Author Archives: Harold Davis

Using Your Words To Become a Better Photographer

September 28, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

This coming Saturday we’ll be hosting Photography and Writing: Using Your Words To Become a Better Photographer.

Ansel Adams once wrote that the most important tool in his camera bag was his pencil and notebook.

In that spirit, this three-part webinar will start will a look at the role writing has played in the work of some great photographers, continue with how I have used the synergy of writing and photography in my more than twenty published photography books, and conclude with some suggestions about how to integrate the discipline of writing into your photography practice.

Click here for more information, here to register for Photography and Writing, and here for a schedule of our upcoming webinars.

Circumflex © Harold Davis

Posted in Workshops, Writing

Donation to the Equal Justice Initiative

September 25, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

We’re very pleased and excited to donate $762.80 to Equal Justice Initiative. Special thanks to those who made it possible, including our Prints and Printmaking webinar participants, Moab Paper, Marc Schotland, and our panelists, photographers Scott Barrow and Jim Graham.

Please consider joining our other benefit webinars, Master Photographer Panel with Jennifer King and Alan Shapiro [Benefits NAACP] on Oct 10, 2020, and Master Photographer Panel with Anne Belmont and Bryan Peterson [Benefits Center for Policing Equity] on Nov 14, 2020.

Click here for a schedule of our upcoming webinars.

If you missed it, the Prints and Printmaking webinar recording will be posted to my YouTube channel; if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified once it has been posted.

Pale Garden © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography

Bringing Garden Photography Indoors with Harold Davis [Free Webinar sponsored by Rocky Nook]

September 23, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

What: Bringing Garden Photography Indoors with Harold Davis [Free Webinar sponsored by Rocky Nook]

When: Wednesday September 30, 2020 at 11:00am PT. Duration between one and two hours, including Q&A

Where: On your computer or mobile device from anywhere via Zoom. This is a free webinar, but pre-registration is required. Seating is limited. The registration link is https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NCweUNP2TgaL_WR3-rfB2Q

Details: Harold’s new book from Rocky Nook, Creative Garden Photography: Making great photos of flowers, gardens, landscapes, and the beautiful world around us, starts with photography at large, such as the garden in the world. The second part of the book proceeds to explain techniques for bringing the garden inside and closer up, including photographing flowers on a light box, photographing flowers on black, and macro photography of flowers. In this webinar, Harold will introduce his book at both large and indoors, and discuss some photographic examples of bringing the garden indoors. The webinar will include with several examples of light box and photography on black post-production in Photoshop.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Who should attend: In this time of social distancing, what could be better to photograph than gardens and flowers? The goal of this webinar is to help photographers stay creative with inspiration and techniques that can be used regardless of the time of year.

Camellia Japonica © Harold Davis

Number of Seats and Tuition: This is a FREE webinar, but pre-registration is required. Seating (on a first come, first served basis) is limited. You must register via Zoom to be enrolled in this webinar! https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NCweUNP2TgaL_WR3-rfB2Q

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is a bestselling author of many books, including most recently Creative Garden Photography from Rocky Nook. He is the developer of a unique technique for photographing flowers for transparency, a Moab Master, and a Zeiss Ambassador. He is an internationally known photographer and a sought-after workshop leader. His website is www.digitalfieldguide.com.

Posted in Photography

What does an onion slice have in common with a glass cup?

September 20, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Red Onion Slice © Harold Davis

Patterns in Glass 3 © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography

Tow-Mater

September 19, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

This is a cross-section of one our tomatoes harvested from our raised-bed garden, photographed on my light box. But for the pandemic, I probably never would have been growing vegetables—so consider this my fruit from my Victory Garden!

Tomato Slice © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography

World on Fire

September 18, 2020 by Harold Davis | 1 Comment

I created this image during the 2019 fire season, using a marble, direct sunlight, and a small loose glass lens for the refractions (the simulated fire). I suppose the image title says it all, but this is of course only a small marble, and not our world. Let’s get it together to save our wonderful earth before it is too late!

World on Fire © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography

Webinar Noir on Saturday

September 16, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Please consider joining us this Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 11am PT for our very special and distinctly somewhat offbeat webinar noir.

Noir is black, or dark. So “noir” can refer to a style that employs blackness of attitude and affect, black and white imagery, and/or a specific look—classically that of 1940s Hollywood, with Dames, Private Eyes, Fedoras, and more. Noir imagery, as in our webinar, is usually, mostly, but not always, monochromatic.

In this webinar, Harold will take a deep dive into noir as a style, and how noir can be used to create contemporary photos. Along the way, you can expect readings from Dashiell Hammett and Thomas Pynchon, and even a guest appearance from a Maltese falcon.

In the second half of the webinar, Harold will use examples from his own work to demonstrate implementing noir in specific Photoshop case studies.

Click here for registration and here for more info. Please also keep in mind Printing, Proofing, and all about Paper (a benefit for the Equal Justice Initiative) on Thursday, September 24.

Click here for our upcoming webinar list.

Alone © Harold Davis

What: Noir | Stylish Black & White

When: Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 11am PT. Duration between one and two hours, including Q&A

Where: On your computer or mobile device from anywhere via Zoom. Zoom authenticated registration and a tuition payment of $29.95 are required for enrollment. Seating is limited. The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SraMSnHCTnS2dTol-JlzIA

Details: Noir evokes black and white films of the 1940s with “dames”, private eyes in fedoras, low-key lighting, and harsh shadows. More generally, a sense of “noir” has come to mean a range of stylish black and white techniques.

This webinar noire will look at a range of monochromatic techniques, from the subtle to the wonderfully crude and edgy. Low-key imagery, working with harsh shadows, the Blossfeldt effect, and LAB inversions will be covered. The webinar will conclude with suggestions for incorporating more noire in your own work.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Tuition: The tuition for this webinar is $29.95, and requires prior registration. Seating (on a first come, first served basis) is limited. You must register via Zoom to be enrolled in this webinar! The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SraMSnHCTnS2dTol-JlzIA

Approaching the Brandenburg Gate © Harold Davis

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is a bestselling author of many books, including Creative Garden Photography and Creative Black & White Second Edition, both from Rocky Nook. He is the developer of a unique technique for photographing flowers for transparency, a Moab Master, and a Zeiss Ambassador. He is an internationally known photographer and a sought-after workshop leader. His website is www.digitalfieldguide.com.

Posted in Photography, Workshops

Copyright for Photographers | Free Public Service Webinar for the Photographic Community

September 14, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

What: Copyright for Photographers | Free Public Service Webinar for the Photographic Community

When: Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 11:00am PT (2pm ET). Duration between one and two hours, including Q&A

Details: Most serious photographers realize that copyright is important, but the extent of how important is not always clear, and the details of how to obtain a registered copyright can seem shrouded in mystery. In this “public service” webinar, prominent intellectual property attorney David Deal details how to protect your work, and how to proceed when your work is infringed. David’s suggestions and recommendations will be illuminated with true accounts from the frontiers of copyright law as it practiced in real life. The discussion will be moderated by photographer (and David Deal client) Harold Davis.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Who should attend: If you are interested in copyrighting your work, this webinar is a must.

Number of Seats and Tuition: This is a free webinar, but pre-registration is required. Seating (on a first come, first served basis) is limited. You must register via Zoom to be enrolled in this webinar! The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AUjet6SNRzyhIDWBBv-NTA

About David Deal: David Deal is the founder of and principal attorney at The Law Office of David C. Deal, P.L.C. David is a nationally recognized intellectual property attorney, specializing in copyright infringement matters on behalf of photographers and businesses throughout the United States and Europe. David has successfully litigated cases of all sizes and complexities in a majority of Federal jurisdictions.

His website is www.daviddeal.com.

Apple Slice Playdate © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography, Workshops

You are invited to our SIP party [a free event]

September 13, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Please come to our sheltering-in-place party on Sunday, September 27. BYOB (of course!). RSVP is required. The party starts at 2pm PT (5pm ET) and won’t be the same without you!

We are celebrating our photographic community and our upcoming 200^th day of SIP (eeek!). So let’s party like it never ends! [only kidding about the never ending thing, but let’s party]

Please wear a costume if you feel like it (but not required). We do request clothing, at least where the webcam sees you!

BYOB and refreshments. There is no planned instruction (although you never know where Harold might segue way!). There will be plenty of talk about photography.

We really are all in this together!

As noted, this is a free event. Click here for more details, and here to register (RSVP).

Fireworks in Budapest © Harold Davis

Fireworks in Budapest (August, 2017): original blog post.

Posted in Workshops

Lest we forget—9/11

September 11, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

These photographs of the World Trade Towers were made when I lived and worked as a photographer in New York in the 1980s. The upper two were made for an aerial photography assignment.

World Trade Towers aerial (vertical) © Harold Davis

World Trade Towers aerial (horizontal) © Harold Davis

New York Skyline with World Trade Towers © Harold Davis

World Trade Towers from Brooklyn © Harold Davis

World Trade Towers plaza © Harold Davis

For more about these photos, click here. For the story of my New York, New York image shown below, click here.

New York, New York © Harold Davis

Posted in New York, Photography

Photography on Black Webinar on Saturday Sept 12, 2020

September 9, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Click here for a complete list of upcoming webinars!

Photography on Black, on Saturday September 12, 2020 at 11am PT, will feature a live-action photography segment showing how to create striking images on a perfectly black background. In addition to showing how to capture multi-shot black-background images, this webinar will demonstrate successful post-production of images on black. Click here to register, and here for more information. Hope to see you there!

What: Photography on Black

When: Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 11am PT. Duration between one and two hours, including Q&A

Details: Imagery that presents a subject on a black, or very dark, background can be striking. In fact, the most iconic monochromatic photographs frequently involve a black background. In this webinar, Harold shows how to photograph with a bracketed low-key sequence to achieve perfect black backgrounds, and how to post-process images to enhance the black-background effect.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Nesting Bowls and a Nautilus Slice © Harold Davis

Posted in Workshops

Apple Slices, a Spiral, and a Webinar Recording

September 9, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

OK, so things here are weird today. If the pandemic and putrid politics of hate weren’t bad enough—today we are living in twilight, enveloped by darkness. You’d think it was night outside. The fires that have blanketed the west coast states are forming a neutral density filter high in the sky, combining with the normal Bay area fog, and casting a lurid, dark orange tinted twilight.

On that note, or maybe not, here are some apple slices on the light box (this is a notionally pink apple, but it looks more like red to me once it has been sliced and placed on the light box).

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

Next up, a combination of small rocks in a spiral on the light box with root vegetables and fruit.

piral of Pebbles, Fruit, and Root Vegetables © Harold Davis

Check out Hydrangea Blossoms and Rock Spiral for a related image.

Finally, do check out the cool recording of The Solace of Nature webinar on YouTube, co-starring photographer William Neill, and in recognition of the publication by Rocky Nook of Bill’s Light on the Landscape and my new book, Creative Garden Photography.

Posted in Photography

Peppers and a Pear

September 7, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

My idea with these yellow (actually, close to orange) peppers was to create a lattice composition on the light box. The lattice should be arranged so that it had a three-dimensional look. This is inherently non-trivial with a light box composition, because to take advantage of the back lighting one needs to keep the subject close to flat and two-dimensional. So I worked towards this effect by “hooking” the stems of the cut-out pepper slices through one another.

This single pear called out to me as an image worth creating on its own, with the symmetry along the vertical axis of the two seeds the primary driver of the composition.

Pear Slice with Two Seeds © Harold Davis

Posted in Fruits and Veggis on Light Box, Patterns, Photography

Very Excited to List Four New Webinars!

September 4, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Phyllis and I are very excited to list four new webinars through the autumn. Hopefully, there will be something for everyone from newbie to the most advanced photographer. We’ve included a free event in with the mix. It is our goal to keep supporting our community of photographers during these puzzling and challenging times, and to come out the other side healthy, stronger, more creative—and ready to capture the inner and outer worlds.

Click here for the full schedule of our upcoming webinars. Here are the new webinar listings:

Get Your Camera Off Auto | Saturday November 7, 2020 at 11am PT click here for registration. Click here for more information. Seats are limited.

Exploring the World with Harold Davis [Free Webinar] | Saturday November 28, 2020 at 11am PT click here for registration. Click here for more information. Seats are limited. FREE!

Harnessing the Power of Composition in Your Photography | Saturday December 5, 2020 at 11am PT click here for registration. Click here for more information. Seats are limited.

Mandalas and Patterns on the Light Box | Saturday December 12, 2020 at 11am PT click here for registration. Click here for more information. Seats are limited.

Posted in Workshops

Quick Flashes from the Photography Webinar Front

September 2, 2020 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Item 1: In a synergistic coincidence, legendary photographer William Neill and I are both having new books published by Rocky Nook. Bill and I are combining to present a free webinar on Saturday, The Solace of Nature, in honor of our publications. There’s still time to register for the webinar, and still some space available. Click here for more info, and here to register.

Item 2: Tomorrow (Thursday) I will be presenting Hand-HDR Processing, an explanation of a post-processing technique that should be in every serious photographer’s toolkit. Click here for more info, and here to register.

Also of note: Special Pandemic Print Pricing offer.

Posted in Workshops