Harold Davis's Blog, page 119

Flowers Round-Robin in a Workshop

This image was made as an in-class demo of light box flower arrangement and post-production. I called on each workshop participant to choose a stem, then arranged them one-by-one on my light box. The top image is an LAB inversion of the composition, the middle image is placed on a scanned background using my background placement blending mode algorithm, and the bottom image is shown as photographing for high-key HDR on a white background.

Flowers 12.03.16 Inverted Version © Harold Davis

Flowers 12.03.2016 with Background © Harold Davis

Flowers on White 12.03.2016 © Harold Davis

Workshop Feedback and a Yellow Rose

I’m very pleased with some of the great feedback for the recent Photographing Flowers for Transparency workshop. Here’s what some folks said:

“Just a fabulous creative presentation for flowers that has so much potential for us to explore. Enjoyed it immensely.”
“It was a wonderful workshop, inspirational, much information and tips and tricks a lot.”
“Wonderful – very educational for me, nicely organized and inspirational. Thank You Harold! (and Phyllis:) )”
“Organized, articulate, creative, in other words fantastic!”

Thanks to a really great creative and energetic group! We couldn’t do it without you, and I am so grateful. You can check out some of the floral art made by participants in this workshop in the Meetup album.

Yellow Rose © Harold Davis

I have two upcoming flower photography workshops scheduled in 2017: Photographing Flowers for Transparency (March 11-12) and Flower Photography Masterclass 4-Day Intensive (June 22-23). If you love flower photography and flowers, please consider joining us for one of these celebrations of floral beauty!

Free Webinar: A Homeopathic Approach to Adjustments with Harold Davis and Topaz

Definition of homeopathy: a system of medical practice that treats a disease especially by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in larger amounts produce in healthy persons symptoms similar to those of the disease. In other words, while a great deal of a homeopathic remedy might kill one, a pinch of homeopathy can be great. I use the concepts of homeopathy as a metaphor for how I work with some Photoshop adjustments and filters.

Free Webinar: A Homeopathic Approach to Adjustments with Harold Davis and Topaz—Advance registration is required—Tuesday, December 13 2016 at 2PM PT—Click here to register.

Towers of San Gimignano © Harold Davis

Webinar description: Join Topaz for this advanced presentation in which Harold will explain why he uses Topaz Adjust, Topaz Simplify, Topaz Glow 2, and Topaz Impressions 2, and provide concrete examples of how he uses these tools. Besides digital homeopathy, he’ll discuss additional ideas about creating digital art in Photoshop such as how this work relates to the Hegelian triad. Finally, Harold will provide some concrete examples of how he used the homeopathic approach to Topaz in his workflow to create his unique photographic art.

“I’ve been called a digital artist who uses photographs as my source material,” Harold says, “and I believe this is a good way to consider my work.” He likes to take his imagery slightly beyond conventional photography using digital painting, but not so far beyond photography that he would “lose the suspension of disbelief inherent in the photographic capture.” In creating this syncretic mixture of photography and digital art, Harold Davis says that among his favorite “go-to tools are the brilliant Topaz Labs Photoshop plugins.”

About Harold Davis: A Zeiss Lens Ambassador and Moab Master, Harold’s work has been published in books, advertisements, cards, posters, and in art editions. His prints are widely collected. As a workshop leader he is constantly in demand. Harold is on the faculty at institutions including the Heidelberg Summer School of Photography, Maine Media Workshops, and Point Reyes Field Seminars.

Harold Davis is the author of eighteen bestselling photography books, most recently Achieving Your Potential As a Photographer: A Photographer’s Creative Companion and Workbook, published by Focal Press. His new book, The Photographer’s Black & White Handbook: Making and Processing Stunning Digital Black and White Photos, is slated for early 2017 publication by Monacelli Press and can be pre-ordered now.

Be sure to stick around after the presentation for a Q/A session, webinar specific discount codes for the Topaz store and to see if you’re the winner of the copy of the Topaz Complete Collection to be given away.

Free Webinar: A Homeopathic Approach to Adjustments with Harold Davis and Topaz—Advance registration is required—Tuesday, December 13 2016 at 2PM PT—Click here to register.

Pont Neuf, Toulouse © Harold Davis

I Heart Mom

Here’s a portrait of her Mom that Katie Rose made using her pastels. I can sure see the spirit and the likeness in this drawing!

I Heart Mom © Katie Rose Davis

Pastels

This is the box of pastels that Katie Rose loves to use to make her art. You can see she uses the pastels hard, but treats them with great care, rearranging the ones that are in pieces tenderly in the box. Like beloved toys, art supplies live to be used hard!

Pastels © Harold Davis

Upcoming Flower Photography Workshops with Harold Davis

I’m very pleased and excited to be leading a sold-out session of Photographing Flowers for Transparency next weekend here in Berkeley, CA. If this topic interests you, we are running a session of Photographing Flowers for Transparency in March, 2017 (also in Berkeley). I expect this to be the only session of my acclaimed Photographing Flowers for Transparency workshop that I will lead in 2017.

Spring Wreath © Harold Davis

I will be leading a 4-day Flower Photography Intensive Masterclass in June, 2017 hosted in the Bay area. The Flower Masterclass will include field sessions, studio work, and post-production techniques. This workshop is filling up quickly. It is open to folks who have taken Photographing Flowers for Transparency, or by portfolio review.

Once your portfolio has been reviewed, and you are approved for the Flower Masterclass (or if you have attended a previous Photographing Flowers for Transparency), you can register on Meetup, or directly with us, with tuition payment by check or credit card. Note that a payment plan is available, and that a $50 discount applies until the end of 2016. We are holding some spaces for folks who have expressed interest, and as these fill expect to be starting a waiting list soon.

Kiss from a Rose © Harold Davis

On a personal note, I have a great deal to be thankful for—and some of that is you! Thanks for being part of my photographic community! It is great to be around people who enjoy photographing flowers as much as I do. Bringing beauty into the world is one way we can combat the evils of our times, and is a small contribution towards making life worth living.

Repeating Flower Pattern © Harold Davis

Harold Davis’s Photographing Flowers (published by Focal Press) has been called “the most comprehensive guidebook to flower photography ever written” by Rangefinder Magazine, rated the Best Guide to Flower Photography by Digital Photography Magazine, and was the subject of rave reviews in the Photographic Society of America Journal, the San Francisco Review of Books, and elsewhere.

“In this book Davis offers his knowledge and experience in the art of floral photography, presenting not only the results of his beautiful creations, but explanations of how each photograph was captured: the set up, the equipment and even the camera settings used for each brilliant image. The author takes you beyond the point of capture and discusses processing, both in a lab environment and digital post processing, as well as offers side-trips through history to learn a bit from the masters of art and photography, such as Van Gogh and O’Keeffe. Davis even goes so far as to share affordable and easy use studio setups which he has designed over the years. Using his techniques wonderfully artistic images can be created! For any photographer interested in floral photography – whether amateur or pro – this book will not only tutor them, but will inspire them.” –San Francisco Book Review

Click here for Photographing Flowers on Amazon!

Painting with Flowers Inverted © Harold Davis

2016

Photographing Flowers for Transparency, Weekend Workshop in Berkeley, CA, December 3-4, 2016; click here for details and registration (workshop full).
Photographing Waves on Point Reyes, Saturday December 10, full-day workshop under the auspices of Point Reyes Field Seminars. Click here for registration and information.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016—Free webinar with Harold Davis, sponsored by Topaz Labs, more information and registration link to come.

2017

From iPhone to Art: Weekend iPhoneography Workshop—click here for details and registration, January 28-29, 2017.
Photographing Flowers for Transparency, Weekend Workshop in Berkeley, CA, March 11-12, 2017; click here for details and registration.
Explore Bordeaux, Perigord, and the Dordogne with Harold Davis—click here for detailed trip itinerary (PDF)—Small group Destination Photography Workshop to Romantic Aquitaine. April 22-30, 2017. This an exclusive, very small photography tour with only a few places left. Click here for information and reservation form.
Malta: May 6-7, 2017—Weekend workshop sponsored by the Malta Photographic Society.
Flower Photography Intensive: 4-Day Masterclass in Flower Photography—click here for details and registration, 4-day workshop in Berkeley, CA., June 22-25, 2017.
October, 2017: Small group destination photo workshop with destination TBD; details to come; please send us an email to be added to the interest list.

Clematis on Black © Harold Davis

Harold’s workshops are often sold-out, and fill up quickly. To avoid disappointment, please register early. Feel free to contact Harold Davis if you have any questions about our workshops! Please also consider Harold’s online webinar recordings and his Photographing Flowers course with Craftsy. This course is rated 5.0 stars, with 25 out of 26 5-star reviews, and literally thousands of satisfied students. (Save  50% off the full retail price of my course using this link. Cannot be combined with other coupons or discounts. Link and offer expires January 15, 2017.)

Winged Clematis on White © Harold Davis

We arrange many of our workshops and events using the Photography with Harold Davis Meetup group. Click here for Group and Workshop reviews on Meetup. Please subscribe to our list and/or blog feed for early notification about new workshop offerings.

Garden Party © Harold Davis

What folks have said about Harold Davis workshops and events:

 “A great artist and speaker!”—W. Anglin
 “Harold is genuine, generous, and gracious – He has a world of knowledge and expertise that he loves to share – his wonderful books show his monumental talents and skill set- his workshops shows the depth of his connecting with others in a very real and personal way.”—P. Borrelli
“Awesome! He patiently addressed questions from the audience which contained photographers of all levels , molding his answers to the level of understanding for each of us. His presentations covered a wonderful range of technical knowledge as well as emphasizing the need for images to have an emotional quality. The images he shares are breathtaking and he is generous in sharing many facets of how he captures such beauty.”—J. Phillips
“Not all photographers are good verbal communicators. Harold is someone who can DO and TEACH. A rare combination of talents.”—B. Sawyer
“Inspiring!”
“He was very giving of his talents and time. The course was very organized and thorough. Loved it! Learned so much! … I also wanted to let you know that I have more than paid the cost of the workshops I’ve done with you by selling some photos! I have sold three prints already.”—L. Beck
“Very creative and a marvelous instructor.”—Kay S.

Tulip Blast © Harold Davis

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

First a kingdom, then a republic, and finally an empire—for a thousand years the pax Romana held. Today the glory that was Rome amounts to a curiosity, ruins of an ancient civilization presented for the amusement of the tour bus set, the coliseum and Roman forum embedded in the surrounding modern city. Sic transit gloria mundi [“Thus passes the glory of the world”]. Any parallels to modern times are, of course, entirely coincidental.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Color) © Harold Davis

To make this photo, on a rainy day in Rome my companion and I took the elevator to the top of the Victor Emanuel II Memorial. The building commemorates the father of modern Italy, and houses a museum of the Risorgimento, but is essentially bombastic in architectural design, having been variously described as a giant “typewriter” and (most appropriately) a huge wedding cake.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Black & White) © Harold Davis

With my camera on my tripod, I captured several sequences of the rain-soaked city and the clearing storm. Then the attendant rushed up to me, and very vehemently told me I couldn’t use my tripod. Fortunately, this image sequence (six exposures 1/4 of a second to 1/640 of a second at f/8 and ISO 64) was already “in the can.”

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (simulated Albumen print) © Harold Davis

Safety Pin

Safety Pin © Harold Davis

Workshop in a Suitcase

I am used to leading two kinds of photography workshops: one is close enough to my home base in Berkeley so it is easy to set up the workshop room in advance, the other is under the auspices of an institution where I am not responsible for setup. Last weekend’s Black and White in San Francisco workshop was a hybrid, in other words a kind of cross between the two.

Golden Gate Splash © Harold Davis

We rented a really very nice space in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown as the home base for the event. This turned out to be a great idea, but there was really no way we could setup in advance. In thinking how I could get everything I needed over to the workshop from the parking garage, I hit on the idea of encapsulating it in the suitcase I use traveling. This led to the workshop in a suitcase, possibly a relative of the great monologist Spalding Gray’s Monster in a Box.

Farther Shore © Harold Davis

Thanks to the participants in this workshop for being a great and game group despite the rain in Saturday. We had fun in a variety of locations. I photographed the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point (top) and Baker and China Beaches from Fort Point (above) in foul weather on Saturday, and used the images in classroom black and white conversion demos.

Rome from St Peter’s Dome © Harold Davis

The sepia image of the eternal city (Rome) shown above was a classroom demonstration, with the file drawn from my recent trip to Italy. The box of prints shown below was contained as part of my monster, er, workshop in a suitcase. This was a great workshop and location. We will probably but it on rotation for a repeat sometime in the next 12-18 months, and you might not want to miss it both in terms of the photography and the hands-on demos of monochromatic conversion techniques. You can keep tabs on my workshop schedule by visiting my Workshops & Events page.

Prints in a Box © Harold Davis

Apple

Ever since the era of Adam and Eve, there has been something enticing about an apple!

Apple © Harold Davis