Monthly Archives: February 2023

Composition and Photography Online Masterclass

Learn the fundamentals of composition in photography with internationally renowned artist and photographer Harold Davis

“To create exciting compositions, you must have a willingness to embrace serendipity and change as part of your artistic process. After all, composition is a process not a result” – Harold Davis

Good composition is a fundamental building block of photography. It is easy to recognize, but hard to achieve. In this live 2-hour online masterclass and Q&A, internationally renowned artist, photographer and best-selling Rocky Nook author Harold Davis well help guide photographers at any level to improve their compositions.

“Early bird” discount until March 31, 2023!

Click here to register for this Masterclass.

What will be covered?

  • Work with shapes such as lines, circles, and rectangles
  • Understand directionality, entering, and exiting in composition
  • Work with patterns and repetition
  • Recognize and use positive and negative space
  • Use the various kinds of abstractions in your own work

Outcome:

  • Learn the fundamentals of composition
  • Help to develop your own personal style
  • Inspire your creativity

Where:

  • This is an online course delivered via Zoom

When?

  • Thursday, April 13th, 2023
  • 10.00am – 12.00pm Pacific Time

This online course will be recorded – As a participant you will be sent a password-protected link to the video recording to re-watch at your convenience.

Click here to register for this Masterclass.

Posted in Workshops

Memorial Gathering for Martin and Virginia Davis

Click here for remembering Martin and Virginia Davis.

Posted in Photography

Frilly Godesses

My flowers are like frilly Goddesses. But not in a fey way, or an overly cute way. The textures these blossoms provide could almost be fabrics or garments. The beauty I see in my viewfinder makes my heart pause, and regard the world with gladness despite the sadness that lingers.

Above: Ranunculus, photographed on black velvet, Nikkor 85mm tilt-shift macro, six exposures at shutter speeds ranging from 1 second to 30 seconds; each exposure at f/64 (effective aperture) and ISO 64; mounted on tripod; exposures combined in Photoshop.

Below: Iris, photographed on a light box, Zeiss 50mm Macro, seven exposures at shutter speeds ranging from 1/15 of a second to 4 seconds; each exposure at f/22 and ISO 64; mounted on tripod; exposures combined in Photoshop.

Ranunculus © Harold Davis

Iris © Harold Davis

Posted in Flowers, Photography

Topography of Camellia

In the wake of the death of my parents, I created a new garden on the shaded side of our house. This is a mostly ignored narrow strip between our house and the fence that separates us from the sidewalk on the San Ramon side. I anchored this “memorial garden” with three camellia bushes. The central camellia is an espaliered Camellia “Nuncio’s Pearl” (a full blossom is shown at the bottom of this story). 

I surrounded the camellias with anemones and campanulas, all flowering plants that should thrive in this part shade environment. Hopefully, they will eventually carpet the area with blossoms.

We have several hummingbird feeders in this area, and I plan to add a birdbath.

Topography of Camellia © Harold Davis

Topography of Camellia is an abstraction created from one of the first blossoms from this garden. As with a Rorschach, what you see in this image may depend more on you than on me.

Camellia Nuncio’s Pearl © Harold Davis

Posted in Abstractions, Flowers, Photography

Orvieto Passage

Recently I processed this image from Orvieto, in Umbria (Italy). In the morning the fog was thick. I took advantage of the evocative lighting, and framed an ancient, cobblestone passage by looking (with my camera) through an arch. The result is a composition that takes one to the place, and somehow seems to bring up the smells and feeling of being there.

Related image: Duomo in the Clearing Fog.

Orvieto Passage © Harold Davis

Posted in Italy, Monochrome, Photography