Monthly Archives: June 2015

Free Webinar: Creative Floral Photography with Harold Davis

June 4, 2015 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

What: A Free Webinar. Join Topaz Labs for an exciting session as Harold Davis shows how he uses Topaz plug-ins to enhance his well-known botanical photos.

When: Tuesday, Jul 21, 2015 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT, at your computer or mobile device.

Registration: The webinar is free, but you must preregister using this link.

Flowers of Spring’s Desire © Harold Davis

Description: Harold will demonstrate his full workflow, from photo to finished art, incorporating his favorite Topaz programs and how he uses the plug-ins both as tools and endless creative opportunities. Harold’s session will help you learn to make the most from Topaz Adjust, Impression and Simplify in the context of your photography, and explore options for using Topaz in the process of coming up with your own creative style. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the session.

Bonus Feature: Topaz will be announcing Topaz and Focal Press (the publisher of Harold’s forthcoming book, Achieving Your Potential As a Photographer) coupon codes during the session and sending the coupons to all registrants after the session. Topaz will also be giving away 2 full Topaz Collections (16 programs) and 2 books by Harold Davis courtesy of Focal Press.

Translucency of Rosa © Harold Davis

About Harold: Harold Davis is a well-known photographer, the author of many bestselling photography books, and a popular workshop leader. He is an Adobe Influencer, a Moab Master, and a Zeiss Lens Ambassador.

Clematis on Black © Harold Davis

Posted in Flowers, Photoshop Techniques, Workshops

Views of Japan

June 2, 2015 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Hokusai, the famous Japanese woodblock print artist of the Edo period, created many views of Japan that included Mt Fuji, but the one shown here was probably not in his contemplation as they didn’t have air travel back then. I made the photo on an internal Japanese flight from Tokushima on Shikkoku Island to Haneda Airport near Tokyo.

View of Mt Fuji © Harold Davis

For my own homage to Hokusai in the context of San Francisco, check out my book 100 Views of the Golden Gate.

As part of a chapter in the new book I am working on, related to black and white photography, I’ve been looking through my photography of Japan. These are some of the iPhone photos I’ve found, mostly of subject matter that I also photographed with conventional, high resolution cameras.

Misty Mountains © Harold Davis

For example, the view of misty mountains long the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage on the Kii peninsula shown above can be seen more extensively in Distant Japanese Landscape.

The somewhat bleak courtyard shown next is in Koya-san, where I stayed for a couple of rainy autumn days as a guest in a monastery.

Autumn in Japan © Harold Davis

If you’ve ever visited Japan’s ancient imperial capital of Nara, you’ll know that the deer of Nara are a big touristic deal—which is why they are portrayed in the attractive design on the manhole cover that I found on a Nara side street.

Manhole Cover, Nara, Japan © Harold Davis

I liked wandering around Nara. There was a great deal to look at, such as Kofuku-ji, a Buddhist pagoda temple with origins dating to the 669 AD, once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Today, even monuments as important as Kofuku-ji radiate a palpable sense of time having moved on, and despite all the hustle and bustle in Japan Nara seems like a delightful backwater.

Posted in iPhone, Japan, Landscape, Monochrome, Photography

Free Wrecked Blue Couch for House Guests You Hate

June 1, 2015 by Harold Davis | 0 Comments

Here’s an ad I wrote for Craig’s List recently about one of the two couches we are trying to get rid of:

Too many folks trying to crash at your place? Let them sleep on this couch and they’ll move on fast! All four of my kids have had their way with this blue couch, and wife now wants to upgrade. It’s not in great shape, note the tear on the right arm fabric, but with a throw over it it still looks half way decent, and I could see it in a man cave or something. Basically, you are getting a wreck—with a width of about six feet. Come take it away for free, and win our thanks!

Not very surprisingly, we’ve had no takers. But it was fun writing the ad copy…

Posted in Bemusements