Harold Davis's Blog, page 67
June 20, 2019
June 17, 2019
Making a Flower Block and LAB Collage
Last week I photographed a medley of flowers from our garden on the light box, with one result shown in a previous story. The flowers together formed almost a kind of color block print:
Flower Block on White © Harold Davis
Running the block print image through LAB color adjustments, I couldn’t help enjoy the variations, and constructed an eight-panel collage. Each panel represents an LAB channel equalization or inversion, all based on the original flower block. Click here or on the collage to view it larger.
Collage of LAB Flower Blocks © Harold Davis
For more on how this collage was made, check out my Creative LAB Color in Photoshop course.
June 16, 2019
Surreal Lady Fish
Take one model (Katlyn Lacoste). Make two in-camera studio multiple exposures of the model using strobes on a black background. Turn the exposures sideways, and mix and match in Photoshop. Add Harold’s eye. What do you get? A surreal lady fish.
Surreal Lady Fish © Harold Davis
June 15, 2019
Papaver Triptych
The Nearly Perfect Poppy close-up is the center panel of the Triptych. Click here or on the image to view it larger.
Papaver Triptych © Harold Davis
June 14, 2019
Nearly Perfect Poppy
Waking up to a morning of partial sunshine, I saw this new, glowing, orange Poppy blossom in the plantings along our front porch. It was definitely dappled and dawn-drawn. Although I have met and photographed many fine Papavers in my life, this one seemed nearly perfect to me in every way.
Nearly Perfect Poppy © Harold Davis
If you are interested in how I photographed this flower, I brought it indoors and suspended it over a black velvet background. I used diffused sunlight for ambient backlighting, and added an LED macro flash for fill from both sides. The camera was my D850 on a heavy-duty RRS tripod. I used 60mm of extension tubes with my 85mm Nikkor t/s macro. A +4 close-up filter graced the business end of the lens.
I exposed for 30 seconds and ISO 64 and an effective aperture of f/64.
June 13, 2019
Waves on Drakes Beach
Today I reprocessed this image of Waves from a while back so that the photo would work for a substantial enlargement. I wanted to keep the soft quality of the breaking waves in the background while sharpening the foreground just a smidgen, all while interpolating the image a bit larger. The tool I used was Topaz A.I. Gigapixel, and I think it (and I) did a fine job.
Waves on Drakes Beach © Harold Davis
June 11, 2019
Announcing Romantic Southwest France (April 29-May 7, 2020): Photography in the Lot River Valley
We are pleased to announce a new destination photo workshop to southwestern France in the spring of 2020. Join a small compatible group of photographers in a 15th Century fortified farmhouse in the lush countryside of southwest France in the springtime. We will be hosted at the Mas de Garrigue, a 15th century fortified farm near the Lot River in the heart of romantic southwestern France. This is an area of gardens, gourmet French home cooking, ancient medieval villages and castles, and a photographer’s and walker’s paradise.
Click here for more info, here for the detailed itinerary, and here for the Reservation Form. A significant early-bird discount applies for enrollment by August 15, 2019. Please keep in mind that this destination photo workshop is filling fast!
Confluence of Two Rivers © Harold Davis
Our group will meet at a special hotel in Toulouse in the southwest of France on the afternoon of Wednesday April 29, 2016 where we will be spending the night. After exploring Toulouse, we’ll transfer by private mini-bus to Mas de Garrigue in the area of Calvignac on the banks of the beautiful Lot River. Along the way we will stop at the historic city of Albi, with its ancient bridge over the Tarn River.
Morning Mist © Harold Davis
The Lot is a region of beautiful rivers and valleys, stark cliffs with ancient clinging villages, sacred pilgrimage routes, stone bridges, churches that date from the era of the crusaders, beautiful flowering gardens, and much more.
Cordes sur Ciel at Dawn © Harold Davis
Click here for more info, here for the detailed itinerary, and here for the Reservation Form. A significant early-bird discount applies for enrollment by August 15, 2019.
June 10, 2019
Papaver Rhoeas Medley
It was fun to spend a slow weekend morning with the family at home. Everyone was engaged, no one was bored or whining or hungry. I photographed flowers from our garden: Poppies, delphiniums, and roses. The idea was to make a great color explosion. The music to photograph by was Pink Floyd and Bizet’s Carmen. The central flowers are Papaver rhoeas ‘Falling in Love’.
Papaver rhoeas Medley © Harold Davis
June 8, 2019
Nautilus X-Ray Series
I made this series of X-Ray and Fusion X-Ray Nautilus shell compositions in collaboration with Dr. Julian Köpke in April in Heidelberg using conventional digital x-ray equipment and DSLR cameras, and yesterday was able to find some time to process the images. If this kind of imagery interests you, e.g., digital X-Rays, fusion X-Rays, or imagery of Nautilus shells, also check out: X-Ray portfolio; Tulip X-Rays and Fusion X-Rays; X-Ray Flower Medley Fusion; Nautilus Within Without; Nautilus X-Rays; Nautilus in Black and White.
Nautilus Shells LAB © Harold Davis
Nautilus Shells on White © Harold Davis
Nautilus Shells on Black © Harold Davis
Nautilus Shells on Black – Fusion © Harold Davis
June 7, 2019
Exploring Tokyo for Photographers (Oct 24-Nov 1, 2020)
Photograph Tokyo with Harold Davis and Mark Brokering (Oct 24-Nov 1, 2020)
One of the truly great cities of the modern world, Tokyo is extraordinarily photogenic, and surprisingly easy to get around in. When the maple trees change color in the autumn, and ultra new meets ancient and old, Tokyo can be particularly beautiful. Please click here for details of the itinerary, and click here for the Reservation Form!
An early-bird discount applies until Oct 31, 2019.
We look forward to exploring Tokyo with you.
Join acclaimed photographer Harold Davis and co-host Mark Brokering for the experience of a lifetime in Tokyo exploring the culture, food, and art of Japan—all with our cameras!
Umbrellas, Tokyo © Harold Davis
Japanese cuisine is probably my favorite food. And I am not alone in this affinity. Did you know that there are more three-star Michelin restaurants in Japan than in France?
I feel lucky to be exploring Japan with someone as knowledgeable about food and cooking as Mark Brokering. Mark has been teaching cooking classes at Williams-Sonoma for the past year. And he has been enjoying the cooking of his Japanese sister-in-law for decades. He’s been to Japan many times for work and for family visits. He tells me that noodles like ramen and soba, a staple of Japanese home cooking, are ideal anytime—breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
You may also not know that in Japan there are a wide variety of tasty egg dishes, including assorted tamagoyaki (kind of an egg-roll omelet) and tamago sushi (rice topped with sliced cooked egg and wrapped around with a strip of Nori seaweed).
Of course, if you’re into sushi, you won’t find another country that offers raw fish in such variety and elegance of preparation.
On this photo trip, we will explore the Tokyo culinary scene together, making sure that there are plenty of comfort food options, as well as ventures into the exotic and unknown.
Buddha Samadhi, Tokyo © Harold Davis
Here’s what some participants in past travel workshops with Harold Davis had to say:
“Had an awesome time with Harold and the workshop participants. Itching to go back.”
“What an agreeable group of travel companions they were! A once-in-a-lifetime experience that I plan to repeat next spring!”
“Would follow Harold and his camera anywhere!”
“Harold has great skill, without the ego of most master photographers. Travel arrangements were perfect.”
“One thing I really liked about the photo tour that Harold set up is that we had plenty of time to photograph in the best locations, and really prioritized when the light would be good.”
An early-bird discount applies until Oct 31, 2019. Click here for itinerary details and other information, and here for the Reservation Form.
