The Wells Point

The travelling camera bag of a professional photographer (me!)

davidhwells — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:04:50 +0000

Every photographer has series of problems they have to solve. The most basic problem is how to get the subject in front of the camera onto the chip, film or paper. Another example of such a problem is what gear a traveling professional will take on the road and how will they carry [...]

Good storytelling is good storytelling

davidhwells — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:54:23 +0000

Last week I wrote about how I was going to stop blogging on a fixed schedule. That still holds true, but since writing that, I had one of those “aha” moments where I was prompted to think about something in great depth. All that thought and pondering shouldn’t go to waste and so here it [...]

The end of the world as we know it

davidhwells — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:46:21 +0000

I have been blogging since August of 2008, initially twice a week and more recently once a week. I have learned a lot of different things in that process. I know myself much better as person, as a writer and as a photographer. I know the blogosphere much better and I know blogging [...]

A blessing and a curse

davidhwells — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:16:54 +0000

I have been putting a lot of time lately into my project photographing inside homes after the foreclosure and before the houses are cleaned up and resold. That moment is when I see what I think of the “ghosts” of the people who used to live in those homes. The work has been very well [...]

Lightroom 2 Lightroom 4

davidhwells — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:14:50 +0000

I was thinking about old software and new software when a friend asked me about the new features of Lightroom 4. Since I am using Lightroom 2, I couldn’t say much. Then the same friend wrote me: “I recall being with you when you first loaded Lightroom on your laptop. Several of us were [...]

Photography books with authorship

davidhwells — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:58:23 +0000

Last week I blogged about a couple of my favorite photography books, neither of which have any pictures. This week I am thinking about photography books that actually have pictures in them. What got me thinking about these books is how the authors each bring something special to their projects. I am not [...]

Photography book without pictures

davidhwells — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:47:30 +0000

I just finished a great book on photography. It had no pictures. It didn’t have a whole lot of instruction or technology either. I will be the first to admit that I had my doubts about it when I picked it up, but I thought I’d give it a try. I should have [...]

Feedback through instant editing

davidhwells — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:38:10 +0000

Last week I blogged about what I now call “instant editing.” The idea was to share the top forty or sixty images from one day’s shoot with about ten peers right at the end of the day’s photographing in order to get some input on how to improve when photographing the next day. Last [...]

The idea behind instant editing

davidhwells — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:45:30 +0000

When I was younger, I envisioned the end of the business as a nightmarish world where editors would seem to be working inside my head, through some futuristic technology, telling me where to stand and when to push the button. My great fear was having the imaginary editor see what I was looking at through [...]

Two dogs

davidhwells — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:25:17 +0000

I was on the other end of the camera recently, for the first time in a long, long time and it was a fascinating experience. Being “on camera” is not something I do very often, so I was bit wary. Although the resulting images looked good (at least to me,) the entire process from start [...]

Learning to podcast the easy way or the hard way

davidhwells — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:29:15 +0000

An email came to me awhile back that was succinct and to the point. I filed it away in the pile where I keep things that I need to “think about it for a while before blogging about them.” It got me thinking about how I had moved from complete ignorance to a level [...]

Singapore suggests

davidhwells — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:04:01 +0000

In January I spent three weeks in Asia, mostly in Singapore. As always it was a stimulating trip on many levels. The food was great, the company equally good and the workshops were a blast. I have been trying to put a bit of distance between myself and that experience. I want [...]

My data is backed up securely What about yours

davidhwells — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:12:37 +0000

There is a question that I am asked in most every class that I teach and during almost every presentation that I give. Ironically it is not about my cameras, though they come up often. Nor is it about my lenses, my table-top tripod or my electronic flash. The fact is that almost every [...]

Some good questions

davidhwells — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:05:49 +0000

A high school photography teacher wrote me recently with some questions. As part of her ongoing credentialing for teaching photography, she needed to “…gather information/advice from those in professional photography community.” She went on to ask me a series of great questions from her students drawing on having asked them “What questions they would [...]

Art and commerce of selecting a workshop teacher

davidhwells — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:47:43 +0000

(Disclaimer, I am a workshop teacher as well as a veteran professional photographer) I am a professional photographer. I am VERY proud of the fact that I make my living through my photography. I have been lucky in that most people who pay to use my work appreciate the skills it took me decades to master. [...]

The future of photography is women

davidhwells — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:15:17 +0000

Among the classes that I taught while I was recently in Singapore, at the behest of Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Filmmaking, was a class on street photography. At the first meeting, I scanned the room like I always do. I saw Singaporeans of all ethnicities, a few Europeans and two people from India. [...]

Dumping the darkroom?

davidhwells — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:36:46 +0000

A friend wrote me recently with something of an existential question for a photographer. I knew that answering it was going to be tough, for her and for me. Whichever direction I suggested she go (and whichever direction she chose to proceed) was bound to impact the lives of many photographers for years [...]