by Reed Hoffmann | Mar 1, 2014 | Advanced, Beginner, Computers, Intermediate, Technology
Computers are a fact of life for most people today, and that’s especially true for us photographers. What that inevitably means is a constant process of upgrading or replacing them. I did just that with one of my older laptops, thanks to a new SSD drive. For well over...
by Reed Hoffmann | Feb 21, 2014 | Beginner, Exposure, Intermediate
Recently I got a case of tennis elbow from shoveling snow (a rare one-day, 12-inch snowfall here). And since we don’t get snow very often in Kansas City, and it never lasts long, I decided to make that elbow pain pay off. I got out my cross-country skis and took one...
by Reed Hoffmann | Feb 6, 2014 | Advanced, Beginner, Composition, Intermediate, People, Travel, Wildlife, Workshops
I recently suggested that a good exercise for every photographer at the end of the year is to go through and pick their ten favorite photos. Then a friend linked me to her ten favorites, and asked if I’d share mine. Oops! I responded that I tell other people to do...
by Reed Hoffmann | Jan 23, 2014 | Archiving, Beginner, Intermediate, Technology
Every January people talk about their New Year’s resolutions. For photographers, one of our main resolutions should be to archive everything we’ve done the previous year. It’s not fun, but it is manageable, and actually much easier now than it was with...
by Reed Hoffmann | Jan 13, 2014 | Advanced, Beginner, Camera Gear, Intermediate, Travel
For photographers, staying warm in cold weather isn’t just about comfort, it’s about staying focused on photography. If you’re uncomfortable, you’re distracted. In my previous life as a newspaper photographer, I spent twenty years living and working in upstate New...
by Reed Hoffmann | Dec 3, 2013 | Beginner, Camera Gear, Composition, Exposure, Focus, Holidays, Intermediate, Light
On Thanksgiving, Kansas City kicked off the holiday season with the Plaza Lighting Ceremony. In honor of that grand tradition and all the outdoor displays this time of year, here’s a primer on how to make great pictures at night. The challenge of night photography is...