Reed Hoffmann’s Photography Blog
The Year of the Ultraportable
There’s a lot of talk about 2012 being the year of the ultraportable computer, and that’s good news for us photographers. Two years ago I had an assignment to follow a group of disabled vets climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. I needed to be able to download, check my images and back-up the photos shot […]
Subject, Light, Background
Every workshop I teach, I preach “Subject, Light, Background.” Remembering those three simple words – thinking about them – will almost always improve your pictures. And they often help each other, so working on one can usually improve the others. Recently I was teaching a class in Philadelphia and had a chance to do a […]
Take Time to Organize
I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, but there’s one thing I do every year at this time. So if someone asks what my resolution is, I always say, “I’m going to get organized.” For me that means every January I go through my images from the past year and pick out my favorites. One […]
Off-Camera Flash
I was on the road teaching a workshop last week, and part of it involved giving a little how-to on the basics of off-camera flash. The group was amazed at how easy it is. That’s true now, but it wasn’t always that way. Back in the old days (pre-2004), getting the flash away from the […]
Long Exposures at Night
How to Photograph Holiday Lights
Every holiday season the Country Club plaza in Kansas City is decorated in lights. It’s a beautiful scene, and well worth the visit if you’re in town. Light displays like this are a lot of fun to photograph, if you know a few simple tips to get the photos you want. Any time you’re shooting […]
Birthday Poster
My wife Sharon had her 50th birthday this past weekend and celebrated with a big party. One of my gifts was a poster of photos of her over those fifty years, which was a big hit at the party. This can be pretty easy, if you just follow a few simple steps. The hardest part […]
One Fan of the Nikon One
As someone who loves taking pictures, I try to have a camera whenever possible. It’s not always convenient to carry an SLR, though, and point-and-shoots can be disappointing. So I was happy to hear that Nikon was entering the “small camera with larger sensor” market. And after using the J1 for a couple of weeks, […]
The Joy of Traveling Light
I’m often asked what gear I take when traveling. And the answer is always the same – it depends on what I want to do. In the case of our recent vacation to Italy, the plan was to relax and enjoy the time together, not be out shooting from pre-dawn into night. Which meant little […]
