The Wells Point

An impromptu course in design of web-sites for photographers

davidhwells — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:36:23 +0000

These days, all photographers, from commercial/documentary to portrait/fine-art, live and die by their web sites. That should mean that most websites for photographers would be built with the same goal, showing the photographer’s work to its best advantage. You also would think that an equally important goal would be making those same sites easy to [...]

November grab bag of resources

davidhwells — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:48:07 +0000

November is upon us! With October ending, I have new web resources to share. The way I work is that as I see something on the web that I find interesting, I drop it into a Word document titled “New_In_Process.” When the end of the month rolls around and/or I have enough items to share [...]

Moving, water

davidhwells — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:57:56 +0000

This podcast plays with your perception of moving water.

Philadelphia vs New York in baseball (and photography)

davidhwells — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:55:06 +0000

Professional baseball’s World Series is underway and the Philadelphia Phillies are playing the New York Yankees. Having lived in both Philadelphia and New York, I know just which team I am rooting for! My experience in each place, as a resident and as a photographer, strongly shapes my team loyalty.

The top ten things photo workshop attendees need know and do

davidhwells — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:39:14 +0000

I just finished a couple workshops in two very different places. I have found that whether I am teaching in places as far away as Greece or as nearby as Cape Cod, certain things are the same in all workshops. I was going to call this “ten commandments for those attending photography workshops,” buy I [...]

Just back from the photo trade show

davidhwells — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:54:22 +0000

I am just back from the big Photo Plus trade show in New York City. On one level, it was like years past with big crowds, lots of new toys and plenty of old friends to see and catch up with. On the other hand, some things were new and interesting and that is what [...]

The Wells Point after one year

davidhwells — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:05:56 +0000

The Wells Point celebrated its first birthday yesterday. It has been quite a year. We launched last year just before the big Photo Plus trade show in New York City. This year, I am writing from NYC, where I am again attending the Photo Plus show. So, just what has happened within The Wells [...]

Learning the language of photography

davidhwells — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:49:38 +0000

Besides teaching workshops around the world, I run a few small on-line critique groups. These usually arise out of workshops where the students in the group have bonded and do not want to end the critiquing/dialogue that is at the core of any good workshop. So we meet in a conference call approximately every [...]

Autumn’s grab bag of web resources

davidhwells — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:56:05 +0000

I am just back from a fast and fun workshop on Cape Cod. The Autumn weather was great for photographing. The many subjects we photographed (beaches at sunrise, cranberry harvesting, etc.) were fascinating. I am about to head off to New York City for the big Photo Plus Expo, the annual trade show “for [...]

Golfers, psychotherapists and photographers

davidhwells — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:09:50 +0000

The legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus is supposed to have said: “Golf is 90% mental.” So, you are asking yourself, what does golf (a sport I normally have no interest in) have to do with photography, the pursuit that I love? More than I ever thought, actually.

Photographers and painters!?!?

davidhwells — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:01:19 +0000

I am just back from Greece where I was teaching and photographing. During my photography workshop, there were also two painting workshops run by the same organization. The “photographers” ate and drank along with the “painters,” which made for some laugh-filled meals. There also was a subtle but interesting competition/ divergence going on [...]

Seasonal rhythms in motorcycle riding and photography

davidhwells — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:41:04 +0000

The arrival of autumn, my favorite season, brings a number of changes to my life. On a larger level, the school year begins, defining much of my wife and daughter’s schedules until the next summer returns. The looming colder weather also means it is time put my motorcycle away for the winter. Thinking [...]

A grab bag sent from Greece

davidhwells — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:02:21 +0000

I write this from Santorini, Greece, where the light simply is amazing. I am having so much fun during my first trip to Greece that this blog post is going to be limited to a brief grab bag of things I have been gathering recently. I hope you find them interesting.

Isolated or interacting, that is the question

davidhwells — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:20:33 +0000

Back in August, I wrote a blog post titled “A big, what is the meaning of life, kind of question.” I was intrigued when a friend wrote me back with his answers to the questions that I had posed (and then answered.) Some of his answers were so specific to his life and [...]

What can the assistant bring to the photographer?

davidhwells — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:30:56 +0000

When I wrote the recent post on “Group questions versus individual questions ns,” I was obviously writing about that topic. But, I was also using the process of writing to clarify my own thinking on that subject. As I started to answer a query from a student in the Fotovision class that I just finished [...]

Group questions versus individual questions

davidhwells — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:38:39 +0000

I just finished teaching a workshop in Berkeley, California. Being in the San Francisco Bay area, the light was great. The group was very supportive of each other and the work they did was interesting. The questions they asked were many and good. They got me thinking about the questions I am often asked [...]

Why photographers need editors

davidhwells — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:41:48 +0000

There are numerous aphorisms about what separates the serious/successful photographer from the amateurs/posers. Great quotes, such as: “Hobby photographers worry about equipment; Professional photographers worry about money; Master photographers worry about light” are already out there. In this blog entry, I propose to add one more to the list.