Harold Davis's Blog, page 28

Bunches of Bunches

Looking at some upright bunches of flowers recently in cylindrical vases, it occurred to me that the bunch itself made an interesting structure for a light box composition.

Tulip Bunch © Harold Davis

One of the key compositional conundrums in light box photography is presenting an underlying structure of the image. Generally, for these kinds of images to be successful, there must be structure. For example—some of the simplest cases—the arrangement may be grounded by a central stalk or stem, or composed as a bouquet.

A related problem is how you handle the boundary problems of the image; in other words, creating a successful treatment of the meeting of the botanical subject and the image frame. Generally, floating the subject in the middle with no connection to the boundaries does not work well. It occurred to me that photographing bunches of flowers might be an exception.

Daffodils and Irises © Harold Davis

It was important in making these images to first place the images in the cylinder, so that the mass of the flowers assumed the bunched shape I was looking for.

Tulip Bunch at the beginning of this story was made from nine captures my with my Nikon D850 and Zeiss Otus 55mm on tripod. Each exposure as at f/16 and ISO 64, with exposure times ranging from 1/30 of a second to 4 seconds.

Daffodils and Irises used the same gear and basic exposure concept, with eight exposures ranging from 1/15 of a second to 4 seconds. 

Inside Lisianthus

At the florist, it typically goes by the name Lisianthus. It’s also commonly known as the Prairie gentian, reflecting the grasslands where this flower is usually found (when not at a florist!). The modern botanical name is Eustoma, from the ancient Greek words for “pleasing mouth.”

Inside Lisianthus © Harold Davis

By whatever name, the deep blossom shape called out to my macro-probe lens, one of a series of images I have photographed inside flower blossoms including those shown in Hollyhock ‘Halo Candy’, Falling in Love, Inside Digitalis, Flowers or Sea Creatures, and more.

With these photographs, the macro wide-angle lens on a stalk goes with the blossom. I use the builtin ring light to see to focus, then use a relatively long exposure (usually about thirty seconds) to capture the details inside the flower.

Wishing you joy, creativity, and light in 2022!

For us, as for the world, 2021 has been an “interesting” year. Some professional highlights include:

Finishing my new book, Composition & Photography (the publication date is in May, 2022, and you can pre-order it).A wonderful and dream-like photography tour of Iceland in July.The announcement that two of my images will be used as stamps by the U.S. Post Office in 2022 (click here for the official press release).

You can click here to view my self-selected best images of 2021 (I have self-selected best images as an exercise in editing since 2013!).

Looking forward, we are hoping that the coming new year may be less “interesting” as events unfold. 

If all goes according to plan, we have photo tours scheduled in April for the southwest of France, and in October for off-the-beaten track Japan. It’s also our hope to present the postponed Photographing Flowers for Transparency workshop in August here in Berkeley.

May 2022 be a year of healing, with the blessings of family and community. We are all in this together. Wishing you joy, creativity, and light in 2022!

Harold Davis—Best of 2021

2021—a year that has truly lived up to “May you live in interesting times”! My “Best Of” selections for prior years, going back to 2013, can be found here. Onward and upward through the fog!

California Live Oak © Harold Davis

Corn Poppy © Harold Davis

Bouquet of Poppies from the Garden © Harold Davis

The Right to Assemble © Harold Davis

The Way Things Were © Harold Davis

Blowing in the Wind © Harold Davis

Papaver Pods © Harold Davis

A Hint of Color, Oxarafoss © Harold Davis

Haifoss Variation 4 © Harold Davis

Godafoss © Harold Davis

Lotus Flower © Harold Davis

Love is a Many Splendored Thing © Harold Davis

Dandelion Inversion © Harold Davis

Climbing Broccoli Mountain © Harold Davis

Autumn Roses © Harold Davis

Divertimento 1 © Harold Davis

Glass Shield © Harold Davis

White Peony © Harold Davis

Most images available as prints. Please inquire.

Check out my self-selected bests from previous years in Best Images Annuals!

Solstice Greetings 2021

This shortest day of the year brings me thoughts of renewal. As the days grow longer, and light returns, I am hoping that we all find comfort, creativity, and a harmonious way forward.

Sagrada Familia © Harold Davis

I made this photograph of Antonin Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Catalonia in 2014. You can check out the original blog story here, with more about the architecture of the Sagrada Familia in Antoni Gaudi and the shell game.

Petals on a Plate

I have got a great deal of mileage over the years from Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) petals. These petals are shown in this photo on a decorative glass plate on my light box. Compared to other flower petals, they seem to work particularly well with light coming through them, backlit on a light box. This is due to the translucency of the alstroemeria petal, their variability in color, and variegated patterns and markings.

Petals on a Plate © Harold Davis

It’s hard to know where to begin with my images that use these flower petals, but a few that I like are Floral Composition, Alstroemeria Medley, Petals on Parade, New Year’s Dragon, Spiral of Flower Karma, It Starts with a Petal and Ends with a Twist of Fate, Floral Tondo, and Flowers on Ebony and Ivory. Selected images from these blog stories are shown below.

Floral Composition © Harold Davis

Alstroemeria Medley © Harold Davis

Petals on Parade © Harold Davis

New Year’s Dragon on Black © Harold Davis

Spiral of Flower Karma © Harold Davis

A Simple Twist of Fate 4 © Harold Davis

Floral Tondo 1 © Harold Davis

Will You Won’t You Join the Dance © Harold Davis

Room in France Tour; Japan Filling Fast

We have room in Romantic Southwest France (April 27 – May 5, 2022). Click here for info, here for the detailed itinerary, and here for the Reservation Form.

Off-the-Beaten Track Japan Photography Journey (October 16-26, 2022) is filling quickly, but there is still some space. Click here for info, here for the detailed itinerary, and here for the Reservation Form.

Please also keep in mind our in-person Photographing Flowers for Transparency weekend workshop, August 6-7, 2022 in Berkeley, California. Click here for more info.

Please call or write with any questions!

Composition & Photography Index

I believe that you can tell a great deal about a book by reading its index. A good index should allow the reader to quickly find what they want to find in a book. To create such an index means understanding both the contents of the book, and also how readers will be using the book.

Click here for the index we’ve created for my new book, Composition & Photography. This index is preliminary, and is subject to revision.

With the index to Composition & Photography we have tried to be genuinely useful to the reader. However, according to a professional indexer who is a character in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle, one should never index one’s own book: “It’s a revealing thing, an author’s index of his own work…It’s a shameless exhibition—to the trained eye.”

Announcing Off-the-Beaten Track Japan Photography Journey with Harold Davis

Misty Mountains © Harold Davis

What: Step into the fabled Japan of myth and legend. Journey back in time to a Japan that few westerners are familiar with. Join a small group of compatible photographers led by Harold Davis and a professional guide for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. 

When: Sunday, October 16, 2022 to Wednesday, October 26, 2022 (ten nights and eleven days).

Where: We meet at our hotel in Tokyo, Japan. After exploring the new and old sides of Tokyo, we’ll travel back in time through the Japanese Alps via the ancient Nakasendo way. We’ll visit well-preserved villages in the Kiso Valley, Matsumoto Castle, the castle town of Takayama, and the World Heritage site of Shirakawa-go. Following a stop in the culturally important city of Kanazawa, we will wrap up the destination photo workshop with a dreamlike visit to the gardens and temples of Kyoto, where the tour will end.

Click here for the full description (with details, pricing, and how to register), here for the detailed day-by-day trip itinerary (“Prospectus”) and here for the Reservation Form. Our in-country partner is Oku Japan.

White Peony

I photographed this white peony the other day on my light box. Most flowers reveal a highly organized inner core; this bashful peony exemplifies more private mysteries. The result, white on white, is unlike the more typical flower mandala, and more resembles something logographic, such as a heiroglyph or kanji character.

White Peony © Harold Davis