Reed Hoffmann’s Photography Blog
Night Photography, Part 2
I’ve tried a number of things to scratch my photography itch during this shut down, from archiving old family photos to freezing flowers. But my favorite thing so far has been to head out in the evening, visit a now-empty local park and do some night photography and...
Flowers from my Freezer
These days we're all trying to come up with new photo ideas to do around home, but how many of you have thought, ”Hey, I’ll freeze some flowers in water?” That’s a new one for me, but fortunately I know someone here who does that, and she’s happy to share her secrets....
Social Distancing and Photography
Last night I took a walk in the woods. Literally. It was my solution to social distancing, exercise, and most importantly, being able to do some creative photography outdoors. Where I live in Kansas, we’re still under a “stay at home” order, being asked not to go out...
Whats the Best way to Archive your Images?
When I bought my first external hard drive in the 80s, it was 60-megabytes and I thought I’d never fill it. Of course, documents were much smaller then, and I wouldn’t start shooting digital for another ten years. Since then, I’ve bought many, many more hard drives...
Best Tool for the Job
It was nearly a year ago that I saw a prototype of the Peak Design Travel Tripod. Right away, I thought, “I’ve got to get one of those.” Not because I needed a tripod (I already have several) but because it was going to be the right tool for certain jobs. When I took...
Using the Nikon Z 50
At the beginning of February I received a Nikon Z 50, and since then have used it for two workshops in Cuba, a short trip to San Diego and two NCAA basketball games. For a camera aimed at the more basic end of the market, it has the quality and performance to...
Soap Bubbles
In these days of heavy hand-washing, a recent household chore led to a fun soap bubble shoot. No, not THAT kind of shoot… After filling some of the soap dispensers in our house, I rinsed out the bulk container and left it draining in the sink. When I went back to take...
Favorite Moments from 2019
Most years, in January or February I try to post a story about some of my favorite photos from the previous year. But this year I was so busy then that I never got around to it, and thought, “oh well.” Now, though, I have time on my hands, so here goes. Part of the...
The Compression Myth Debunked
This story is a short one, because the visual evidence is so obvious. There’s no such thing as “compression” of the scene when talking about telephoto lenses. When you use a telephoto lens, you’re simply getting a narrower angle of view than what you see with your...
Coping with COVID-19
What do you do if COVID-19 has brought your life to a screeching halt and you’re a photographer? You're certainly not going to any workshops in the next few weeks, nor camera club meetings or sporting events or concerts or… you get the idea. Here are a few...