Reed Hoffmann’s Photography Blog
Iceland Photography Workshop
Iceland has gotten a reputation as a “must go” place for photographers, for good reason. Glaciers, geysers, waterfalls, icebergs, mountains, ocean, horses, whales and puffins, it’s truly a visual paradise. We had a great itinerary for the first Iceland photography workshop I led there in 2016, so I only made minor changes for this July’s […]
Secrets of Autofocus – Part 1, Understanding the Options
2018 African Safari Photography Workshop
In late June I led my seventh trip to the Serengeti in east Africa to photograph wildlife. People ask me, “Don’t you get bored returning to the same place again and again?” And of course, my answer is “No.” While we go to the same areas, the animals, and their behavior, are always different. Every […]
Flash for Swimming Photography
Swimming is a challenging sport to shoot. It’s usually indoors in poor light, faces are hidden much of the time, color can be challenging and just getting a good action shot is difficult. My answer? Light it with flash. In early June I drove to Edmond, Oklahoma to shoot the Endeavor Games for Disabled Sports […]
Shooting People (the good way)
I’m fortunate to lead photo trips to all kinds of interesting places. And I’ve learned that even if we’re going somewhere especially for the scenery, or the wildlife, taking time to photograph the people can be equally rewarding. I was reminded of that during my trips to the Peru this spring. People want to go […]
New Life for Old Film
I used film for 25 years before converting to digital in the late 90s. Which means more than half of my life in photography is on film. Now I’m bringing new life back to those old images, I’m digitizing old photos. I’ve always been a proponent of using digital cameras to digitize old prints. It’s […]
Anatomy of a Model Shoot
When I started in photography, “lighting” meant putting a flash on the camera and turning it on. If I were going to be creative, I’d bounce it off a ceiling or wall. In time, I discovered that learning how to use flash off-camera let me make pictures that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Now I look for […]
Amazon Adventure
This spring, due to some unusual scheduling, I led my fifth and six trips to Peru. The first, in March, included my second visit to the Peruvian Amazon. It’s a unique ecosystem, teeming with life, which would seem to make it a great place for photographers. However, it’s also a rainforest. And that brings challenges […]
Night Traffic and Skyline Shoot
I’ve got a list of photos I’m always looking to make. Among those is a better long exposure night photo of traffic, with a great skyline in the background. I recently had another opportunity to try that, with a local who knew where to go. It was a good spot. I shouldn’t have been surprised, […]
The Joy of the Unexpected
One of my favorite words is “serendipity” – finding something you weren’t expecting. For me, serendipity is one of the great joys of photography. I go out expecting to photograph one thing, but instead find something different. And if I’m lucky, those surprises turn out to be better than what I’d hoped for. Last week […]