Harold Davis's Blog, page 40

Creative LAB Color Essentials Webinar this Saturday

Hydrangea Relativity © Harold Davis

The Creative LAB Essentials Webinar this Saturday January 30, 2021 at 11am PT will be a great review of LAB Color if you’ve worked in LAB before, and an exciting introduction if this is your very first exposure to this incredibly cool topic.

Following a short presentation, I’ll proceed by demonstration. Topics to be covered include:

How LAB color works, and its implementation in PhotoshopColors and channelsInversions: the two images shown accompanying this post are an example of an LAB L-channel inversionCreative sharpening with LABDownloading, installing, and working with my (free) LAB Photoshop Action

Advanced registration is required. Click here for webinar registration, and here for more information.

Hydrangea Relativity Inversion © Harold Davis

Models in Stop Motion: the Multiple Exposure Series

We recently posted the video recording of Models in Stop Motion: the Multiple Exposure Series. Note that this video includes art photography of female nudes, and is not intended for anyone offended by this kind of photography, or who is under 18.

Vitruvian Woman © Harold Davis

To learn more about my Multiple Exposure Series, click here and here. You can find more webinar recordings on this page. Click here for our upcoming schedule of workshops and events.

Petals on Parade

These two “petal-pushing” images start with a composition of alstroemeria petals, photographed for high-key HDR on a light box. 

Petals on Parade on Black © Harold Davis

The image with a black background (shown above) is an LAB L-channel inversion of the original image on white, shown below.

Petals on Parade © Harold Davis

Generally, with light box compositions, the most important issue is the arrangement, a/k/a the composition. By the way, this is a statement that could be made (and has been made) about photography in general.

Arrangement needs structure. One of the most common structures for light box compositions is the Mandala. Another is the bouquet (click here for an example).

Can you identify the visual structure underlying the Petals on Parade images?

A new dawn—and the upcoming Photographing Flowers for Transparency webinar

Watching the inauguration ceremony for President Biden and Vice-President Harris this morning, I wept. Tears of joy at having a competent, caring, decent administration that believes in science in charge. Tears of sadness for all those we’ve lost to Covid-19, and for the shattering of comity, sanity, and truth. Tears of relief that there is hope, and that we can start over without descending further down the rabbit hole of know-nothingism, authoritarianism, and fascism.

Now you know where I stand, if you didn’t know already. If you disagree with me, that is your right, but I hope we can do it with love and respect for each other.

Anyhow. We’ll be presenting the first in my sequence of Photographing Flowers for Transparency webinars this Saturday January 23 at 11am PT.

I’ve been asked several times how this webinar will differ from the recordings I have posted on YouTube and from the previous Photographing Flowers for Transparency live webinar (which I gave back in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic).

There’s no really easy answer to this question.

Of course, a live webinar differs from a recording. For one thing, you can ask questions, and also be involved in the community that has coalesced around our webinars. A live webinar is part way to an in-person workshop (which I can’t wait to resume) compared to a recording.

In terms of the content I will present, some of it will be the same. But I don’t really like to repeat myself, and in the intervening months I’ve also been pretty creative with light box photography, and learned a fair amount about webinar presentation. We do expect to present some new material, and I am looking forward to showing you some exciting ways to accomplish great light box results.

I hope you consider joining us!

You’ll find our upcoming schedule of webinars by clicking here. You can view our recordings from the past year by clicking here.

Wheel of Fortune © Harold Davis

Webinar Contribution to Project Coyote

Phyllis and I are delighted that the sold-out webinar Finding Meaning in Photography with panelists Guy Tal and Michael Gordon generated a bit more than $1900 as a contribution to Project Coyote. 

Special thanks to the wonderful and insightful presenters, and everyone who registered and made this possible.

Project Coyote is a national non-profit organization based in Northern California whose mission is to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science and advocacy.

You’ll find our upcoming schedule of webinars by clicking here. You can view our recordings from the past year by clicking here.

Eye of the Tower © Harold Davis

Webinars Coming Up Soon

We’re back in the saddle and starting up the webinars after some time off for artistic (and otherwise) rest and relaxation. Hopefully, the bulk of 2021 will be less stressful than the year behind us that shall not be named.

On this coming Saturday, we are pleased to present Guy Tal and Michael Gordon showing their work and discussing Finding Meaning in Photography. Click here for registration, and here for more information. This is a benefit for Project Coyote.

We recently added a new Night Photography webinar to benefit Alameda County Foodbank. Click here for registration, and here for more information. 

You’ll find our upcoming schedule of webinars by clicking here. You can view our recordings from the past year by clicking here.

Aspens near Sonora Pass © Harold Davis

New Year’s Dragon

This dragon was constructed on a light box, using petals from alstroemerias (“Peruvian lilies”), and other flowers. It is wishing you a creative, exciting, and more generally positive year ahead!

New Year’s Dragon on Black © Harold Davis

New Year’s Dragon © Harold Davis

A Pandemic Year of Webinars—Video Recordings

“Do you have any idea how productive we’ve been?” I asked my spouse, as I compiled a page of links to our recent webinar video recordings. I had no idea myself, until I put together this list. 

You can watch these recordings for free by following the links on the Webinar Video Recording page. There are 37 videos, most well over an hour. The pandemic came along, we hunkered down, and got busy with webinars. You can check them out here, the good, the bad, and not-so-much the ugly in categories including Photographing Flowers for Transparency on the Light Box, Black & White, Photoshop and LAB Color, and Inspiration and Exploration. I’m particularly pleased with the guest photographers we brought in, who helped us contribute to some great charitable causes when they showed their work.

Thanks to everyone who has been part of our photographic community this difficult year!

Please consider joining us live. Click here to see our current schedule of live webinars.

Metamorphosis © Harold Davis

Best wishes for the coming year

We are looking forward to a time when it is safe to have workshops in person. Meanwhile, please consider our new slate of 2021 webinars on Saturdays, with (we hope) something for everyone and some new listings. Click here for the complete schedule.

Wishing you a joyous, healthy, and creative 2021—Harold & Phyllis Davis

Harold Davis—Best of 2020

Obviously, 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. It was also not the year it started out being for me. Let me explain. In February and March I was first in Yosemite, teaching in a workshop. Next I was in Death Valley, followed by Escalante, Utah and the country around Moab.

I’d noted a news item about a novel disease in China, but didn’t think it would have very much applicability to my life and work. Oh, how oblivious we mortals can be!

My plans were to get home from the southwest, stay a few weeks, then head to Europe to lead a workshop in southwestern France followed by a stint walking as a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. And so on.

Obviously, my travel plans did not come to pass. We’ve spent the rest of 2020 at home, sheltering-in-place. One of these days I hope to travel again. But in the meanwhile, 2020 has seen my own, personal artist-in-residency-at-home. Which has made for works capturing on a smaller scale than many of my best-of photographs from years gone by, but I think I found plenty to capture at home. On the whole, it has been a productive year for me.

My “Best Of” selections for prior years, going back to 2013, can be found here.

Hydrangea Blossoms and Rock Spiral © Harold Davis

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Skim Ice on the Merced © Harold Davis

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Tulip Fandango © Harold Davis

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Folds in the Earth © Harold Davis

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Zabriskie View © Harold Davis

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Eye of the Tower © Harold Davis

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Opening Train Bridge © Harold Davis

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Power Lines © Harold Davis

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Poppies from our Garden Path © Harold Davis

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White Papaver Nudicaule Inversion © Harold Davis

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Parfait Mandala 1 © Harold Davis

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Patterns in Glass 3 © Harold Davis

Egg White © Harold Davis

Nemesia and Gaillardia © Harold Davis

Duo © Harold Davis

Florabundance © Harold Davis

Honeysuckle © Harold Davis

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Dried Blossoms © Harold Davis

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Flowers from our Pandemic Garden © Harold Davis

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Brookside-Snowball Dahlia © Harold Davis

Let the sunshine in © Harold Davis

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Red Onion Slice © Harold Davis

Pear Slices © Harold Davis

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There’s always one in every barrel! © Harold Davis

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Apple Slice Playdate © Harold Davis

Metamorphosis © Harold Davis

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Spiral of Flower Karma © Harold Davis

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Bottled Light Study © Harold Davis

White Dahlia Inversion © Harold Davis

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Flowers are Multitudes © Harold Davis

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Serendipity with Sunflowers Inversion © Harold Davis

Bike Rack © Harold Davis

I hope you’ve enjoyed my images and the associated blog stories. For convenience, I’ve included a link below the image where I’ve written about it in my blog.

Most images available as prints. Please inquire. As of today, we are still running our Pandemic Print special.

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