After graduating, Davis opened a studio in New York City where he was part of the art scene in the 1980s, socializing with artists including Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Mark Kostabi, and Keith Haring.

Assignments took him across the Brooks Range in Northern Alaska on foot, to the environmental disaster at Love Canal, and above the World Trade Center Towers where he hung out the door of a helicopter by a strap to attain the photograph.

Other titles include Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis, Photographing Waterdrops: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis, both from Focal Press; and Creating HDR Photos: The Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Photography, published by Amphoto Books.

[5] He has pioneered an HDR workflow from capture to print involving hand processing that leads to imagery that looks natural in addition to portraying the extraordinary detail possible with an extended tonal range.

[9] He is the 2022 Photographic Society of America Progress Award winner[10] "For the development of a high key digital HDR workflow and set of techniques involving specific kinds of back lighting that make it possible to create luminous translucent imagery.