Monthly Archives: July 2020

Poetry

The Garden of Wilderness

The garden of wilderness
was my heart’s delight:
gray dawn met alpenglow
in the long morning
of deep rivers
and distant mountains.

Windswept timberline tarns;
far away the machines and levers work.

Alas, the mechanism must be mastered,
all the law-and-order and social ranking

step by weary step down to the low lands;

So I came to leave the mountains.

Columbia River Gorge © Harold Davis

Memory

The days spent on the trail
fade in a flurry of miles as we speed

parallel to the mountains on Route 395.

All is forgotten in the exhilarating rush
of dotted white lines and speeds not attained over months on foot.

This compaction recalls memory:
the terrain of years disappears
leaving only peaks and valleys.

At first I am startled by the jolt of “civilization”;
later, recalling the calm of alpine meadows,
the last light on the tall peaks in the evening,
I understand that these memories last longest.

Ladyboot Arch © Harold Davis

Looking at a Map

A topographic map of the wilderness:
the contour lines denote height and evoke

distant valleys and mountains leading by rivers
to unknown forests; enchanted places all.

Alone in the dismal city watching gray snow fall
I envy cartographers and explorers of wild places:
the sun on their backs, the morn on their faces,
nights of brights stars and moon;
the wild, wild wind most of all.

Morning Fog © Harold Davis

Back to the Wilderness

When the gray spider web of the city
wraps its filigree around my heart
and the subway roars in my naked ear
and the lonely cold does its part;

When its been so long that the stars go unseen
and I’ve forgotten to go out and walk;
with phone calls and meetings
and all this empty talk;

It might be that it might be time to go back to the wilderness.

The wind that will blow around me
and the flowers that garland the trail
will make living worthwhile and my days young again.

Death Valley Campsite © Harold Davis

While We Were in the Wilderness

While we were in the wilderness
the sunset of humanity
happened.

We spent so long walking on the trail,
sleeping under the star-encrusted sky,
heeding the call of the marmot and water ouzel,
that we forgot about everyone.

So who knows precisely when it happened,
or what caused it.

We simply came down from the mountains
empty stomachs and badly needing a hot bath
to find: no one.

This could easily be the future, we say:
as we watch the sunset turn red then to blue evening,
distant valleys disappearing in the oncoming night.

Red Dragon Sunset © Harold Davis

Author’s note: I wrote these poems quite a number of years ago during what was obviously not the happiest period of my life. Always, periodic adventures and wilderness walking have been refreshing for me, and solace for my soul. In researching for the upcoming webinar presentation I will be making with William Neill in early September, The Solace of Nature, I remembered this cycle of poetry, and decided to look for the drafts among the many boxes of my papers and art work in our basement. I’ve edited the poems lightly from the original versions, with the advantages that distance in time can sometimes give.

You might also be interested in the webinar we have scheduled for October 3, 2020: Photography and Writing | Using Your Words to Become a Better Photographer.

Posted in Writing

Announcing New Saturday Webinars

Phyllis and I are very excited to announce a new series of Saturday webinars! We hope to see you there.

Intimate Flowers on Saturday, August 15, 2020: August is here! We have flowers! Let’s forget about the world at large and make some intimate joy with intimate landscapes and colors of the flowers of summer! Read more…Click here to register for this webinar.

Intimate Iris © Harold Davis

Webinar Noir on Saturday September 19, 2020: 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. Read more…Click here to register for this webinar.

Chorus of One © Harold Davis

Photography and Writing | Using Your Words to Become a Better Photographer on Saturday, October 3, 2020: Writing has always had an important role in relationship to my photography. Not only have I “used my words” to introduce and explain images and techniques, but writing has also helped me to tease out the meaning in my own work, and to understand and explore what I need to do next with my art. Read more…Click here to register for this webinar.

Circumflex © Harold Davis

Patterns, Abstractions, and Composition on Saturday October 17, 2020:  In a very real sense, creating a photograph is an act of intentional design. The photograph presents a transformation of the subject so that it fits within a specific frame. Meticulous use of patterns, and understanding the boundary conditions where patterns begin and end, is crucial to this act of design. Read more…Click here to register for this webinar.

Patterns in Glass 3 © Harold Davis

Patterns in Glass 3 © Harold Davis

Finding the Mysterious in Photography on Saturday October 24, 2020: As nights grow longer and days shorter, and as we approach Halloween and All Saints’ Eve, separations between our world and that of the spirits gets thinner. Some of the very best photographs send a frisson of the spooky and the ineffable up our spine. Read more…Click here to register for this webinar.

World on Fire © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography, Workshops, Writing

[Coming Up Next] Multi-RAW Processing webinar on July 30, 2020

To register for the Multi-RAW processing webinar on July 30, please click here. Please check out our other live webinar offerings by clicking here.

When it comes to digital photography, multi-RAW processing is a surprisingly universal, flexible, indispensable, and easy-to-use set of concepts and techniques—provided, of course, that you are saving your camera files in the RAW format. Every serious photographer should know about multi-RAW processing, and how to work with RAW files.

While by now it is pretty well understand that one can use the range of exposure possibilities inherent in a RAW file to extend the dynamic range of any image made using RAW, what is less widely known is that multi-RAW processing can also be used to selectively process other aspects of an image—for example, color and white balance.

In this webinar, I explain the key concepts behind multi-RAW, present some examples and scenarios in which using multi-RAW processing is both desirable and essential, and show the details of RAW processing in the real world.

To register for the Multi-RAW processing webinar on July 30, please click here. Please check out our other live webinar offerings by clicking here.

Eye of the Tower © Harold Davis

Eye of the Tower © Harold Davis

What: Multi-RAW Processing with Harold Davis

When: Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 10am 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 $19.95 are required for enrollment. Seating is limited. The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EZbniD4eQ1G6C3A2Usw9nA.

Details: The modern RAW file has inherently has an incredible dynamic range from light to dark. The best way to access this flexibility when you need it is via multi-RAW processing.

In this Webinar, Harold shows the possibilities of multi-RAW processing, when it makes sense to use, and discusses potential pitfalls. As a very real competitor to HDR processing, multi-RAW should be in every photographer’s toolkit. Harold will show a number of scenarios where multi-RAW makes sense, and provide step-by-step real world examples.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Tuition: The tuition for this webinar is $19.95, 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_EZbniD4eQ1G6C3A2Usw9nA.

A lightly-edited recording of this Webinar will be posted following a time delay on the Harold Davis Photography YouTube channel

Road Less Traveled by Harold Davis

Road Less Traveled © Harold Davis

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is a bestselling author of many books, including most recently Creative Garden Photography from Rocky Nook, which can now be pre-ordered. 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 digitalfieldguide.com.

Posted in Photography

Light Box Photography in Three Dimensions—Continued!

Last week, we presented Light Box Photography in Three Dimensions with live action footage of the actual setups and photography (click here for the video replay). In the course of the webinar, we found that the post-production nuances could not really be shown in detail in a single session. So today at 2PM Pacific Time I will recap and then continue with post-production of the three-dimensional light box images shown in this blog (click here for registration for the session, and here for our scheduled workshops and events).

Foxtail Lilies © Harold Davis

Foxtail Lilies © Harold Davis

Roses in a Cut Cyrstal Vase © Harold Davis

Roses in a Cut Crystal Vase © Harold Davis

Snapdragons © Harold Davis

Posted in Workshops

The Solace of Nature: William Neill and Harold Davis [Free Webinar]

Click here for our complete list of currently scheduled webinars!


The Solace of Nature: William Neill and Harold Davis | Free Webinar Presentation

When: Saturday, September 5, 2020 at 11am 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 Zoom authenticated registration is required for enrollment. The link for free enrollment is us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h_QKuAwEQBaD7ftc2bsInw

Details: Noted photographers William Neill and Harold Davis present work from their recent books, Light on the Landscape (Neill) and Creative Garden Photography (Davis), both published by Rocky Nook. After the presentation, Neill and Davis will discuss the influence of nature on their work and lives, and invite questions from the audience.

About William Neill: A resident of the Yosemite National Park area since 1977, William Neill is a landscape photographer concerned with conveying the deep, spiritual beauty he sees and feels in Nature.  Neill’s award-winning photography has been widely published in books, magazines, calendars, posters, and his limited-edition prints have been collected and exhibited in museums and galleries nationally, including the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, The Vernon Collection, and The Polaroid Collection.  Neill received a BA degree in Environmental Conservation at the University of Colorado.  In 1995, Neill received the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award for conservation photography

Rock, Tree and Waterfall, Yosemite National Park, California 2016 © William Neill

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.

Clematis with Friends © Harold Davis

Clematis with Friends © Harold Davis

Number of Seats and Tuition: This is a free webinar, but it does require prior registration. Seating (on a first come, first served basis) is limited. You must register via Zoom to be enrolled in this webinar! The link for free enrollment is us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h_QKuAwEQBaD7ftc2bsInw

Posted in Photography

Monochromatic Visions Portfolio Sold

Thank you to the patient collector from New Hampshire who purchased number 4/12 of my original Monochromatic Visions portfolio.  A second Monochromatic Visions portfolio with the composition of images and portfolio name still to be determined is in the works!

The individual, signed prints for the portfolio, made on Moab Juniper Baryta, are shown in this image waiting to be collated into the portfolio presentation and shipped to the proud new owner.

Monochromatic Visions Portfolio prints © Harold Davis

Monochromatic Visions Portfolio prints © Harold Davis

Posted in Photography

New Webinar: Advanced 3-D Light Box Processing (Sunday July 19, 2020)

What: Light Box Photography in Three Dimensions | Part II: Advanced Processing

When: Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 2pm 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 $19.95 are required for enrollment. Seating is limited. The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yOdKskySSIG3lutNxcDkHw

Details: Drawing on the examples and techniques demonstrated in the earlier Light Box Photography in Three Dimensions | Part I webinar, Harold continues on the adventure of Photoshop post-production in digital photography. Light box photography requires little in the way of equipment besides a camera, tripod, and a light pad. But quality work does depend on some knowledge of effective post-production. Using a variety of examples, Harold will show how he uses layers, masking, high-key photographic stacks and other techniques to encourage the appearance of perspective and visual dimensions.

Special attention will be paid to cleaning up extraneous edging and other impediments to clean visuals. Harold will share his joy in this wonderful kind of innovative photography, and discuss his three dimensional light box work in the the light of his overall post-production workflow.

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Tuition: The tuition for this webinar is $19.95, 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_yOdKskySSIG3lutNxcDkHw

A lightly-edited recording of this Webinar will be posted following a time delay on the Harold Davis Photography YouTube channel

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is a bestselling author of many books, including Creative Garden Photography from Rocky Nook, which can now be pre-ordered. 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 Workshops

Print Sold: Sunflower X-Ray

Here’s a snapshot of a recently sold print of my black & white Sunflower X-Ray, hand printed on Moab Juniper Baryta paper. The border of the print looks a bit gray in this capture, but it is actually white!

Print of ‘Sunflower X-Ray’ © Harold Davis

Posted in Flowers, Print of the Month, X-Ray

Coming Soon | A Pilgrim’s Tale: Walking on the Camino [Free Webinar, this Saturday (July 18, 2020)]

In this webinar, I will show images from my walk on the Camino de Santiago in 2018 and on the Camino de Portuguese in 2019. I’ll share stories from my adventures on the Camino, discuss logistics, and talk about the history of these fabled pilgrimage routes.

My presentation will examine the meaning of pilgrimages and why pilgrimages have been important to my life and work. Committing to pilgrimages has helped me approach the ineffable in my art.

You must register for this free webinar via Zoom!

What: A Pilgrim’s Tale: Walking on the Camino | Free Webinar Presentation

When: Saturday, July 18, 2020 at 11am 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 Zoom authenticated registration is required for enrollment. The link for free enrollment is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_srnAIs9uSAiarUHQqIy-MA.

Garden along the Camino © Harold Davis

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is a bestselling author of many books, including Creative Garden Photography from Rocky Nook, which can now be pre-ordered. 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.

Meeting of the Ways © Harold Davis

You must register for this free webinar via Zoom!

Posted in Photography

Creative Garden Photography eBook and pre-order now available from the publisher (with discount code)

We are very excited that Creative Garden Photography: Making Great Photos of Flowers, Gardens, Landscapes, and the Beautiful World Around Us is now available directly from the book’s publisher, Rocky Nook. Just to clarify, the eBook is available right now, and the book itself can be pre-ordered. Enter the discount code GARDEN40 for a 40% discount before checking out.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the publisher’s eBook comes in a number of formats, so you can read it on your Kindle, and also as a PDF (which preserves pagination and formatting) as you prefer. Also, many of my students how told me how much they enjoy having both an electronic version, for use in the field on their devices, and the “real thing”: a beautifully designed and produced 360-page book with flaps and printed images. I like to think our new book is one step away from the coffee table, but with a great deal of useful information.

The good news is that Rocky Nook offers a bundle so that (particularly if you consider the discount) there is really only a few dollars more for getting the electronic version in addition to the printed book. (If I had to only get one or the other, I’d advise the “book book”—but then, I am a book person!)

Click here to buy Creative Garden Photography: Making Great Photos of Flowers, Gardens, Landscapes, and the Beautiful World Around Us directly from the publisher.

Posted in Photography, Writing

Misty Mountain Dahlias

It is funny how close and closer a flower, such as a Dahlia, can take on abstract appearance so the original flower shape becomes forgotten. So in this Dahlia I see distant mountains, or a mouth with teeth, or a deepening well, and so on, and patterns galore. Or, maybe that is just my visual imagination run riot! One needs to do something to entertain oneself during longish photo exposures.

Misty Mountains© Harold Davis

Misty Mountains © Harold Davis

Exposure data (both): Nikon D850, 150mm f/2.8 Irix “Dragonfly” telephoto macro, 50mm extension tube, f/22 at ISO 64, tripod mounted; 20 seconds exposure duration (above) and 15 seconds exposure duration (below). Both images were lit using controlled sunlight (from the left side) via window shades.

Young Dahlia © Harold Davis

Young Dahlia © Harold Davis

Posted in Flowers, Photography

Honeysuckle and Monarda

Sometimes single blossoms are the most elegant. This Honeysuckle (above) and Monarda (below) are from our garden. I photographed the blossoms on a light box, and other than layering-in bracketed high-key exposures, there was minimal post-production.

Honeysuckle © Harold Davis

Honeysuckle © Harold Davis

Exposure data (Honeysuckle): Nikon D850, 85mm Nikor tilt-shift macro, five exposures at shutter speeds from one second to 15 seconds, each exposure at an effective aperture of f/64 and ISO 64; exposures combined in Photoshop.

Monarda © Harold Davis

Monarda © Harold Davis

Exposure data (Monarda): Nikon D850, 85mm Nikor tilt-shift macro, five exposures at shutter speeds from 1.3 seconds to 20 seconds, each exposure at an effective aperture of f/64 and ISO 64; exposures combined in Photoshop.

Posted in Flowers

A Walk on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, also officially the “John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge,” opened in 1956, displacing the last car ferry across San Francisco Bay. Recently, a lane on the upper deck of the bridge was converted to pedestrian and bike use (more bike than hike, in my observation). This comes close to completing a trail network that can be used to circumnavigate the Bay.

Shadow Selfie © Harold Davis

Shadow Selfie © Harold Davis

On a startlingly bright recent late afternoon, I found a place to park in Port Richmond near the bridge access trail. It was little over a mile from there to actually being on the bridge. Most of this trail section was between the highway (Interstate 580) and the notorious Richmond Chevron refinery (hence the pipes photographed through a chain link fence with my iPhone shown below).

Pipes © Harold Davis

Pipes © Harold Davis

Once on the Bridge, it is a little more than five miles to Point San Quentin on the Marin side. I walked about half way, to the first cantilever. The shadows were growing long (see the first photo in this story!). Heading back to my parked car, I noted how much fun it was to explore some place new again with my camera, just like before the pandemic, even if the new location was close to home.

Posted in Hiking, Photography, San Francisco Area