Harold Davis's Blog, page 169
November 17, 2014
Castle made of sand
Coming into Ait Benhaddou shortly before an early sunset (a little after 5PM this time of year in trans-Atlas Morocco) I saw that it would be a race with the light to get to an elevation in the old fortress for photography. The bus stopped at the inevitable coffee shop with a view and for-pay bathrooms, and I raced out with camera and tripod.
Castle made of sand © Harold Davis
The first hurdle was crossing the river (shown towards the back of the photo). There was a bridge upstream, but it was too far to make it in time for the light. The stepping stones nearer to my location looked precarious, but I watched a local person cross, and I realized they were steady enough if the attempt was made carefully. In fact, these steps were sandbagged cunningly in place and arranged to look precarious, so that when help was needed a tip could be solicited.
I carefully crossed the river, and made my into the Ksar. Several people demanded an admission fee. One lady was so persistent that I actually gave her a one Dirham coin (about ten cents). She took a look at it, told me if wasn’t enough, and handed it back to me in disgust.
The interior was a maze, and I knew that if I made a wrong turn I would lose the light. I also didn’t want to recross the river after dark, or miss the meeting time at the bus. So I raced upwards, finding a platform with a three Dirham for-pay bathroom and a great view. I handed over the money and set up my tripod. The proprietor was extremely gracious to me, and poured me a welcome cup of mint tea.
The image shows a castle made of crumbling sandstone, built on a huge scale, though it could easily be mistaken for a children’s sandcastle if one doesn’t look too closely.
Today is Moroccan independence day (won from France, in 1956). I’ll be writing more about this intriguing country, which has one foot in the thirteenth century and the other in the twenty-first.
November 16, 2014
Rain in Rabat
The autumn day in Rabat, Morocco was sunny with intermittent rain. During a squall with the bus parked near the medina (old town) I shot this with my iPhone through the wet bus front window.
Rain in Rabat © Harold Davis
November 10, 2014
Jemaa-al-Fna
The Jemaa-al-Fna is the central square in Marrakech, Morocco—used by locals and tourists alike. It’s a Unesco World Heritage site, and has been a symbol of the city of Marrakech for centuries. This is non-stop action, with snake charmers, monkeys, beggars and food vendors in an almost unimaginable pageant of humanity.
Jemaa-el-Fnaa © Harold Davis
To make the image shown here, I paid for access to a “Panoramique Balconey,” and shot three exposures on a tripod. Shutter speeds ranged from one second to 15 seconds, with the exposures combined in Photoshop.
November 7, 2014
Onward to Morocco
Tomorrow we take the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. How fitting then to spend our last day in Spain exploring Granada and the fabulous Alhambra—the fabled palace that was the last redoubt of the Moorish Kingdom in Spain!
Detail, Alhambra, Granada © Harold Davis
November 4, 2014
Gotic Quarter
Squashed within the ancient walls of medieval Barcelona, the old town presents a maze of twisting streets and narrow buildings close together. Along the Ramblas the area teams with life: tourist shops, restaurants, hotels and just plain people living. The view shown is one small slice of the Gotic (or Gothic) Quarter, looking down on the intersection of two streets from my hotel window.
Gotic Quarter, Barcelona © Harold Davis
November 3, 2014
Sagrada Familia
I am undone. I am so totally blown away by architect Antonin Gaudi’s masterpiece, the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Catalonia. I had not expected such an emotional and awe inspiring interior space. I’m spent, and will write more when I’ve recovered from jet lag!
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona © Harold Davis
October 31, 2014
New York is a stage
I’m passing through New York with an appearance at PhotoPlus Expo on behalf of my sponsor Carl Zeiss, for whom I am a Camera Lens Ambassador. PhotoPlus is at the Javits Center. I am enroute to Barcelona, Spain, where I am headed tomorrow. My timing in New York overlaps with Halloween, and it seems that all the world’s indeed a stage!
Bethesda Fountain © Harold Davis
So yesterday to get some air after being at the convention center all day I walked up to Central Park, and shot this image of the plaze behind Bethesda Fountain by moonlight. It does indeed look like a stage, but a deserted one at night!
October 28, 2014
Print Prices to Rise; Special Print Offer
Our print prices are set to rise modestly in 2015. For example, a 20″ X 24″ print is now $1,600; the price will rise to $2,000. See the table below for some other price increases.
We will hold current pricing for orders placed by December 31, 2014.
In this connection, we are pleased to make special print offers from time-to-time, on a “good while supplies last” basis. The subject of this offer is Bounty of the Garden, shown below, printed on Awagami Kozo washi, in a 20″ wide and 12″ high print, hand-signed in pencil. This is a glorious and unique image that makes a spectacular print, it is our way of saying thanks for the blessings of the earth and for a great year!
The special print offer price is a great deal at $295.00 plus $30 shipping!
Special offer print shipping within the continental United States only please. Please place orders by contacting the studio for the special offer. For Christmas delivery, please be sure to place your order for the special offer print (or any print) by December 10.
Bounty of the Garden © Harold Davis
Please note the following print price increases below. Current prices will be held for orders places before December 31, 2014. The indicated sizes are paper sizes, actual image sizes vary and are usually smaller. Special substrates in some cases may incur higher costs. For prints in a panoramic proportion, pricing is by the longest dimension (so a 24″ X 60″ print is priced the same as a 40″ X 60″ print).
Size
Current Price
2015 Price
11″ X 14″
$900
$1,000
16″ X 20″
$1,200
$1,400
20″ X 24″
$1,600
$2,000
30″ X 40″
$2,900
$3,000
40″ X 60″
$4,500
$5,000
October 27, 2014
Photograph Prague, Vienna and Budapest (April 2015)
This photographic adventure is a tale of three cities! We will explore the stately, elegant and photogenic imperial cities of Prague, Vienna and Budapest. We’ll stay in centrally located 4-star (or better) hotels in each imperial city. Highlights include a visit to Prague Castle, night photography in Prague, a scenic coach drive to Vienna, photography in Vienna, hydrofoil transfer on the Danube River from Vienna to Budapest and an intimate walking tour of Budapest. Please consider joining noted photographer Harold Davis for a fun photographic time in these three great cities!
Dates: Sunday April 19, 2015 (leave United States April 18) – Tuesday April 28, 2015 (10 days and 9 nights).
Group size: Minimum of 10 and maximum of 14.
Cost: $5,499.00 per person (excluding airfare, single supplement $1,085.00 additional). Includes all accommodations, many meals, transportation and extras per the trip Itinerary and Inclusions. Special early-registration discount of $500 for registrations with paid deposit before December 1, 2014 (so early-bird per-person cost is only $4,999).
Click here for the complete Prospectus and Itinerary, here for registration instructions, and here to download the registration form.
October 26, 2014
Terra Incognita
It is the job of the artist to plunge into Terra Incognita. This means exploring unknown country both literally and figuratively. When artistic territory seizes to be unknown and verges on the repetitious, then the work ceases to be exploration and becomes an exercise in marketing the known “trademark look.” It’s a sad fact that this artistic truth diverges with conventional advice for making a living as an artist—which is to find an iconic style, and to stick to it.
Burning off the Fog, Marin Headlands, CA © Harold Davis
For me, plunging into the artistic unknown is like swinging on a rope high above deep water. When the leap begins it is both exhilarating and frightening, and part of what makes life worth living. I will not be shoe-horned into a narrow category. I will go “under, over and through” to discover the lands beyond, returning enriched with experiences and insights that I can bring into genres I have plumbed before.
Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, Japan © Harold Davis
On the eve of literal travel, these thoughts come to mind. This journey is a bit of a wild adventure as well, with stops in New York, Spain, Morocco and Portugal. The point, of course, is always the journey and not the destination—and it is a truism that neither I nor my imagery will return unchanged. My plan is to blog my photos, stories and adventures, so please “stay tuned.”
Saint-Roman, Dordogne, France © Harold Davis
Children’s book author E. Nesbit got this right for art and for travel in one of my all-time favorites The Enchanted Castle, when she put these words in a character’s mouth: “‘I don’t understand,’ says Gerald, alone in his third-class carriage, ‘how railway trains and magic can go on at the same time.’ And yet they do.”
Today we have airplanes rather than Victorian carriages—but the concepts of escape from the mundane details of class structure and the struggle to make a living via art and magic remains the same.
