Echinacea Seed Pod on Black © Harold Davis
Very special thanks to the scientists in the Photon Science group at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs who used the Beamline when it was in maintenance mode to help with this capture.
Check out more x-ray photos of mine here.
Echinacea Seed Pod – Sepia © Harold Davis
I photographed this echinacea (cone flower) peeking through the translucent white rose petals shown in Back to the Flowers with my 200mm telephoto macro lens and a 12mm extension tube. The settings were twenty seconds at f/40 and ISO 100, of course using a tripod.
Echinacea Peeking © Harold Davis
Last year I bought an Echinacea and planted it in a pot on the porch, assuming it would essentially be an annual. Somewhat to my surprise, it has come back strongly for a second year in its pot. We water it with recycled water—such as unfinished water bottles started by the kids. The young flowers are translucent and striated, like the day-old blossom shown. As the flowers mature, the petals become opaque, and a mono-colored shade of pink magenta.
Echinacia © Harold Davis
Dahlias and Echinaceas, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.
Briefly noted: An arrangement of Dahlias and Echniaceas from my garden. I love photographing flowers—and it is great that I don’t need model releases!
Becoming Echinacea 2, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.
When I saw this Echinacea bud, I knew the image would have to be black and white because the flower was still an entirely monochromatic green. Spectacular colors would come later in the flower’s life.
I photographed the Echinacea in early evening with my 85mm macro lens and a 36mm extension tube for 1/2 second exposure at f/16 and ISO 200. I tried some longer exposures as well, with the lens fully stopped down, but there was always some slight movement to ruin the sharpness.
In Photoshop, I created three different color versions using LAB color before using adjustment layers to convert to black and white.
The version at the beginning of this story is based on an Equalization adjustment to the L channel. I like it best of the three.
The version below is pretty close to normally processed. The version far below is based on an Inversion adjustment applied to the L channel.
View this image larger.
View this image larger.
I have been growing echinacea—also called coneflowers—in my garden because they are so spectacular to photograph. This one is the first of my Harvest Moons—a designer flower bred by Richard Saul specifically for its looks. Creating varieties of flowers based on their appearance brings up a number of issues, including the one raised by Michael Pollan in his Botany of Desire: we think we are forming the flowers, but are they really controlling our behavior to their own benefit? This is comparable to wondering whether the beautiful gold digger or the rich old dude gets the better deal. (You can read more about Richard Saul and his beautiful new echinacea varieties here).
View this photograph larger.
This water drop, on a hybrid coneflower ( Echinacea Big Sky “Sunset”) has obviously been highly magnified. I used a combination of a macro lens, extension tubes, and a close-up filter, with the most depth-of-field I could get. The trick here is to focus accurately, and to be patient enough to wait for the subject to be still. If you’ve ever carefully observed water held in place by surface tension—like this water drop—you’ll realize that is seldom totally motionless, even when there is no wind.
I like most about the photo the way you can see a second reflection of the coneflower petal if you look down in the reflection to the right. Echoes of endless depths, endless reflections, and world without end.
The Echinacea Big Sky “Sunset” was hybridized by Richard Saul of ItSaul Nurseries from two strains of echinacea for its showy cone and wonderful colors. The flower is trademarked, and I think copyrighted. Does that mean I shouldn’t be photographing it? Actually, I plan to take many more photos of my trademarked echinacea as they grow in my garden, and just try and stop me! Here’s a close-up of the cone of the flower (looks like marching soldiers with spears to me!):
View this photograph larger.
Clematis in Love © Harold Davis
Over my garden gate, the Clematis vine is thriving, provided we keep its “feet” moist. Two of the Clematis flowers bloomed together, and I cropped them to make this composition on the light box.
Over the years, I’ve got pretty good mileage from this Clematis “Bee’s Jubilee”), which does quite well—but not always in a predictable way in terms of when the flowers arrive.
The other flowers—including an Echinacea (cone flower) and Matilija poppy (this is a poppy of the Romneya genus, rather than the more common Papaver)—were all cut from the garden where I could find them.
My first thought was to create a horizontal composition, and I proceeded to do so. Actually, this is one of those somewhat unusual images that works in either orientation.
Since the two Clematis blossoms were so happy together “in the wild”, I’m happy I was able to keep them together in this composition.
The journey continues! 2019 was an exciting year for art, photography, books, teaching workshops, and travel. Abroad, I walked another pilgrimage trail; this time from Tui, on the River Minho and the Portuguese border to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. At home I enjoyed time with my family as well as some exciting new artistic horizons. I am looking forward to a gazillion fresh adventures in art, photography, and travel in 2020!
The images are more-or-less in the order made in the course of the year; or, at least, in the order processed and uploaded. Below each image, I’ve added links to the relevant blog stories that include my selected images (where I blogged them). I’ve been in a reflective mood lately; to see some of my musings please click here to read my Guest Blog Post, Photographer As Poet, Harold Davis.
My “Best Of” selections for prior years, going back to 2013, can be found here.
Crepuscular Coast v2 © Harold Davis
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Gerbera Petals © Harold Davis
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Eiffel Tower in Paris Landscape © Harold Davis
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Night Highway © Harold Davis
Baltazar Chrysanthemum © Harold Davis
Blue #1 © Harold Davis
Pale Garden © Harold Davis
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Quartet © Harold Davis
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Wisteria Gate © Harold Davis
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Japanese Bridge, Schwetzingen Garden © Harold Davis
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X-Ray Floral Medley Fusion © Harold Davis
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Nautilus X-Rays © Harold Davis
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Tulips X-Ray Fusion © Harold Davis
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Paris Landscape © Harold Davis
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Flowers at Giverny © Harold Davis
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Giverny Afternoon © Harold Davis
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Inside Tui Cathedral © Harold Davis
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Tulips Fusion X-Ray © Harold Davis
Garden along the Camino © Harold Davis
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Scallop Shell Symbol on the Side of the Cathedral of Santiago © Harold Davis
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Rose Bouquet © Harold Davis
Sunset at Sea © Harold Davis
Old-Fashioned Rose © Harold Davis
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Flower Block on White © Harold Davis
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Flowers that Remain Behind © Harold Davis
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Columbine © Harold Davis
Angel’s Trumpets © Harold Davis
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Nesting Bowls and a Nautilus Slice © Harold Davis
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Weaving with Light © Harold Davis
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Cactus Flower Detail V © Harold Davis
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Eye Dahlia © Harold Davis
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Red Vein Indian Mallow © Harold Davis
Solar Flare © Harold Davis
Dark Angel © Harold Davis
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Bench © Harold Davis
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Flower Magic © Harold Davis
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Curled Epiphany © Harold Davis
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Rollback © Harold Davis
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Gaillardia-gami © Harold Davis
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Dawn Chorus Unbound © Harold Davis
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Sound of the Sea © Harold Davis
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Love of Spirals © Harold Davis
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Through the Rabbit Hole © Harold Davis
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The Spiral Heart © Harold Davis
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Falling into Spirals V2 © Harold Davis
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Hydrangea Blossoms © Harold Davis
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Wreath © Harold Davis
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Untitled In-Camera Multiple exposure © Harold Davis
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Mandala with Starfish © Harold Davis
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Echinacea Seed Pod © Harold Davis
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Untitled © Harold Davis
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Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur © Harold Davis
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Chartres Exterior II © Harold Davis
Along the Old Schoolhouse Trail © Harold Davis
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I hope you’ve enjoyed my images and the associated blog stories. Most images available as prints. Please inquire. Check out my self-selected bests from previous years in Best Images Annuals!
Dogwood Flowers in a Bowl and Poppies and Echinaceas were both photographed with my iPhone camera. These were arrangements that were “collateral damage” to having flowers around from my garden and also cut from a flowering dogwood tree (see Garden Flowers with Dogwood). After photographing high-key bracketed exposures with my D850 on a tripod, I couldn’t resist also making a few quick iPhone shots shown here. Sometimes work thrown off casually just for fun stands up on its own!
Dogwood Flowers in a Bowl © Harold Davis
Both images were tweaked in Snapseed on my iPhone, then processed using the Antique Oil Painting Filter in the Photo Lab Pro app.
Poppies and Echinaceas © Harold Davis
We are offering a new, full-day Advanced LAB Color Seminar for those who want to learn more about one of the most mysterious, powerful, and underused set of creative tools in Photoshop from Harold Davis, one of the world’s foremost experts.
This full-day intensive post-production workshop is specifically intended to explore the power and creative possibilities inherent in the LAB color space within Photoshop. Some prior experience with Photoshop is a prerequisite (check with us if you are not sure whether you have the background to successfully attend). Learn about the glories of creative LAB color from Harold Davis, one of LAB color’s best-known practitioners and the author of The Photoshop Darkroom (Focal Press)—the leading book explaining creative LAB in Photoshop.
Workshop limited to 14 attendees.
When: Saturday, November 12, 2016
Where: Berkeley, CA
Tuition: $245 until July 31, 2016 (early-bird special); $295 thereafter.
Click here for information and registration.
Echinacea on Black © Harold Davis
Understanding the creative use of LAB color in Photoshop unlocks a vast treasure trove of under-utilized and under-explored possibilities. Truly one of the secrets of spectacular color in Photoshop, if you know how to work creatively with LAB color you will far ahead of the game in terms of getting the results you want from Photoshop.
This workshop explains the structure of LAB color, and demonstrates inversions and LAB equalizations for both image optimization and creative fun. You will learn how to combine Blending Modes with LAB equalizations for an unlimited and powerful palette.
Three Graces © Harold Davis
This is information you will learn nowhere else. There will be ample time to experiment with adding LAB effects to your own work, with Harold’s guidance and feedback.
Harold says, “When I discovered LAB color, and how to use what has been called ‘the most powerful color space,’ I knew I was on to one of the great secrets of Photoshop.”
Low Geostationary and Decaying Orbits around the Clematis Inversion © Harold Davis
The Advanced LAB Color Seminar with Harold Davis covers:
Click here for information and registration.
Clematis on Black © Harold Davis
Translucency of Rosa on Black © Harold Davis
Succubus © Harold Davis
Back View Inversion © Harold Davis
Click here for information and registration.
Faulty Towers © Harold Davis
The wonderful Matilija Poppies, Romneya coulteri, are in full bloom in the East Bay hills across the water from San Francisco, California. White, platter-sized translucent flowers dominate a tall stem on a bush-like construction, with an intricate yellow central flower core. The Matilija is a genuine native of the southwest United States and California, and grows like a weed. Shown here with Echinacea and Clematis from our garden (the blue Clematis is hidden behind the more frontal Matilija).
Matilija Poppies and Friends on Black © Harold Davis
Matilija Poppies and Friends on Paper © Harold Davis
Matilija Poppies and Friends on White © Harold Davis
Top: On black, via LAB conversion; middle: placed on a paper background in post-production; bottom: photographed on a light box.
Related image: Peonies.
Sunflowers and Friends © Harold Davis
Sunflowers and Friends is a light box bracketed high-key sequence combined in Photoshop. The sunflowers, echinacea, and other flowers are from our garden, and shown in In the field for transparency and I can only give my heart. The background is a sheet of old paper I put on a flat-bed scanner, and added in Photoshop using the same formula as the Dietes iridioides and Nigella Damascena images shown in Two Botanicals.
To learn more about the techniques I use to create this kind of imagery, please see my FAQs Photographing Flowers for Transparency, Using a High-Key Layer Stack, and Backgrounds and Textures. You can also check out my related webinar recordings (paid access is required): Painting in Transparency Using a High-Key Layer Stack and Using Backgrounds and Textures.
Words have a place as a companion to photography, as titles, in captions, in statements, and in books that combine words and imagery. It’s often a useful exercise to attempt to write about one’s own photographic process and goals, as well as writing to describe the narrative behind a specific image.
I can only give my heart © Harold Davis
Regarding cryptic titles, such as “I can only give my heart,” modern painters have led the way with this, sometimes applying titles for abstract paintings that can seem far-fetched. But I believe that metaphorical titles can be appropriate and, when apt, do enhance the poetics of a photographic image.
Ian Roberts puts it this way: “Authenticity results from the depths of the artist’s feelings.” In other words, I only follow the labor intensive process of creating an image like this one because the subject and treatment move me, and because I speak from the heart. So, I can only give my heart.
From a formal perspective, “I can only give my heart” is about the relationship between soft petals and the “harder” flower core of the flowers with pistil, stamen and so forth. Compared to the fluff of the petals, all the flower really has is its core, or heart, which is another meaning for the title.
By the “poetics of a photographic image,” I am really talking about the subjective individual experience to the viewer. There’s no doubt that the image title can influence this experience (for better, or for worse). In your experience, doesn’t an allusive title like “I can only give my heart” lead to a more poetic viewing experience than the straightforward title “Echinacea” for the image shown below? Which kind of image titling do you prefer?
Echinacea © Harold Davis
A Matilija Poppy pokes out in the middle of a covert of flowering dogwood, cosmos, old-fashioned roses, echinacea, and climbing mallows. Enjoy!
Flowering Dogwood & Friends © Harold Davis
Photographed straight down on my light box for transparency, and captured using my Zeiss 100mm macro lens, five exposures each at f/22 and ISO 64, exposure times from 1/5 of a second to 3 seconds; tripod mounted; exposures processed and combined in Nik HDR Efex Pro, Adobe Camera Raw, and Photoshop, with finishing touches added using Photoshop, Nik Color Efex Pro, Topaz Adjust, Topaz Simplify, Topaz Impression, and Nik Viveza.
