Reed Hoffmann’s Photography Blog
Tanzania Safari in the time of COVID
Wouldn’t it be nice to get away from most of the fear and uncertainty surrounding COVID for a week or two? That’s what I just did, though I doubt most people would think of it that way. After three years of planning – and a year’s postponement – I left early this...
My Personal Olympics
As a young newspaper photographer who enjoyed shooting sports, one of my dreams was to work an Olympics. Over the years, though, as I got to know photographers who did, my interest waned. Long days, difficult venues, massive crowding. While it was great to be involved...
A Great Little Tabletop Tripod
Want to get the sharpest photos possible? First you need a good lens, then good technique. And, if you’re using a slow shutter speed, a tripod is a must. Since much of my work the last twenty years has involved travel, I’ve found a couple of great lightweight tripods...
South Dakota Photography Adventure
What if I told you there’s an area that’s great for both wildlife and landscape photography, has a geography that’s unique in the U.S., is wide open for exploration and not heavily visited by photographers? That’s just what you’ll find if you take the time to go up to...
Scouting for a Photography Workshop
A big part of my work life this past decade (at least pre-COVID) has been leading photography workshops. If you’ve attended one, you know I try to keep them fun and filled with lots of places to make good pictures, as well as opportunities to learn and grow as a...
Praise for Eye Autofocus
Like most photographers, I love wide aperture (“fast”) lenses for their ability to turn a distracting background into a beautifully out-of-focus blob. But that shallow focus can also make it hard to keep the subject sharp. If you’re within ten feet, an inch or two...
Visiting the Past in Prison
At first it felt like I’d walked into “The Shawshank Redemption,” except that as the heavy steel bars clanged shut behind me, I knew I could leave whenever I wanted, not years in the future. The Missouri State Penitentiary closed in 2004 after housing some of the...
Serendipity Strikes Again
With a forecast for clearing skies late last week, I made a last-minute decision Thursday afternoon to drive out to the Flint Hills of Kansas. It’s the nearest “dark sky” territory to me, and my primary goal was to scout for a night photography workshop I’m leading...
Why and How to do infrared photography
One of the things I preach when teaching photography is the power of “different.” I urge my students to always be on the lookout for ways to create photos that are different from what other people are doing. That’s the reason why, after color photography became the...
Try, Try Again (or why you should shoot the same thing over and over)
I’ve always tried to be a “glass half-full” kind of person, which has been a challenge the past year. Having to cancel most of my workshops was frustrating, but it did push me to create and start teaching online classes. Not only has that turned out to be fun, but...