Reed Hoffmann’s Photography Blog
Why this camera feature makes lightning triggers obsolete
If you’ve ever tried to photograph lightning during daytime, you know it’s almost impossible. By the time you press the shutter button, it’s gone. That’s why lightning triggers, while no guarantee of success, exist. But the addition of the new “Pre-release” feature in...
Going Beyond the Obvious
As a photographer, if you went to Arches National Park and didn’t see Delicate Arch, you’d have missed a nice experience and a beautiful photo. So when I take groups there, as well as to other iconic locations, I make sure they have that opportunity. However, I also...
Great way to improve your Action Photography
If you want to get better at framing while doing action photography, practice with a longer lens. Anyone can shoot loose and crop, and yes, today’s high-resolution cameras make that pretty easy to do. But you lose resolution and the background can be more distracting...
In Photography, Planning and Persistence Pay Off
I returned home last Friday at 4am after 13 hours, 400 miles and four stops. And after three attempts, I finally had the photo of Teter Rock I’d been wanting (above). Planning and persistence paid off. But it was just the latest addition to a project I began two years...
How to Turbocharge your Photography Workflow
I recently heard a photographer say he'd spent 17 hours going through 10,000 images, deciding which ones were worth saving. My first thought was, “I hope he’s retired.” My second thought, though, was that he badly needed a lesson on speeding up his workflow. Which led...
A VERY short NFL shoot
I’ve enjoyed photographing the NFL since 1980, the first twenty years covering the Buffalo Bills and since 2000 the Kansas City Chiefs. But Tuesday was a new experience for me. NFL teams have a three-day mandatory “minicamp,” early in the summer, which consists of...
Pre-Release = Action Photographer Game-Changer
Action photography has always been about anticipation. If you push the shutter button when you see the peak moment, you’ve missed it. Not anymore. At least not for those photographers using the Nikon Z 9. Here’s why. What if you could always capture peak action,...
In a Creative Rut?
For photographers, creativity is the difference between a nice photo and a NICE photo. But what happens if you’re not feeling very creative? That’s when I like to dive into what I call my “photographer’s creative kit,” a bunch of different things to try. That might...
Teleconverter with Macro Lens?
Who’s ever considered putting a teleconverter on a macro lens? That thought would have never crossed my mind if I hadn’t been doing some research. And if you’ve got the right combination, I guarantee it will change how you do closeup photography I’d been wanting to...
Is JPEG Really That Bad?
If you’re serious about photography, then odds are you’ve either heard people say you should shoot RAW. In fact, there’s a pretty funny scene in Adorama’s 2016 Top Photographer series (at the 7:34 mark in this link) where one competitor has to admit she forgot to set...