Harold Davis's Blog, page 55
February 24, 2020
Upcoming free “Photography as Poetry” presentation
I will be presenting Photography as Poetry at the Alamo Danville Artists’ Society [ADAS] on Tuesday, March 10 2020 at 7:30 PM. My presentation is free, and open to the public. More information below, or click here for details.
What: Artist, Photographer, and Writer Harold Davis presents Photography as Poetry
Where:
Alamo Danville Artists’ Society [ADAS]
1401 Danville Blvd.
Alamo, CA 94507
Open to the public and free.
When: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 7:30pm
Description: Davis’s extraordinary imagery builds on the masterworks of the past while embracing revolutionary innovations in photography. He puts it this way: “I believe that advances in the technology and craft of digital photography have created an entirely new medium. My years of contemplation opened my eyes and my heart, and taught me to see more deeply. I use this alchemy of wonder to combine the traditions of painting and photography with new technology.”
The topic of his presentation is “Photography As Poetry”:
“Photography is narrative, and some photographs are prose while others are poetry. In this presentation, artist and photographer Harold Davis examines how we create imagery that conveys powerful emotion and meditative healing in the context of the rush of modern life, and along the way how his life as a photographer has connected with art and poetics.”
More info: adas4art.org/monthly-meeting
February 20, 2020
Exciting Ride to Tower Arch
So there were four of us, or six if you count me, myself, and I: also my old friend Eric, my German friend and colleague in x-ray photographics Julian, and Loki the Australian sheep dog. We happy few drove in Eric’s Blue Ganesh, an off-road modified high-clearance Toyota 4-Runner with under-armor plates, video front and aft, a pop-top sleeper, a snorkel like an elephant trunk, and a hobbit-like stove pipe bringing up the rear. You’d have to see this vehicle to believe it.
Eric, who had just completed a certificate course in off-road driving, was of course at the wheel. A fact I was glad about as the off-road trail I had picked turned radically into a stone and mud obstacle course, and Eric proved the usefulness of having a split differential. Who knew that each wheel functioning on its own could make such a difference when climbing a wall of rocks?
At the end of the bone-jolting ride a short walk led up and over and through the kind of stone maze that I love to traverse, and at the end of the walk there was Tower Arch, photographed here looking back through the opening west at near sunset using a horizontal fisheye.
View through Tower Arch © Harold Davis
Exposure data: Nikon D850, Nikkor 8-15mm fisheye at 15mm, eight exposures from 1/60 of a second to 2.5 seconds, each exposure at f/29 and ISO 62; tripod mounted. Exposures combined and processed using Nik HDR Efex Pro and Photoshop.
February 17, 2020
Whirlwind of Photography
View from Deadhorse Point © Harold Davis
Starting in Yosemite at the Out of Yosemite photo conference, we headed for Death Valley. We were in Death Valley for a few days. While there, we photographed Zabriskie Point at sunset and sunrise, and many other places in Death Valley National Park.
Then we headed east, where the whirlwind photography highlights included Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon at sunset, slot canyons along the Grand Staircase in Escalante, Deadhorse Point in Canyonlands National Park, and Island in the Sky at golden hour.
Yesterday saw some action in the Needles section of Canyonlands and in the back country of Arches National Park.
We’re headed back west and home now, with a few stops along the way.
This has been a veritable whirlwind of photographic fun, and I am looking forward to having the time to process many of the images I have made. When does one ever really have the time to do this in the rush of photography commissions, book writing, life, and family? (Also known as the “digital photographer’s lament”!).
On a completely different note, I’m looking forward very much to being home, and to spending some time with my family!
Zabriskie Sunrise © Harold Davis
February 12, 2020
Near Tehachapi
Near Tehachapi, on the main road up from Bakersfield to Mojave, I saw the light was getting good as golden hour, still early with winter long nights, quickly approached. I swung into active-photographer mode, managed to execute a u-turn across the four-lane, semi-truck heavy traffic, and found an interesting little side road. This tree in the beautiful, glowing light was my (possibly just) reward.
Near Tehachapi © Harold Davis
Photographed with my Nikon D850, Zeiss 21mm Distagon, seven exposures from 1/100 of a second to one second, each exposure at f/22 and ISO 64, all exposures tripod mounted; exposures processed on the fly in my motel room in Mojave using Nik HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop, Nik Color Efex Pro, and Topaz Simplify.
February 11, 2020
Trains on a Siding near Trona
The wind was kicking up dust devils as we neared the old mining town of Trona, east of the Sierra in California, and en route to Death Valley. These train cars, sitting empty and forlorn on a siding seemed melancholy to me, the story of someone or something whom life has passed by.
Trains on a Siding near Trona © Harold Davis
Related image: Poem of the Road.
February 9, 2020
Photography Conference in Yosemite Valley
El Capitan from Valley View © Harold Davis
I am en route from the Out of Yosemite photography conference to Death Valley for a few days of photography. The conference was hectic busy but great fun to be back to Yosemite, one of this world’s most special places, and a true honor to be included as an instructor in the company of legendary photographers including Michael Frye, William Neill, Alan Ross, and John Sexton. Thanks to my fellow instructors, all the attendees, and Chris and his team for organizing this incredible event.
Skim Ice on the Merced © Harold Davis
Merced River Reflections © Harold Davis
February 1, 2020
Tulips like Stained Glass
Tulip like Stained Glass © Harold Davis
I got these tulips when they were nearly unopened, sourced from a local organic farm (the same place my anemone models came from a while back). After a while, the blossoms opened, the pale pink turned reddish, and in the insides came alive when placed on a light box like stained glass.
Tulip Fandango © Harold Davis
January 29, 2020
Dance of Spring Poster
The Dance of Spring is the Dance of Life poster was published by Wilderness Studio, a company I founded, in the 1980s. The Dance of Spring did very well indeed for us, and could be found in dorm rooms, graphic galleries, and living rooms. We still have a few left in the flat files that we use to store prints, and I must say I remember the days when fine art graphic posters were a big deal, and Pinterest wasn’t even a mote in a venture capitalist’s eye, with a certain amount of nostalgia. This was a simpler world, and far less glued to tiny screens.
January 25, 2020
Hydrangea Blossoms and Rock Spiral
I made this light box composition with two spirals: one of small, wet rocks and the other with blossoms cut from a blue hydrangea bloom. I thought to create an homage and distant echo to Robert Smithson’s famous earth sculpture of a spiral jetty.
Hydrangea Blossoms and Rock Spiral © Harold Davis
January 24, 2020
Out of Chicago Botanic Garden Photography Conference August 23– 27th, 2020
I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching at the Out of Chicago Botanic Garden Photography Conference in Deerfield, Ilinois near Chicago, August 23–27th, 2020. If you care about flower photography as much as I do, this one will be great!
Out of Chicago Botanic Garden will bring together passionate flower and garden photography enthusiasts with world-class photographers all in a great location, where you can learn and shoot side-by-side with working professional photographers who appreciate flower and garden photography.
Highlights include:
• Stay in Deerfield, Illinois and photograph the Chicago Botanic Garden for 5-days.
• Daily, in-the-field, hands-on, small group teaching excursions.
• There will be classes, group critiques and post-processing help.
Don’t miss this one! Reserve by Friday, February 28th, 2020 and save $250 by using my special discount code at checkout, DAVIS.
Visit www.outofchicago.com/chicagobotanic for registration and more information about the Out of Chicago Botanic Garden Photography Conference.
