brantome Abbey © Harold Davis

To make these images of Brantome Abbey (above) and the so-called “dog-leg” bridge in Brantome (“dog-leg” because there is a 90 degree bend in its crossing of the Dronne River, below)), I started by using the Camera app to make two exposures of each subject, one darker and one lighter. 

Next, I combined the two exposures by using True HDR to blend and align the differently exposed image sets. 

Taking the blended image, I ran it through Waterlogue to create a watercolor effect. I dialed back the watercolor effect by using ImageBlender to combine the Waterlogue version with the pre-Waterlogue original.

Dog-Leg Bridge, Brantome © Harold Davis

Wine Country

This image shows a rose-tinted reflection in the extension to the Chateau la Dominique vineyard near St Emilion, France designed by well-known architect Jean Nouvel.

Wine Country © Harold Davis

Don’t Even Think of Parking Here

Le Moulin de l’Abbaye

This is Le Moulin de l’Abbaye, the mill of the Abbey, and the hotel we will be based in Brantome, France for exploring the Dordogne countryside.

Le Moulin de l’Abbaye © Harold Davis

Two different interpretations! Above: 28mm, 4 exposures at shutter speeds from 1.5 seconds to 8 seconds, each exposure at f/22 and ISO 50; tripod mounted; processed in Photoshop. Below: iPhone 6s, processed in Waterlogue.

Le Moulin de l’Abbaye (iPhone) © Harold Davis

Hang En Campsite

This is the first campsite on the way to Son Doong, just within the entrance to the Hang En cave. The trail leads down the rock slide you see in the foreground to the wooden bridge on the lower right. To get to the campsite, you wade across the underground river.

Hang En Campsite © Harold Davis

In the rather elaborate campsite itself, if you look closely you can see the tents of the paying participants in a line on the left, the dining pavilion in the center, and the cooking cluster of the porters on the right. The trail onward and through the Hang En cave leads along the river the curves to the right, and into darkness.

I made this photo with the late afternoon light coming through the cave opening, on my way down to the campsite and to a much needed swim in the lake!

Exposure info: Nikon D810, Zeiss 15mm f/2.8, five combined exposures with each exposure at f/8 and ISO 250, exposure times from 2 seconds to 30 seconds; tripod mounted; processed in Nik HDR Efex Pro and Photoshop.