Workshops
Click here for more information about Harold Davis photography workshops.
Featured workshop: 2013.12.07 and 2013.12.08—Photographing Flowers for Transparency, Two-Day WorkshopArt Editions
Harold’s Books
-
Recent Posts
- Villandry Gardens
- Meditation at Giverny
- Botanique and Monochromatic Visions
- Workshop Opportunities
- We’ll Always Have Paris
- Eiffel Tower from Sacre Coeur Dome
- Chateau de Nazelles
- Eiffel
- Katie Rose is Five
- Au Sauvignon
- La Tour Eiffel
- Harold Davis Photo Workshop at Giverny
- Parc de Sceaux
- San Sulpice
- Luxembourg Gardens
- Opera Garnier
- City of Light
- Beside the Seine
- Piggyback Waterdrop
- Keeping in Touch
- The Unphotographed Photos
- Katie Rose in Tiger Paint
- Windswept Sea
- New $10,000 Stretch Goal for Monochromatic Visions
- New Harold Davis Kickstarter: Monochromatic Visions
- Calypso orchid
- The infinitesimal and the infinite
- Living at the border of immensity
- New Harold Davis Workshops, Events, and Webinars Too!
- Smoking Gun
Trending
Site Map
Kickstarter
- Funded: Botanique. More about the Botanique limited edition.
- Present: Monochromatic Visions
Blog Categories
- Abstractions (6)
- Bemusements (569)
- Book Reviews (4)
- Cuba (28)
- Digital Night (243)
- Flickr (13)
- Flowers (568)
- France (4)
- Hardware (32)
- HDR (49)
- Hearts (6)
- High Sierra (26)
- Hiking (28)
- iPhone (17)
- Iris (10)
- Katie Rose (121)
- Kids (211)
- Landscape (603)
- Lensbaby (48)
- Models (46)
- Monochrome (144)
- New York (7)
- Paris (12)
- Patterns (84)
- Phoenix Roundtrip (9)
- Photograms (75)
- Photography (2184)
- Photoshop Techniques (215)
- Point Reyes (90)
- Print of the Month (7)
- Road Trip (22)
- San Francisco Area (268)
- Software Reviews (7)
- Still Life (24)
- The Wave (14)
- Tilden Park (16)
- Water Drops (151)
- Workshops (19)
- Writing (126)
- Yoda (4)
- Yosemite (143)
- Zion (14)
Archives
- May 2013 (13)
- April 2013 (15)
- March 2013 (12)
- February 2013 (13)
- January 2013 (15)
- December 2012 (14)
- November 2012 (13)
- October 2012 (12)
- September 2012 (7)
- August 2012 (11)
- July 2012 (13)
- June 2012 (17)
- May 2012 (10)
- April 2012 (8)
- March 2012 (14)
- February 2012 (6)
- January 2012 (9)
- December 2011 (10)
- November 2011 (13)
- October 2011 (14)
- September 2011 (16)
- August 2011 (11)
- July 2011 (18)
- June 2011 (25)
- May 2011 (21)
- April 2011 (18)
- March 2011 (23)
- February 2011 (21)
- January 2011 (25)
- December 2010 (22)
- November 2010 (23)
- October 2010 (15)
- September 2010 (15)
- August 2010 (17)
- July 2010 (19)
- June 2010 (12)
- May 2010 (20)
- April 2010 (19)
- March 2010 (23)
- February 2010 (24)
- January 2010 (24)
- December 2009 (26)
- November 2009 (23)
- October 2009 (20)
- September 2009 (22)
- August 2009 (18)
- July 2009 (25)
- June 2009 (22)
- May 2009 (25)
- April 2009 (17)
- March 2009 (25)
- February 2009 (24)
- January 2009 (34)
- December 2008 (32)
- November 2008 (32)
- October 2008 (25)
- September 2008 (28)
- August 2008 (28)
- July 2008 (33)
- June 2008 (36)
- May 2008 (34)
- April 2008 (25)
- March 2008 (25)
- February 2008 (30)
- January 2008 (35)
- December 2007 (50)
- November 2007 (32)
- October 2007 (39)
- September 2007 (32)
- August 2007 (22)
- July 2007 (34)
- June 2007 (24)
- May 2007 (42)
- April 2007 (31)
- March 2007 (29)
- February 2007 (29)
- January 2007 (31)
- December 2006 (29)
- November 2006 (31)
- October 2006 (31)
- September 2006 (31)
- August 2006 (27)
- July 2006 (26)
- June 2006 (34)
- May 2006 (20)
- April 2006 (39)
- March 2006 (42)
- February 2006 (29)
- January 2006 (53)
- December 2005 (52)
- November 2005 (73)
- October 2005 (44)
- September 2005 (35)
- August 2005 (26)
- July 2005 (27)
- June 2005 (28)
- May 2005 (28)
Meta
Category Archives: Landscape
Parc de Sceaux
Andre Le Notre is the Frederick Law Olmsted of France. Like Olmsted, Le Notre is the essential landscape designer of his country. In Olmsted’s case, much of the inspiration came from park-like wilderness such as the floor of Yosemite Valley, while Le Notre’s creations—including the gardens at Versaille, Fountainebleau and the Tuilleries—are formal, and involve long vistas with aisles of sight running to the vanishing point, as well as very regular and symmetrical shapes both small and large.
A lesser-known creation of Le Notre’s is the Parc de Sceaux, shown in the photo. The Parc de Sceaux lies on the periphery of Paris near the bedroom community of Bourg-la-Reine. It is one of Le Notre’s masterpieces.
Windswept Sea
Last week I spent some time wandering on Point Reyes with my oldest son Julian (he was off from school for the week). The land and sea were swept by a strong wind, which made photography difficult, but we had a great time being out in the weather.
Looking at these wind-tossed waves reminded me that soon I will be across a different ocean, and far from home. Next week I am leaving for France, where I am leading a workshop in Paris. I’ll try to keep images and stories coming to this blog.
To make this image I stacked two fast shutter speed captures (each was shot hand held at 1/640 of a second at f/13 and ISO 200). In the strong wind a tripod was hopeless, and I couldn’t hope to stack more than two hand held exposures. I next increased the contrast and tonal range by multi-processing the RAW files to add additional layers of light and dark.
I like the way the Windswept Sea image has become an abstraction, an alternating pattern of lights and darks, that only comes into resolution as the ocean when I shift my eyes away from the image, and then back again.
Please check out my Monochromatic Visions Kickstarter project, and if you are able to do so, I would greatly appreciate your support of my photographic goals.
Also posted in Monochrome
Leave a comment
Living at the border of immensity
I looked out over the vast Arizona plateau leading to the great canyon made by the Colorado Rover. The late autumn sun was setting quickly, creating shadows in the undulating up-country. If you look at the image sized larger it is easy to see tracks that extend across this apparently trackless waste. What would it be like to live here at the border of immensity?
Exposure data: 120mm, three exposures at shutter speeds between 1/80 of a second and 1/320 of a second, each exposure at f/8 and ISO 200, tripod mounted; exposures combined and converted to monochromatic in Photoshop.
Also posted in Monochrome
Leave a comment
Gnarled wood in the desert
In the desert life is harsh, and the intensity of light reflects the harshness of conditions. Photography is best at the fringes of the day—the “golden hour” leading up to sunset, the half hour just after sunset, and the half hour of comparatively serene light one finds at dawn.
I created this monochromatic HDR image shortly after sunrise in Glorieta Canyon, part of the Anza-Borrego Desert in southeastern California. To make the image I used my 200mm macro lens, and mounted my camera on a tripod. There were five exposures, shot at ISO 100 and f/16. Shutter speeds varied between 1/13 of a second (darkest) and 1.3 seconds (brightest).
The images were processed from the RAW using Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) and Nik HDR Efex Pro, then combined in Photoshop using layering. I used Photoshop, Nik Color Efex, Topaz Adjust, Topaz Simply, and PixelBender to enhance the image. Finally, I converted the image to monochromatic using Photoshop, Nik Silver Efex, and a “reserved” layer from the original HDR Efex monochromatic HDR processing.
Also posted in HDR, Monochrome
Leave a comment
Sunset from Sutro Baths
Sunset was spectacular here in the San Francisco Bay area yesterday. I shot west out to the Pacific Ocean from Sutro Baths, shown here with a long enough exposure (15 seconds) to calm the action of the waves.
Also posted in Photography, San Francisco Area
Leave a comment
On Duxbury Reef
A monster low tide occurred at the same time as the early winter sunset. Taking advantage of this conjunction, a friend and I wandered out on Duxbury Reef. Duxbury Reef, shown in the linked story from above, is one of the largest shale reefs in North America. It lies west of Bolinas in Marin County on California’s north central coast, and north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, within Point Reyes National Seashore.
Like Atlantis lost beneath the waves, the landscape you see in this image is usually far beneath the water. In fact, as sunset quickly turned to darkness we hurried off Duxbury Reef ahead of the massive oncoming tidal surge. Our route off the reef took us through arched tunnels normally hidden by the ocean, and past the feet of massive cliffs to the footpath at Agate Beach Park.
Exposure data: 35mm, four exposures at shutter speeds from 2 seconds to 2 minutes, each exposure at f/22 and ISO 100, tripod mounted; exposures combined in Photoshop.
Comment: I used the 2 second exposure to capture the sunset colors, and the 2 minute exposure to capture the much darker foreground of the reef. The exposures were combined using layers, a layer mask, and a gradient. The longer exposure also allowed me to create the attractive fog-like effect, derived from the action of the water in motion.
Also posted in Photography, Point Reyes
Leave a comment
Opposites
When it comes to image conception and post-processing these days I seem to be thinking in opposites. In my image of the Triumph of the Wave (below) the breaking surf reforms against the adamant of a rock-bound shore. Wild and peaceful. Violent and tranquil.
There’s something like the Hegelian triad in operation: thesis and antithesis yields synthesis. Nowhere is this more apt than in post-production, where effective practice means repetitive application of opposites: sharpening and blurring, increasing contrast and reducing contrast, saturating and desaturating, and so on.
The key is to be selective. Blurring and sharpening the same pixel makes no sense because you get back where you started. But blurring and sharpening adjacent pixels can be very effective.
Technique should always be in the service of vision. The moving anarchy of the surf is in opposition to the static solidity of the rocks. Synthesis in subject and process can yield an image that is meditative—and a call to action, both calm and exciting.
Also posted in Monochrome, Photoshop Techniques
Leave a comment
Foundation of all those fables
Wandering on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, high above Stinson Beach, the Bolinas lagoon, Duxbury Reef, and the open Pacific the seascape below was cloud-covered. As the sun began to set, thermals opened an area offshore and I was reminded of a quote from Thoreau of Walden fame: “Who has not seen in imagination, when looking into the sunset sky…the foundation of all those fables?”
There’s magic in the sunset sky, yet we’re scared to succumb to such a simple infatuation. Beauty can make us grumpy, and put us in mind of postcards. Actor Dustin Hoffman cynically put it this way: “I envy people who can just look at a sunset. I wonder how you can shoot it. There is nothing more grotesque to me.”
Photography can be many things. I’m here to tell you it is okay to shoot sunsets. Personally, I cannot look at one without being moved, and recognizing the foundation of fables as day turns to night.
Also posted in HDR, Photography
1 Comment
Land’s End
The past few days have been spectacular in the San Francisco Bay area. Night rain has alternated with crystal clear days. The days themselves have vibrated with clarifying autumn light, while exotic cloud formations have been on almost constant display.
As a photographer with a great love for landscape as a subject I couldn’t ignore this opportunity even though I am supposedly heads-down getting a book done. So with my oldest son Julian out of school early, we drove over to the Marin Headlands.
A short, steep, and sweet hike to us to the top of Slacker Ridge. I mounted my camera on my tripod, and started shooting across the Golden Gate strait. Land’s End is in the mid-ground of this image, but the point of the image is of course the extravagant cloud show over the open Pacific.
In making the exposures that went into this image I want to be sure to get the sun fully resolved. So I underexposed relative to the overall scene (1/8000 of a second at f/9 and ISO 200, using a Polarizer). At these shutter speeds, at least one doesn’t have to worry about motion blur!
In processing the image I layered in lighter exposures to capture the cloud formations and highlights on the water—while making sure to leave the shapes of the hills in the foreground silhouetted and dark.
You can click on the image to view it larger.
Also posted in Monochrome, San Francisco Area
Leave a comment
Storm in Upper New York Bay
The day I had for shooting on the water in New York was the one day it rained. But light during stormy weather can make for interesting images. Photographer Hank Gans and I braved the storm and proceeded as planned despite the seriously squally weather.
This image shows upper New York Bay, often simply called New York Harbor with the lower Manhattan skyline in the background. Upper New York Bay is fed by the Hudson River, which is connected to the shipping channels out to the Atlantic Ocean via the Narrows and Lower New York Bay, and to Long Island Sound via the East River (which despite the name is actually a tidal strait).
In this image you can see a Staten Island Ferry plowing through the waves in front of the inaptly-named Freedom Tower, which is going up near the World Trade Memorial.
The three versions of Storm in Upper New York Harbor in this story are shown in reverse of the order in which I made them during post-production. The actual RAW image file is fairly flat, so I processed the color image to add contrast and drama (below).
Once I was happy with the color version I used Nik Silver Efex 2 to convert the image to monochromatic (above). At that point, I thought I was done—but the idea of playing with textures called out to me, hence the painterly version at the top of this story.
Also posted in New York
3 Comments
Star Circles in the Patriarch Grove
Bristlecone Pines are the world’s oldest living things. They have witnessed thousands of passing turns of the earth in the heavens—and, therefore, the stars turning relative to the earth. I feel awe and thanks that I’ve got to share this cosmic show from the Patriarch Grove high in the White Mountains in eastern California near the Nevada border.
I shot this image while preparing for a workshop I was teaching in the Patriarch Grove. I positioned my camera to capture a north-facing landscape, and used an extremely wide-angle lens.
The foreground was shot before it got fully dark at 1/250 of a second, f/8, and ISO 200. Without moving the camera on the tripod I waited until after dark and shot 35 images at 4 minutes, f/2.8, and ISO 400 to capture the stars.
To render the stars whirling in the skies I stacked all the four minute exposures together using the Photoshop Statistics action, then blended in the foreground image to make the Bristlecone Pines and the details of the Patriarch Grove visible.
For more about the Bristlecones and the Patriarch Grove see My Favorite Bristlecone and Distant Night Storm.
Also posted in Digital Night
1 Comment
My Favorite Bristlecone
I am very excited to be heading back to the Bristlecone Pine groves of the White Mountains in California near the Nevada border next week. These trees, among the oldest of all living things, grow high in the desert mountain range east of the Sierras. They are very beautiful in their gnarled and twisted ancientness.
Communing with nature in the Patriarch Grove of Bristlecone Pines is one of my favorite activities, and the tree shown in the two images below is one of my favorite trees among the Patriarchs. In fact, one friend of mine has claimed that I was “in love” with this tree. Certainly, I have spent much time gazing at it and waiting for my long HDR exposures to complete. One could certainly do worse in picking an inamorata!
I am looking forward to leading a night photography workshop in the Patriarch Grove, and also of course pursuing my own work in this incredibly gorgeous landscape.
You may be interested in some of my other stories on my blog about the Bristlecones, most ancient of all trees. Check out Seeking Methuselah; Touching the Rainbow; Distant Night Storm; and When Workshops Collide.
A gentle reminder about my autumn workshops in Berkeley, CA:
An early-bird special is in place for these workshops until the end of August 2012. If you are interested in these workshops please consider taking advantage of the discount—particularly as based on past experience we expect the workshops may fill by mid-September:
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography Bootcamp with Harold Davis: Saturday October 6
Digital Black & White Master Class: Full Day Workshop with Harold Davis: Saturday November 3
Photographing Flowers for Transparency with Harold Davis: Saturday December 1
Comments from those who have attended my workshops:
“He was very giving of his talents and time. The course was very organized and thorough. Loved it! Learned so much! ”
“Very creative and a marvelous instructor.”
“AWESOME…instructor and photographer.”
“Harold’s techniques as demonstrated through his many books have revolutionized my approach to photography and has accelerated my abilities in a very short period of time. I appreciate that he is so accessible and giving of his time.”
“I think that Harold’s passion for teaching about photography is only second to doing photography in a creative way. ”
“Harold is a peach. Great skill, without the ego of most master photographers.”
If you are in the Southeast near Richmond, VA please keep in mind my full-day workshop. The cost is $60 ($72 with lunch) and the goal is to inspire you to creatively take your photography up a notch. Click here for information and registration.
Also posted in Photography, Workshops
5 Comments
Slot Canyon
My Slot Canyon image was created using hand-HDR layering from four exposures, as I explain in my original blog posting about the color version and in my forthcoming book Creating HDR Photos: The Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Photography. The color version is reproduced on page 67 on the section on using a tripod.
The placement of the photo in the section of my book discussing tripod tips and techniques is apt, because in an environment like a slot canyon finding a way to keep camera and tripod stable through a sequence of shots—and keeping one’s gear sand free—is a very real issue.
It is easy to getting bogged down in the physics and physicality—the tyranny of the world of “things”—and forget to look for the ethereal magic than can make a photographic composition really sing.
With Slot Canyon the play of light coming down the narrow cleft in the rocks was pretty exciting. So far so good. But I kept looking for something more, something to elevate and contrast with the textures in the stone. When I spotted the tumbleweed bush on the right, momentarily lit by a sunbeam, I knew I had found my key.
I was lucky to be able to get set up and make my four exposures before the light changed.
If you are interested, here’s the exposure data: 50mm, 4 exposures at shutter speeds 0.8 of a second, 1.3 seconds, 2.5 seconds, and 4 seconds, each exposure at f/29 and ISO 200, tripod mounted.
Also posted in Monochrome, Photography
Leave a comment
Aisle of Sight
Driving across the great central valley of California on my way to Yosemite, a fierce wind kicked up dust and limited my visibility. Then I noticed that the hazy light was selectively clearing with sunshine coming through. The light was definitely odd, but interesting and varied. A high wind was whistling the dust all around me.
I stopped at a long aisle of trees. I liked the painterly effect of the dusty light in the tress beside the road, and the distant perspective looking down the trees.
Without thinking too much about exposures or anything else I pulled out my camera, and snapped a photo. The next minute the dust had closed in again and the light was gone.
Exposure data: 62mm, 1/160 of a second at f/11 and ISO 200, hand held.
Also posted in Photography
1 Comment
Golden Gate Moonrise
Capturing a dynamic range that includes detail in both the moon and the night landscape is essentially an unsolvable problem. The moon is as bright as daylight and the the night is as dark as night. So even if you create a bracketed sequence that covers this roughly 20EV light-to-dark spread you’ll come up with an image that looks unrealistic to people. Photo-compositing in the moon is even worse: unless you are very careful and unless you get the astronomy right it simply looks fake.
When the problem is unsolvable, the answer is usually to compromise. With this image of the moon rising behind the Golden Gate Bridge I bracketed for HDR in a short dynamic range. The image is comprised of three exposures, shot at five seconds, ten seconds, and twenty seconds. I used a tripod and an 18mm focal length, setting the ISO to 200 and the aperture to f/6.3. I processed the images by hand in Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop, and partially blended in a layer created from the three exposures in Nik HDR Efex Pro.
In no respect does the image capture the entire dynamic range between the moon and the dark night landscape in the foreground and to the right. But there is far more suggestion of color and details across the dynamic range than there would have been in any single shot.
Also posted in Digital Night, HDR, Photography, San Francisco Area
1 Comment









































