Harold Davis's Blog, page 14
July 17, 2023
My work since the Pandemic | Presentation at B&H Photo in New York
What: My work since the Pandemic, a live presentation: this is a free event
Where: B&H Photo in New York City
When: Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 1pm ET
In this presentation, artist, photographer, writer, and educator Harold Davis will show the trajectory of his stunning work in the past few years since the annus horibillus in 2020.
Harold states: “In 2020, the global pandemic changed the world forever. For me, as for many of us, the impact was both professional and personal. As the world closed down with lock-downs, many of my professional options curtailed.
Steam Train © Harold Davis
“But despite the troubled times, the years since 2020 have been creatively productive for me, with professional accomplishments including the publication of my books Creative Garden Photography and Composition & Photography, adaption of my work as postage stamps by the USPS and being awarded the coveted Progress Award by the Photographic Society of America in 2022 largely for my high-key light box techniques. In 2021, I started traveling with my camera again, bringing groups to Iceland and France, and working both close to home and around the world.”
Godafoss © Harold Davis
Harold will show his work, and discuss his pandemic experience with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, participants will gain insight for their own creative process:
Opportunities in difficulties, and how to turn limitations aroundStaying creative in tough timesEnriching one’s work, with Harold’s Photographing Flowers for Transparency as a case in pointGenerating creative photography, and staying creativeHow to stay happy and enthusiastic about one’s work even when the world doesn’t seem ready for itMoving on: Where do we go from here?There will be ample time for Q&A.
Tulip Pano © Harold Davis
July 16, 2023
Making the world a more beautiful place one image at a time
The other day we changed the tagline on my website. The former tagline was Creative vision, quality, and craft in photography and digital art. I think this describes pretty well my attitude towards using the tools in my “slow” approach to creating and experimenting with photography and digital art.
Our new tagline is “Making the world a more beautiful place one image at a time” [quotes and all!]. You can see this tagline at the top of this blog story or on the website home page. I feel this is more aspirational, what I want to do with my work, rather than about my craft, and how I do it. Also, the new tagline is more playful.
Of course, part of me would like to say that beauty speaks for itself, as does craft. Fair enough! But it is also important to formulate goals and to state what is important to my work as an artist.
Flowers Are Multitudes © Harold Davis
July 12, 2023
Photographing Flowers for Transparency Live Webinar Masterclass
“Harold Davis’s ethereal floral arrangements have a purity and translucence that borders on spiritual.”—Popular Photography Magazine
In this live 2-hour online masterclass and Q&A, internationally renowned photographer and best-selling Rocky Nook author Harold Davis shows his stunning floral imagery and describes in detail his process for light box photography. Floral arranging, botanical composition, backlighting, exposure, bracketing sequences, high-key photography, and post-production are explained.
There is a tuition fee, and an early-bird discount (until September 1, 2023). Click here to register.
Description: Survey after survey comes up with the data that flowers are a subject that photographers of all skill levels want to shoot. Where else can you find such a riotous display of colors and shapes contained in such a small package? Every flower is different.
In this masterclass, Harold Davis shares his special techniques for high-key floral imagery using the lightbox techniques that he has pioneered. He’ll demystify the photographic and post-production workflow involved in creating this innovative imagery and will also explain what he looks for in floral models, and the techniques that he uses in the studio and in the garden.
A demonstration in Photoshop will show how to combine images using layers, layer masking, and a layer stack.
This masterclass will consist of an extensive presentation by Harold Davis explaining the complete process of photographing flowers for transparency, followed by a wide-ranging discussion.
In this masterclass, participants will learn to:
Understand the principles of transparency and translucency in photographyWork with high-key compositions and exposuresCreate an exposure layer stackCombine a high-key exposure stack in PhotoshopMake your own light box compositions using patterns of shape, color, and formWhen
Thursday, September 14th, 202310.00am-12.00pm Pacific Time2-hour online masterclassClick here to register.
About the Presenter
Harold Davis is an artist, photographer, educator, and the bestselling author of many books. His most recent books include Composition & Photography, Creative Garden Photography, and Creative Black & White, all from Rocky Nook. Harold’s book Photographing Flowers (Focal Press) was rated the “Best Guide to Flower Photography” by Digital Photographer Magazine.
Harold is the developer of a unique technique for photographing flowers for transparency, for which he was awarded the 2022 Photographic Society of America Progress award. According to Popular Photo Magazine, “Harold Davis’s ethereal floral arrangements have a purity and translucence that borders on spiritual.”
Harold is also known as a master of black and white. The Seattle Times put it this way: “Harold Davis is the digital black and white equal of Ansel Adams’s traditional wet photography.”
He is a Moab Master, and a Zeiss Ambassador, and an internationally known photographer, as well as a sought-after workshop leader. In 2022, two of Harold’s floral images, Tulip Panorama and Sunflower Bouquet, were produced as United States postage stamps.
July 3, 2023
White Peonies
I have been photographing some stunning white peonies. For this flower, the internal cluster is in a pretty unusual formation. Part of the idea of photographing this flower on the light box is to let the colors of the flowers I have arranged under the petals be refracted up into the image.
In a way, these two images of white peonies fit in with my Artfully Random sequence. But in this case, I think it is visually clear that the randomness has been conspicuously arranged to enhance the composition, so the randomness is clearly not entirely random.
White Peony © Harold Davis
Peonies and Poppies © Harold Davis
June 23, 2023
Free Harold Davis Webinar: Composing Your Photographs with Printmaking in Mind
Many experienced photographers know that they never really “see” their own work until they’ve printed it. In addition, effective photographic printmaking requires specific compositional skills that involve the translation of an image from a digital file on your computer to a reflective substrate (the photographic paper).
In this free webinar, sponsored by Moab Paper, Harold Davis will draw on the techniques explained in his groundbreaking book Composition & Photography to drill down on the specifics needed to apply “compositional smarts” to the art and craft of fine photographic printmaking.
When: Tuesday, July 11, 2023 09:00 am PT
Where: At any computer or device near you!
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UJY8uYW-SNiPRkamPg70CA#/registration
June 7, 2023
Pale Garden Retouched
A client ordered a large print of my Pale Garden image. With the first test print, Phyllis and I could see that Pale Garden needed to be retouched. If you look closely at the original version (created in 2019, and shown in the linked story; click on each version to see it larger) you’ll probably be able to see some of the details that I worked on in this retouched version.
Pale Garden Retouched © Harold Davis
May 29, 2023
Artfully Random
I’ve stumbled into a new series of flower images. These images have in common the appearance of “artful randomness.”
They are supposed to seem casual and minimally arranged. But the fact is that I create these images from “the ground up” using both a scaffolding and an intermediate structural layer, so the appearance of randomness is just that—an appearance—and there is very little about these images that has been left to chance, whatever chance may be.
In art, I like to think, there are no accidents, only serendipity. To play fast and loose and improvise, first understand and master your craft!
If you like these images, also check out Joy of the World in Flowers, Glory of the Garden and Wilder Shores of Love.
Falling Flowers © Harold Davis
Iris Lattice © Harold Davis
Dancing with the Flower Stars © Harold Davis
Canopy of Flowers © Harold Davis
Butterfly Ranunculus and Friends © Harold Davis
Music of Irises and Poppies © Harold Davis
May 19, 2023
Translucent Flora: Photographs by Harold Davis
Translucent Flora: Photographs by Harold Davis is an exhibition at the San Francisco Botanical Garden Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, June – September 2023
Join us for the Artists’ Reception on Sunday, June 11, 4-6pm
This beautiful new art exhibition features stunning botanical photographs by award-winning photographer and author Harold Davis. Using a special photographic technique, Harold Davis creates images of flowers and plants with an ethereal, translucent effect. The author of several books, his work is featured on two USPS Forever stamps.
Visit https://www.sfbg.org/davis for more info.
Flowers of Spring’s Desire © Harold Davis
May 15, 2023
Joy of the World in Flowers!
Having a number of teenagers and twenty-somethings in the house exposes me to some (understandable) pessimism about life, society, and the future. These are indeed strange times. We—and our kids—have experienced the pandemic, the coarsening of civic discourse, and the specter of global warming.
Joy of the World in Flowers © Harold Davis
But let’s not forget that where there is life there is hope. We have lived through difficult and tumultuous times before. There is such joy and beauty in the world, starting—for me—with the flowers from my garden, shown in this image. There are always things to make me happy. Seek beauty out in nature and gardens, look for it, and refresh your soul, because no matter what we face there is always much to celebrate.
Joy to the World in Flowers!
Having a number of teenagers and twenty-somethings in the house exposes me to some (understandable) pessimism about life, society, and the future. These are indeed strange times. We—and our kids—have experienced the pandemic, the coarsening of civic discourse, and the specter of global warming.
Joy of the World in Flowers © Harold Davis
But let’s not forget that where there is life there is hope. We have lived through difficult and tumultuous times before. There is such joy and beauty in the world, starting—for me—with the flowers from my garden, shown in this image. There are always things to make me happy. Seek beauty out in nature and gardens, look for it, and refresh your soul, because no matter what we face there is always much to celebrate.
