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After six fascinating weeks in India I flew home and I plunged right into a workshop in street photography at ICP (International Center for Photography) in New York City. Then I returned to Providence, to complete the sale of my house, move out of that and into a new apartment. Next week I am off to the Maine Media Workshops to teach another workshop. So, I have been busy! I have also been gathering snippets to share as the summer nears its end.
20
Aug 10
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Even more summer-time snippets
I read a lot about photography every day. (Duh!) I encounter hundreds of links, varying from idiotic Viagra ads to Nigerian bank scams to interesting photography sites. Though I am pretty good at knowing what not to look at, and waste time clicking on, I default to the idea that it is better to look than it is to risk missing something of value. This blog entry explores recent links where I have clicked through and I have been rewarded for my efforts.
06
Aug 10
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Flash Photography Using Remote (Off Camera) Flash Units
This podcast explores using an off-camera or remote flash unit to get a quality of light that is not possible with the built-in flash units.
30
Jun 10
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My last blog entry, exploring gear and goals left me thinking about my own gear acquisition history. I have written before about how, these days, I tend to be slow to adopt new gear. I only displace technology that works well for me if the newer technology is a notable improvement. (DSLRs that capture video are one example of a notable technology shift.) I will be first to admit this was not always the case. In college and during my first few years as a freelancer, I churned through different sets of gear. I was trying to figure out who I was as a photographer (and which technology would help me make the photographs I wanted to make.) In looking back, I have noted that certain pieces of gear have stayed with me throughout over my career, including some that have been with me a very long time.
14
Jun 10
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A friend wrote me with a variation of the most common question I am asked, “What gear should I buy next?” In a technology-based pursuit like photography, the question appears to make sense. This is doubly so in a creative pursuit which is largely shared through advertising driven media. Before I answered him, I grilled him with a few more questions. Then I came back to him with a suggestion for the one thing that every photographer should be spending more time and money on, especially these days.
11
Jun 10
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Black and white vs Color (part three)
This is the final of three blog posts exploring the question of using color vs black and white in photography. To date, I have shared work that was intentionally made in color and later converted to black and white for comparison purposes. I also shared work that was made in color, but was intended to be experienced in black and white. After sharing those two sets of work I also wrote about factors to consider when choosing between the various media. In this last entry, I will offer some other, last thoughts on the two media. These points, and in fact all three blog entries apply to both looking at existing work and to making new work.
14
May 10
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Internet good news and bad news
It is such a cliché to say, “What did we do before the Internet,” yet it also is a good question. For my teenage daughter, there is no such thing as life without the Internet. I do remember that time and as a rule, I prefer today’s technology over the “old days,” of going to libraries, photocopying pages, writing notes, etc. I am not here to wax nostalgic about times gone by. I am here to offer a few new, useful resources. Then I will talk about something of a drawback to the Internet.
01
Mar 10
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At the intersection of the art and craft of photography
While spending a week in Calcutta, India, I saw (and photographed) many things. Having previously spent little time in Calcutta, everything I experienced and pondered there seemed to be doubly intense. This was quite a sensation, since going anywhere in India is always so intense. In the future, I will share some of my experiences and thoughts that came out of my time in the place also known as the “City of Joy.” One thing I did that was especially interesting was to see an exhibition by an Indian photographer, Prashant Panjiar. The work I saw exists almost perfectly at the intersection of the art and craft of photography.
25
Dec 09
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Technology as artistic opportunity and aesthetic hurdle
My wife, who is a photographer, has been producing some compelling animations / videos based on multi-generational portraits of Indian women. In the process of making the work, she went through a series of hurdles, just like any creative person would. She first struggled through the process of conceptualizing and defining the project. Once she knew what she wanted to do, she then applied for and had good luck getting a grant to fund the initial photographing and the post-production of the work. Over time the project evolved. She has recently completed the creation of the finished pieces. The work uses some of the latest digital technology to raise some interesting questions about time, memory and photographs. In the process of making the work, it seems she got a little too far in front of the existing technology. So much so that one of our current projects is to figure out what existing technology can be used to present her work in the exact way that she wants it be experienced.
07
Dec 09
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Golfers, psychotherapists and photographers
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.
12
Oct 09
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Photographers and painters!?!?
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 between the various media.
09
Oct 09
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A lesson in seeing and working a situation
This podcast explores the many different ways you can photograph one subject
07
Oct 09
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“Working” a situation by changing the point of focus
This podcast explains how to “work” a situation and make a variety of images of a subject, by changing the point of focus.
29
Jul 09
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Editing and critiquing photographs of India
This podcast shows the process of editing and critiquing a set of photographs of India, which were created by workshop students from the Objectifs Center in Singapore. The goal was to get from approximately sixty images per person down to about twenty images. The final twenty images should tell the viewer something about the photographer as well as how they experienced India.
17
Jun 09
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“Working” a situation when photographing
This podcast explores the important process “working” a situation, making a variety of images of a given subject, by changing the photographer’s position, the camera’s orientation, the focal length of the lens, etc.
03
Jun 09
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I had an e-mail exchange recently with student on the question of creativity. He was not asking about software or lens choices, though those are perfectly valid questions at different points. He was asking the biggest, toughest question of all. I was impressed that he was able to articulate the question. He seemed impressed with my answer. That was when I realized that our exchange was worthy of a blog piece.
29
May 09
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The early photo-essays of David H. Wells
This podcast explores the evolution of my photo-essays, including many of my grant-funded projects, including my work on the pesticide poisoning of farm-workers in California, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, fishermen in Gloucester , MA as well as the communities of South Asian immigrants in America
25
Mar 09
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From “mad cropper” to full-frame perfectionist
I almost never crop the photographs that I make. For me, the best images are captured by careful composition in the camera, and not ‘saved” by cropping after the fact. I will be the first to admit that I was not always so disciplined. In tracing my evolution from mad cropper to full frame perfectionist, I realized the idea of not cropping went from technical objective to moral imperative to aesthetic goal and now is a philosophical mission.
20
Mar 09
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This podcast explores the process of making one image, from recognizing the potential of the situation for a photograph, through composing and metering of the photograph and then actually making a variety of images.
11
Mar 09
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Learning how to learn, photographically
When I went to college, in pursuit of a Bachelor of Liberal Arts, my mother encouraged me to put my energy into what she called “learning how to learn.” I just finished a workshop where a student told me the best part of the class was that he had “learned how to learn the way to make the best photograph possible of a given situation.”
27
Feb 09
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The background of the “light studies” of David H. Wells
This podcast explores the evolution of my “light studies,” which are photo-essays on the light and atmosphere of a given place. The first “light study,” on a train station in Philadelphia has since led me to do these projects across the globe.
25
Feb 09
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The best flash card wallet I have ever used
Regular readers of this blog may be wondering when I am going to stop writing about my “philosophy” and return to talking about cameras and photographing. I will right now. In this post, I am going to highlight one of the most important pieces of gear in my camera bag.
13
Feb 09
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My “brief stint” as a fashion photographer
I was reading an interesting article in The New York Times about the Presidential dress code. Barack Obama’s recent choice to be photographed without his suit jacket in the Oval Office was front-page news. It rang a bell and then I remembered how another President’s fashion choices changed my life as a photographer.
02
Feb 09
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How I learned to critique photographs
I was reviewing another photographer’s work recently. Left and right, I was tossing off suggestions for improving the images. Though I was thinking intensely about the work, I was largely unaware of my own process, as I critiqued the work. When she asked me how I had learned to critique images so fluidly, I was stopped in my tracks.
19
Jan 09
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The use of time, shutter speed and panning in photographing action
This podcast explores the use of time, shutter speed and panning in photographing action. It explores the important photographic technique of panning through photographing race cars at the Seekonk, MA speedway.
14
Jan 09
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Cameras do not make pictures, people do!
As I was flying cross-country recently to the warmth of sunny California, I was catching up on all the newspapers that had accumulated on my kitchen table. As a photographer, one item really caught my attention.
26
Dec 08
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The Internet is grand, isn’t it?
I was struggling as I tried not to write one more blathering post along the lines of “Ain’t the internet grand?” After pummeling myself about that for a while, I gave up, so here goes.
22
Dec 08
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“Do It Yourself” Flash Gel Kit
Periodically, I see things on the web that leave me stunned. Many involve other people’s stupidity. Some involve equally striking acts of creativity. Some of the best, to me, are those showing simple and elegant ways to modernize small but important photographic tools.
19
Dec 08
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Using flash and slow shutter speed when photographing
This enhanced photography podcast explores important things to know when using flash and slow shutter speed.
17
Dec 08
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Photography, poetry and crossing disciplines
I stumbled across a great quote recently. It is about poets, but I immediately thought how it applies to photographers. Following on my last entry, about the importance of practice, I got to thinking about how a lot of things cross the lines that appear to divide different mediums, but really are common to most all of them.
15
Dec 08
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Importance of timing when photographing at twilight
This photography podcast explores the importance of timing when photographing at twilight.
22
Oct 08
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This photography podcast uses images and audio to take the viewer on an informative, visual journey into part of life in Guatemala.
08
Oct 08
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I am new to blogging so I will mostly be writing about things that I encounter in my daily routine as a photographer. Some will be about the business of photography and others about the craft. Still others will focus on the creative side of the medium.
15
Aug 08
