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May 09 2008
This is a photo of a Papaver rhoeas 'Falling in Love,' a double variety of Papaver rhoeas, a kind of poppy. I cut a flower off the profusion of these poppies in our garden, and photographed this flower indoors. I put the flower in a glass flute to keep it… read moreApril 25 2008
If you've ever looked closely at a daffodil like this beautiful specimen, you'll know that within the outer yellow petals is an orange "trumpet" (sometimes the trumpet is yellow like the outer petals of the flower, not orange). The trumpet itself contains the reproductive parts of the flower: ovaries, pistil,… read moreApril 22 2008
I've been thinking a good bit lately about making black and white prints from certain of my digital images. Actually, since the final output would be using my digital printer, printing via offset, or display on a color monitor, what I'm really doing is to use the RGB (or CMYK)… read moreApril 18 2008
There was a bright moon in the sky, and as I walked across the mud flats behind the Inverness General Store, my fear was that all that moonlight would detract from the starlight. As I set up my tripod, polka music came faintly from the Czech restaurant in Inverness. Vladimir's,… read moreSubscribe to the Harold Davis Digital Photography Newsletter
April 14 2008
The time has come, the walrus famously said, to talk of many things (thanks, Lewis Carroll). Rather than shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages, and kings, I tend to talk about digital photography. When I came back to photography, I had no idea that the techniques and aesthetics of this wonderful… read moreApril 06 2008
I photographed this interesting mixed Lily bouquet on black velvet, with natural daylight and a tungsten spot. As always in these situations, it pays to "under expose" the photo for a proper "creative" exposure---so the flowers become more saturated and the black background goes truly black. Creative exposures are explained… read moreApril 04 2008
Rick Smolan gave me a coupon for a version of his book America at Home with a custom cover, and I put Julian and Nicky in the design (see below). Rick is famous for his Day in the Life series of photography books. Like many of Rick's projects, America at… read moreApril 01 2008
Finley Eversole contacted me for permission to use one of my chambered nautilus images in his book Art, Death and Transformation, to be published by Inner Traditions in 2009. Based on my conversation with Finley, he's a man with personal experience of the abstract expressionists. I gather that his book… read moreApril 01 2008
The fishing trawler Point Reyes is forever aground on a Tomales Bay mud bank behind the Inverness, California general store. Along with the Point Reyes Lighthouse, this wrecked ship is a cannonical photostop on the Point Reyes tour, just as McWay Creek Falls attracts photographers visiting Big Sur. In the… read moreMarch 27 2008
Two things are special to me about wandering the night with my digital camera. The first is the way I experience night. The second is the way a digital sensor can reveal colors and shapes in spite of apparent darkness. As a wanderer in the darkness, I enjoy more freedom… read moreMarch 24 2008
I'll be giving two workshops in 2008 under the auspices of the Point Reyes National Seashore Association. Please consider joining me on Saturday, June 14 for a one day intensive seminar in digital landscape photography (on-line course registration). The weekend of September 12-14 will see us rocking to the music… read moreMarch 21 2008
In Greek mythology, Calypso was a water nymph. In ancient Greek, calypso (Καλυψώ) was a form of the verb "to conceal" (or "to hide") meaning "I will conceal." Calypso kept Odysseus imprisoned for seven years on an ocean island; it's easy to read Homer to take this as a kind… read moreMarch 15 2008
The photo below is a dream-like image of what it may feel like after the wedding is over and bride and groom face reality a/k/a the descending spiral of an endless stair. Of course, there's a ton of photography of weddings, brides, and grooms. But wedding photography is seldom as… read moreMarch 03 2008
I've written about using noise for aesthetic purposes. I've also explored the possibility that noise generated by boosting a camera's sensitivity (ISO) will become a historical artifact and thing of the past. I've also explained my strategies for effective noise post processing. It's time to take a look at a… read morePhotographing Nature in Studio
February 21 2008
Sometimes the best way to photograph something natural is indoors, using a studio setup. This kind of studio doesn't have to be anything fancy, although you do have to pay attention to light and exposure. Often, the setup for indoor still life photography of natural objects such as flowers, shells,… read more
