Harold Davis's Blog, page 127

Fight Off Your Demons

This is an in-camera multiple exposure with six individual exposures with my camera set to Autogain. I varied the focal length between exposures to capture the model and her lace outfit in a variety of poses. Each shot was lit using studio strobes modified with a grid, and on one side a large soft box. The background was black seamless paper. I processed the image minimally in Photoshop, and added a texture from Flypaper for the final effect. Click here to check out some of my other multiple exposures of models.

Fight Off Your Demons © Harold Davis

LAB Adjustments Rule!

To make this image, I placed a ring of small, blue Lobelia flowers from the garden on a light box. Next, I surrounded it with a ring of chamomile flowers, which have white petals and a slightly yellowish interior. In the center I placed a glass purple heart. The original version is shown second from the top, with the other variations created in Photoshop using LAB color channel adjustments.

If you’d like to learn how I use LAB color creatively for effects like these, check out my Advanced LAB Color Seminar on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Note that a free book give-away and an early-bird special discount both apply until July 31, 2016.

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation B © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation E © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation D © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation F © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation C © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation AA © Harold Davis

Heart Ringed with Flowers Variation A © Harold Davis

Free Signed Book with Workshop Enrollment

We are offering a free, signed copy of one of my books with each paid workshop enrollment through July 31, 2016.

Specifically, for each qualifying workshop enrollment you can choose from a copy of Creative Landscapes (38 5-Star Reviews on Amazon), Creative Lighting (30 5-Star Reviews on Amazon), or Creative Night (18 5-Star Reviews on Amazon). I will sign your copy, and add a dedication if you’d like. These are the genuine Wiley Publishing editions, a $29.95 retail value each. We will ship your book for free within the continental United States, or give it to you at the workshop, as you prefer.

The qualifying workshops are Advanced LAB Color Seminar (November, 2016), Black and White in San Francisco (November, 2016), Photographing Flowers for Transparency (December 2016, only one spot left), From iPhone to Art (January, 2017), Photographing Flowers for Transparency (March 2017), and Flower Photography Intensive: 4-Day Masterclass (June, 2017).

As noted, this is a limited time offer, while our supplies last, books mailed within the continental United States.

Contemplation © Harold Davis

Iris Trilogy

Sometimes simple is best!

Iris Trilogy © Harold Davis

Flores Pano on Black, and on White

Et chorus sinit ire cum flores (black) © Harold Davis

I’ve been doing a great deal of black and white work for my forthcoming book from Monacelli Press, so its nice to take a color break with a color image, even though the color is on black, and also on white—so color and black and white!

In times of trouble, both personal and for the world, what better to turn to than flowers? There’s nothing like spending time arranging, photographing, and processing a floral panorama to help with serenity and steady the nerves.

Roughly speaking, the image title translates from the Latin to “Let’s take flowers with us and dance!” If you check out the exposure and processing info below, you’ll see this is one floral dance that took steady nerves and a great deal of work.

Et chorus sinit ire cum flores (white) © Harold Davis

Exposure and processing info: Nikon D810, Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2, photographed on a light box, eighteen exposures (photographed in two panels, left and right, each panel nine exposures with shutter speeds from 1/8 of a second to 15 seconds), each exposure at f/16 and ISO 64, tripod mounted; exposures converted from RAW using Adobe Camera RAW and Nik HDR Efex Pro, and combined in Photoshop; processed in Photoshop with help from Nik Color Efex Pro, Topaz Adjust, Topaz Simplify, and Topaz Glow; black version created using an LAB L-channel inversion in Photoshop.

Sunflower

Sunflower on White in Black and White © Harold Davis

Handsome Gargoyle Devil and the Pinhole Effect

A gargoyle is a carved grotesque, with (sometimes) the practical function of serving as a down spout for rain, and often the emotional purpose of warding off evil spirits. The world’s most famous gargoyles are those on the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris—which, however, are probably as much due to the Gothic romanticist architect Viollet-le-Duc as they are to historical veracity and antiquity. When Viollet-le-Duc reconstructed Notre Dame in the 1860s, it was tumbling down and virtually abandoned. Violett-le-Duc’s renovation was strongly inspired by Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame—a work of romantic fiction not particularly based in historical realities.

Gargoyle © Harold Davis

Whatever the historical authenticity of the Notre Dame gargoyles, they are a marvelous subject for photography, and a “must see” on any first visit to Paris, particularly if you have kids with you (my fourteen-year-old son Nicky joined me for my last visit to Paris in the spring, so I got a refresher in all things gargoyle, and hot chocolate as well!).

The first cameras were pinhole cameras. Pinhole cameras don’t have a lens.  Instead of a lens, light passes through a tiny hole; the light passing through this hole forms the image inside the camera. A camera obscura is a large pinhole camera where light passes through a tiny hole—the smaller the hole, or aperture, the sharper the image—and is projected on the back wall of an otherwise dark room.

The projected image is upside down, but perspective and other characteristics are preserved, so a camera obscura can be used to create detailed drawings that are accurate representations of scenes.

The first camera obscura was created by Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham in the eleventh century. In the west, the optics of the pinhole effect were imported from the Arab world, and understood as early as the fifteenth century Renaissance (they were described by Leonardo da Vinci and others). The use of the optical pinhole effect in the camera obscura was one of the key discoveries leading up to the invention of photography; if you get the chance, don’t miss the opportunity to visit a large camera obscura, found in public parks in a number of major cities (adjacent to Seal Rocks in San Francisco).

I processed my image of this gargoyle as a demonstration of the post-production pinhole effect (adding the pinhole look-and-feel in the Photoshop darkroom rather than in the camera) for my forthcoming book The Photographers Black and White Handbook. The result is a blend of the Nik Silver Efex Pinhole preset (70%) and the Topaz B&W Effects Pinhole (30%).

Get Your Camera Off Automatic: Full Day Workshop with Harold Davis on Saturday Sept 17, 2016

Full Day Workshop: Get Your Camera Off Automatic with Harold Davis

Have you always wanted to take fantastic photos, but somehow they never seem to come out as well as you see them in your mind’s eye?

By leaving their camera in one of the programmed automatic modes many photographers fail to realize their full creative potential. At the same time, if you don’t shoot manually you won’t learn the basic concepts of photography. In this intensive one-day workshop you will learn all you need to know to successfully support your creative vision by using your camera to its full potential.

Cordes-sur-Ciel at Sunrise © Harold Davis

Besides presentations from award-winning master photographer Harold Davis, this workshop uses hands-on exercises to “cement-in” the concepts you will learn.

Where: MIG Meeting Place, 800 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

When: September 17, 2016, 9:45AM

Tuition: $99 per person.

What to bring: Your camera, camera manual, tripod (if you have one), and a sense of fun and wonder!

Registration: Click here for information and registration on Meetup!

So please bring your camera, camera manual, and tripod (if you have one).

Upper White River Falls © Harold Davis

Who is this workshop for?

If you’ve been enjoying shooting digital photos, but don’t really understand the underlying photographic concepts or what the camera settings do this workshop is a fun way to get quickly up to speed.

Perhaps you are used to shooting film and want to get up to speed on the concepts of digital photography. Then this intensive “Digital Photography 101” workshop may be for you.

Intermediate digital photographers may also be interested in this workshop as an easy way to help them reinforce and remember what they’ve previously learned.

Registration: Click here for information and registration on Meetup!

Manarola © Harold Davis

Curriculum

9:45AM – Workshop orientation

10:00 – Fundamental concepts: Exposure, the exposure triangle, aperture, f-stops, shutter speed, sensitivity (ISO), sensor size, focal length, focus

11:00 – Setting your camera using the basic concepts

11:30 – Camera Clinic – first session

12:00 – Hands-on exercises

1:00 – Lunch break

1:45PM – Exercise review and concept refresher

2:30 – From camera to computer and digital post-production

3:30 – Hands-on exercises

4:30 – Review, wrap-up, and Q&A

5:30 – Camera Clinic – second session

Registration: Click here for information and registration on Meetup!

Rooftops of Paris © Harold Davis

What past participants have said about this workshop:

“It was a great day filled with both opportunities to practice and many words of wisdom from Harold.”

“This was a most informative and interesting workshop. It covered the things I wanted to learn about, and I left satisfied. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good basic class.”

“Great workshop! Learned a lot! Also appreciate the effort that went into putting the class together – the small conveniences like water, snack, handouts, and a nice meeting space made it easier to get through the day without being overwhelmed. Highly recommended.”

Registration: Click here for information and registration on Meetup!

In a Blue Hour © Harold Davis

About Harold Davis

Harold Davis is an award-winning professional photographer and widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary photographers.

He is the author of more than 30 books, including Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis (Focal Press), The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations (Focal Press), and The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing (Focal Press).

Harold is the author of the Creative Photography series from Wiley Publishing.

“Harold Davis’s Creative Photography series is a great way to start a photography library”—Daniel Fealko, PhotoFidelity.

The Creative titles include: Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Lighting: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Black & White: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Composition: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley), Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques (Wiley). He’s also written a book on the fundamentals of exposure, Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers (O’Reilly Media).

Registration: Click here for information and registration on Meetup!

When Flowers Talk © Harold Davis

Kira in a Cafe

For the demonstration of how to add a post-production selective soft focus using an Iris Blur for my forthcoming book from Monacelli Press, The Photographer’s Black and White Handbook, I used this portrait of Kira, photographed in a café near the Eiffel Tower in the City of Light.

Kira in a cafe © Harold Davis

Join Harold Davis at Maine Media Workshops Aug 7-13, 2016

There’s still time to join my small group of photographers in Maine for a week of intensive photography and self-exploration. This workshop is scheduled for August 7-13, 2016 at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. Click here for information and registration.

Have you ever wondered what it really means to be the best photographer you can be? Do you feel blocked by petty circumstances, or lack the creative space to do the work you know you can do?

I’ll be teaching a week-long version of my popular Achieving Your Potential As a Photographer workshop in Maine from August 7 to August 13, 2016 at Maine Media Workshops. We’ll explore our creative potential and photograph mid-coast Maine together.

Nautilus © Harold Davis

Well-known creativity guru Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art, has called my Achieving Your Potential As a Photographer (published by Focal Press) a great accomplishment: “I salute you. You’re gonna help a lot of people with this one.” 

According to an Amazon reviewer, “You’ll find inspiration, ideas, exercises, and challenges in this excellent book, that will help you become the best photographer you can be. This great book also shows you examples, challenges you, and gives you directions for precisely how to proceed.”

Over time, I’ve taken the feedback of literally hundreds of readers and workshop participants to fashion an Achieving Your Potential workshop. Here’s some of the comments participants have had in previous sessions of this workshop:

• “Thank you for provided the tools I need to take my photography up not one notch, but many notches, to the next level indeed!”

• “The Achieving Your Potential workshop has had a substantial impact on my photographic journey. Thanks for the mentoring, assistance, and inspiration.”

• “I particularly liked getting feedback from the group and from Harold regarding my goals and progress…Achieving Your Potential [is] well-thought-out and concrete.”

Mandahlia © Harold Davis

This workshop is for every photographer who wants to draw their line in the sand to become the best photographer and artist they can be. We’ll use mid-coast Maine as the base for exploration and photography, and come back with the tools and motivation to continue advancing our individual creative photographic journeys.

The workshop will include group and individual technical, practical, theoretical and spiritual exercises and assignments. There will be guided field sessions, and work in the classroom. The complete photographer—technical, practical, emotional, and business—skills and topics will be covered.

Click here for information and registration.

Reflections in a Maine Pond © Harold Davis

Inside the Pemaquid Lighthouse © Harold Davis

Monhegan Storm © Harold Davis