Please consider joining me at Maine Media Workshops on mid-coast Maine in August for a 5-day in-person photography workshop. The dates are Monday August 7, 2023 – Friday August 11, 2023. This is a very special workshop to me, and I have enjoyed honing my teaching skills in relationship to photographic composition over the years!

In this hands-on workshop we will approach composition as an instance of open-ended two-dimensional design. Photographic exercises will start with simple shapes, such as lines and circles, and proceed through patterns and repetitions, and onward to spirals, fractals, and abstractions.

Field sessions will take advantage of the “target-rich” mid-coast Maine scenery. It is wonderful to be able to spend some time with a compatible group of photographers exploring this luscious area with our cameras.

Classroom discussions will be intended to provoke thought about composition basics and continuing to enable individual integration of the process of composition into each participant’s creative practice.

Click here for more information and registration!

Tulip Pano © Harold Davis

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.

Free Live Webinar presented by RockyNook | Thursday October 13 at 11:00am PT

Of all the magical elixirs that make up a successful photograph, composition is perhaps the most fundamental, and at the same time the most elusive. What makes a composition “good”? It’s hard to define exactly, but we instinctively recognize good composition when we see it. There is an undeniable emotional response when a composition resonates with and complements the subject matter of an image.

But traditional attempts to define “good composition” and to pass on rules for good compositional construction are often doomed to failure. The truth is, there are no hard and fast rules. Rules eliminate experimentation and spontaneity which are crucial for creating compelling, dynamic, and exciting compositions. The best compositions contain an element of the unexpected. “Expect the unexpected!” is perhaps the only viable “rule” of composition. To create exciting compositions, you must have a willingness to embrace serendipity and change as part of your artistic practice. After all, composition is a process, not a result.

Edward Weston once wrote in his Daybooks that “to consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.” To this, Ansel Adams added that “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

To resolve these two semi-paradoxes, in this webinar Harold approaches composition as an instance of open-ended two-dimensional design. Photographic examples and “thought experiments” will start with simple shapes, such as lines and circles, and proceed through patterns and repetitions, and onwards to spirals, fractals, and abstractions. The webinar will present ideas from Harold’s new book Composition & Photography, and will be intended to provoke thought about composition basics.

The goal of this webinar is to enable individual integration of the process of learning to truly see and creative composition into each participant’s visual practice. In other words, this webinar should interest anyone who wants to find out more about creating images that work and about the creative process of composition in photography.

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is an internationally known photographer and a sought-after workshop leader. According to Popular Photography Magazine, “Harold Davis’s ethereal floral arrangements have a purity and translucence that borders on spiritual.”

The 2022 Photographic Society of America Progress Award winner, he is a Moab Master and a Zeiss Ambassador. He has exhibited widely and his prints are extensively collected. In 2022, several of his images were selected by the United States Post Office for use as postage stamps.

Rangefinder Magazine states that “Harold Davis is a force of nature—a man of astonishing eclectic skills and accomplishments.”

What: Out in the World | the Making of Four Photos

When: Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 11am PT. Duration between one and two hours, including Q&A

Where: On your computer or mobile device from anywhere via Zoom. A tuition payment of $34.95 is required for enrollment. Seating is limited. The registration link is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uvBNGl-5TcmHc5xC3y3p_w

Bishop Castle Interior © Harold Davis

Details: As the world slouches towards a “new normal,” we are all concerned with what has changed, what stays the same, and how this impacts both our photography and travel.

In this webinar, Harold addresses the issues of where we are going and what are the new opportunities the world offers. He’ll also discuss his ongoing photography and travel workshop plans.

In this context, Harold will explore some of his recent work in the light of the post-production techniques needed to complement the photographic captures. He will detail the process of how four images were made. Learn some of the great behind-the-scenes “secrets” of extraordinary image making!

The techniques shown will include:

• Hand-HDR, using layers and masking in Photoshop
• Multi-Raw processing, to expand the dynamic range of a single image
• Monochromatic conversions, and creating effective black & white photos
• Essential LAB inversion and sharpening techniques, and how to apply a Curve adjustment in LAB

Folks have asked for it, and here it is! Many of you watched Harold & Phyllis’s live webinars during the first pandemic year, and have been clamoring for more webinars as the world opens. Fasten your seat belts, because it is going to be a fun ride!

There will be ample time for Q&A.

Cripple Creek, Colorado © Harold Davis

Who should attend: In Harold’s view, the process of photography includes both capture and post-processing. This webinar will help you learn the techniques you need to know to master advanced image creation, as well as to pre-visualize the process from beginning to end. In addition, Harold will put the process of image creation in the context of today’s world, in which the only thing constant is change.

Tuition: The tuition for this webinar is $34.95, 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_uvBNGl-5TcmHc5xC3y3p_w

About Harold Davis: Harold Davis is an artist, photographer, educator, and the bestselling author of many books, including most recently Composition & Photography from Rocky Nook. The 2022 Photographic Society of America Progress Award winner, he is the developer of a unique technique for photographing flowers for transparency, a Moab Master, and a Zeiss Ambassador. His recent publications include the 2022 release of his Tulip Pano Forever postage stamp by the United States Post Office. He is an internationally known photographer and a sought-after workshop leader. His website is www.digitalfieldguide.com.

Dune Composition © Harold Davis

Please consider joining me at Maine Media Workshops on mid-coast Maine in September as autumn has begun for a 5-day photography workshop. The dates are September 12, 2022 – September 16, 2022.

In this hands-on workshop we will approach composition as an instance of open-ended two-dimensional design. Photographic exercises will start with simple shapes, such as lines and circles, and proceed through patterns and repetitions, and onwards to spirals, fractals, and abstractions.

Field sessions will take advantage of the “target-rich” mid-coast Maine scenery. Classroom discussions will be intended to provoke thought about composition basics and continuing to enable individual integration of the process of composition into each participant’s creative practice.

Click here for more information and registration!

Tulip Pano © Harold Davis

I’m off to France and Spain this coming week, and I wanted to write a brief update for anyone interested in my Off-the-Beaten Track Japan Photography Journey, scheduled to begin in Tokyo on October 16, 2022. We have a very few spaces left in this destination photography workshop, but it is filling up fast.

Misty Mountains © Harold Davis

As you may know, Japan is still closed to foreign tourists. A number of my sources in Japan are cautiously optimistic about this changing. So I think it is likely (but not certain) that we will be able to travel in Japan in October. However, it is likely that the changes will not take effect before the Japanese election in July. 

If you are interesting in coming with me on this Japanese adventure, please read the Prospectus carefully including the Itinerary and the Terms & Conditions. Next, drop us an email to let us know you would like to come, complete the Reservation Form, and mail it to us along with your deposit check and copies of your passport page and Covid vaccination card.

Considering the certain uncertainties and the known unknowns: We will not be requesting the balance payment until after tourist travel to Japan has been confirmed. And, your deposit is fully refundable until that point, and also we will, of course, refund the deposits if we are unable to run this trip.

Very best wishes, and see you in Japan!

I’ll be giving two online workshops in June under the auspices of the Heidelberg Summer School of Photography. These workshops will be given in English.

The first is a Photographing Flowers for Photography session on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 11am PT (2pm ET). Click here for more information and registration. 

The workshop descriptions are along the right of the page in English. When you click the registration link (in German), you go to https://pretix.eu/dpunkt/foto2022-2/ to pay. You can toggle this to English on the upper right. You need to find my workshops on their list of offerings.

The Flowers session is 45 Euros (about $50). The three Composition sessions (below) are 199 Euros (about $220).

Flowers Party Too! © Harold Davis

Composition & Photography is a three-part online workshop with reviews and exercises on successive Thursdays, June 16, 23, and 30. Online sessions begin at 10am PT (1pm ET). Click here for more information & registration.

Waves on Drakes Beach © Harold Davis

I hope to see you at these unique online events. Please let me know if you have any questions.