Harold Davis's Blog, page 16
March 18, 2023
Fantastic Iris and White Camellia
A great deal of our energy lately has gone into clearing my parents’ house to make it ready for sale. This is a thankless task and emotionally very difficult. Fortunately, we are almost done. But every time I think we’ve removed everything the house disgorges something new—this time a collection of small glass bottles, cowering in a corner.
I used these bottles to anchor some flowers from my garden, photographed with my 85mm tilt-shift macro on a white seamless background.
Fantastic Iris © Harold Davis
White Camellia © Harold Davis
March 15, 2023
Life and Death
This image is a composite of three photos: a scan from film of an image of a caribou skull that I made long ago on the north slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range; Animism, an in-camera multiple exposure made with a model in the studio (see the bottom image in Multiple Exposures and Models: Star of Brightness); and a version of Shell Spiral (in the eye sockets).
I’m not really sure what the image signifies, although of course I have been thinking a great deal lately about life and death, and what it all means. This image came together when I saw how the shapes of life (the model) fit together with death (the skull) as a composition, and the rest was just playing.
Life and Death © Harold Davis
March 11, 2023
Rose Pasta Rag
Fun to photograph things besides flowers on my light box! Rosettes of pasta are shown here, with an inner spiral added in Photoshop representing a reduction in the size of the overall image. The image on black (immediately below) is an L-channel inversion in LAB color of the original version (white background, bottom).
Rose Pasta Rag 2 © Harold Davis
Rose Pasta Rag 1 © Harold Davis
March 10, 2023
The Essence of Simplicity
A single blossom from my garden is apparently the essence of simplicity. The power of these images of flower blossoms relies on this apparent simplicity: you are supposedly looking at the whole blossom and nothing but the blossom against a straight black background.
To the casual glance, the only real photographic control involves lighting. Simple as these compositions seem to be, they do depend upon attractive overall lighting.
Sometimes the apparently simplest things are the hardest to pull off. It would be a mistake to underestimate the craft that goes into these straightforward compositions.
Related images: Frilly Goddesses; Topography of Camellia.
Camellia ‘Pearl Maxwell Blush’ © Harold Davis
Camellia ‘Elizabeth Weaver’ © Harold Davis
Ranunculus on Black © Harold Davis
March 4, 2023
Garden Party
I’ve been working with some wonderful colored Calla Lillies on my light box. Adding blue Irises to the mix seemed to create a great garden party!
Garden Party © Harold Davis
February 25, 2023
Composition and Photography Online Masterclass
Learn the fundamentals of composition in photography with internationally renowned artist and photographer Harold Davis
“To create exciting compositions, you must have a willingness to embrace serendipity and change as part of your artistic process. After all, composition is a process not a result” – Harold Davis
Good composition is a fundamental building block of photography. It is easy to recognize, but hard to achieve. In this live 2-hour online masterclass and Q&A, internationally renowned artist, photographer and best-selling Rocky Nook author Harold Davis well help guide photographers at any level to improve their compositions.
“Early bird” discount until March 31, 2023!
Click here to register for this Masterclass.
What will be covered?
Work with shapes such as lines, circles, and rectanglesUnderstand directionality, entering, and exiting in compositionWork with patterns and repetitionRecognize and use positive and negative spaceUse the various kinds of abstractions in your own workOutcome:
Learn the fundamentals of compositionHelp to develop your own personal styleInspire your creativityWhere:
This is an online course delivered via ZoomWhen?
Thursday, April 13th, 202310.00am – 12.00pm Pacific TimeThis online course will be recorded – As a participant you will be sent a password-protected link to the video recording to re-watch at your convenience.
February 24, 2023
February 19, 2023
Frilly Godesses
My flowers are like frilly Goddesses. But not in a fey way, or an overly cute way. The textures these blossoms provide could almost be fabrics or garments. The beauty I see in my viewfinder makes my heart pause, and regard the world with gladness despite the sadness that lingers.
Above: Ranunculus, photographed on black velvet, Nikkor 85mm tilt-shift macro, six exposures at shutter speeds ranging from 1 second to 30 seconds; each exposure at f/64 (effective aperture) and ISO 64; mounted on tripod; exposures combined in Photoshop.
Below: Iris, photographed on a light box, Zeiss 50mm Macro, seven exposures at shutter speeds ranging from 1/15 of a second to 4 seconds; each exposure at f/22 and ISO 64; mounted on tripod; exposures combined in Photoshop.
Ranunculus © Harold Davis
Iris © Harold Davis
February 12, 2023
Topography of Camellia
In the wake of the death of my parents, I created a new garden on the shaded side of our house. This is a mostly ignored narrow strip between our house and the fence that separates us from the sidewalk on the San Ramon side. I anchored this “memorial garden” with three camellia bushes. The central camellia is an espaliered Camellia “Nuncio’s Pearl” (a full blossom is shown at the bottom of this story).
I surrounded the camellias with anemones and campanulas, all flowering plants that should thrive in this part shade environment. Hopefully, they will eventually carpet the area with blossoms.
We have several hummingbird feeders in this area, and I plan to add a birdbath.
Topography of Camellia © Harold Davis
Topography of Camellia is an abstraction created from one of the first blossoms from this garden. As with a Rorschach, what you see in this image may depend more on you than on me.
Camellia Nuncio’s Pearl © Harold Davis
February 2, 2023
Orvieto Passage
Recently I processed this image from Orvieto, in Umbria (Italy). In the morning the fog was thick. I took advantage of the evocative lighting, and framed an ancient, cobblestone passage by looking (with my camera) through an arch. The result is a composition that takes one to the place, and somehow seems to bring up the smells and feeling of being there.
Related image: Duomo in the Clearing Fog.
Orvieto Passage © Harold Davis
