Harold Davis's Blog, page 126

Rockland Breakwater

The Rockland, Maine breakwater is a loosely laid wall of large granite rocks that protects Rockland harbor, and stretches about a mile out to a lighthouse. The photo below shows the breakwater in its causeway aspect, while I used the motion of the waves on a float anchored to the causeway and a longish time exposure (two minutes) to create the still water effect in the image shown underneath.

Rockland Breakwater 1 © Harold Davis

Rockland Breakwater 2 © Harold Davis

Dahlia

It’s great to be home and back with my family. I got back late last night, and spent the day catching up with correspondence and projects, and getting reacquainted with some deadlines. But I did take a little time out to photograph some beautiful dahlias.

Dahlia © Harold Davis

The flower shown here was photographed on a black velvet background with my Nikon D810, the 85mm f/1.4 Zeiss Otus with a 12mm extension tube, at one second, f/16, ISO 64, using a tripod. The flower was illuminated with natural light, meaning cloudy but bright sunlight. I processed the image in Adobe Camera RAW, and made a few adjustments in Photoshop.

Penobscot Crossing

The observatory at the top of the bridge across the Penobscot Narrows bills itself as the highest bridge observatory in the world. Be that as it may, on a rainy day the lines and shapes of this interesting bridge became an abstract from above, particularly when crossed with the wake of a motor boat.

Penobscot Crossing © Harold Davis

Departing

The long exposure motion blur in this image from the back of a Maine State Ferry makes the image general and dram-like. The departure could be from many places, with the cool green hills and an ambiguous structure in the distance balancing the strident and saturated flag above the wake of the departing ship.

Departing © Harold Davis

Isleboro Ferry

Today I took my workshop class on a field trip to Isleboro, a short ferry ride from the Maine mainland. One of the techniques I asked the group to practice was intentionally hand-holding long exposures for a blurred look. This kind of blurring becomes one possible tool in the in-camera digital toolbox—tack sharp is not the only aesthetic choice when we make images. As an example, here is a long exposure image of the Isleboro ferry coming into the dock.

Isleboro Ferry © Harold Davis

Exposure data: Nikon D810, 28-300mm lens at 90mm, six seconds at f/25 and ISO 64, +4 neutral density filter, circular polarizer, hand held; processed in Photoshop, Nik Silver Efex, and Perfect B&W.

Sky View from the Olsen House

Today I photographed inside the Olsen House, where Andrew Wyeth made many of his most famous paintings. The bare rooms were really inspiring and visually interesting. While not particularly Andrew-Wyeth-esque, I thought this view of a chair in an empty room with a cloudscape out the window was fun!

Sky View (Olsen House) © Harold Davis

Sailing Regatta

My friends Tom and Linda took me out for a sail on Penobscot Bay in Maine. They picked me up in Stonington harbor in their launch, and we motored out to their ship, the Linda Lee. All of a sudden we were in the middle of a sailing ship parade, with spinnakers and fantastic sails aloft and many, many ships at sea. Sailing ships like in a dream!

Sailing Regatta © Harold Davis

Explore Bordeaux, Perigord, and the Dordogne with Harold Davis (April 22-30, 2017)

I’m off to Maine to teach photography and eat lobster—before I leave I want to let you know about my newly-listed destination photography workshop to the romantic kingdom of old Aquitaine in the southwest of France. We will explore Bordeaux, Perigord, and the Dordogne, and be based in an old mill that has been converted to a 4-star hotel on the banks of La Dronne river in Brantome, a small village that has been called the “Venice of the Dordogne.”   Set amid gardens with the river running nearby, and only a short walk to the bridges and restaurants of Brantome, Le Moulin de l’Abbaye combines old and new (it was renovated around a structure that dates back to the 1600s) and is an ideal place for photography.

The dates for this photography adventure are April 22-30, 2017. This an exclusive, very small photography tour that is filling up quickly with only a very few places left. Please let us know right away if you’d like to come. An early-registration discount applies until August 31, 2016. Click here for the Prospectus with additional details and the reservation form.

Confluence of Two Rivers (Dordogne & Vezere) © Harold Davis

More about Brantome, France where the workshop will be based: Brantome, on the northern edge of the Dordogne is an ancient village on an important branch of the Chemin de Saint Jacques pilgrimage trail. This is a region of beautiful rivers and valleys, stark cliffs with ancient clinging villages, sacred pilgrimage routes, stone bridges, churches that date from the era of the crusaders, beautiful flowering gardens, and much more.

Set in a loop in the Dronne River, and sometimes known as the Venice of the Dordogne, Brantome has a nice mix of medieval and renaissance architecture. Besides the architecture to admire, the setting with the encircling river and the steep wooded slopes around the town add to its attraction. The river is calm and gentle at this point, covered with lilies, and sheltered by weeping willows. It is very pleasant to stroll along the edge of the river and through the river-side gardens. The town is classified as one of ‘les Plux Beaux Detours’ in France.

Click here for the Prospectus with additional details and the reservation form.

Three Poses and a Two-Fer

Contemplation © Harold Davis

I had fun photographing a model from Los Angeles the other day. Mostly we did multiple exposures, but I also did some single poses. The single poses are shown above, and the first two below. The bottom image is an in-camera double exposure, with the same model appearing twice. I converted all images to black and white to keep the visual impact of these images simple.

Wonder Why © Harold Davis

Figure Study Jumping © Harold Davis

Me & Me © Harold Davis

Romantic Roses on the iPhone at the Supermarket

I photographed this nifty display of roses at a local supermarket using my iPhone 6s, then processed them in my phone using different painterly effects while waiting on the checkout line. The upper version is processed in Photo Lab Pro, the middle is done in Prisma, and the bottom is a Waterlogue.

If you are interested in iPhone photography, check out my From iPhone to Art weekend workshop (the next session is scheduled for January 28-29, 2017).

Romantic Roses © Harold Davis

Roses via Prisma © Harold Davis

Roses via Waterlogue © Harold Davis