There are two things that can ruin photos - blur and being out of focus. At times, though, blur can make a picture better. The trick to doing that is understanding how to use blur as a creative tool.

Continue reading "The Beauty of Blur" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:28 AM | Permalink

Ever had someone tell you about some great new thing, and you promptly forgot about it? That's what happened with me and Tripit. Then about a year later I heard about it again, and wow, what a wasted year!:

Continue reading "Mastering Travel Itineraries" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 06:47 PM | Permalink

You know by now I'm a big fan of using strobes. Good light is so important to good pictures that I love being able to create and/or add it whenever I want. And I've always been a fan of softboxes as a way of controlling and directing that light. Now there's a new softbox that I just can't say enough good things about. But I'll try :)

Continue reading "Great New Softbox" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 04:12 PM | Permalink

Being a newspaper photographer for over twenty years has taken its toll on my neck and shoulders. I've grown to hate the weight of cameras around my neck, and am tired of trying to keep them from falling off my shoulders. One company looks like it has a good solution for me.

Continue reading "A Better Camera Strap?" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:23 AM | Permalink

I'm in Long Island right now, getting ready to start a photography workshop for American Photo (one of their Mentor Series programs). And for the first time in a long time, I've left on a photo trip without an extra hard drive to backup my images.

Continue reading "Backup in my Pocket" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:08 AM | Permalink

One of the questions I'm regularly asked at workshops is how to photograph the moon. With the recent anniversary of the first moon landing, I thought this would be a good time to talk about that.

Continue reading "Moon Shot" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:37 AM | Permalink

My daughter Rachel and I are spending this week in Rocky Mountain National Park. We're camping and have a number of hikes planned, including Long's Peak, if possible. Se we're traveling light.

Continue reading "Minimalist Approach" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 07:06 PM | Permalink

One evening this week I decided to shoot some photos at dusk and was reminded there's a right way and a wrong way to chase a sunset.

Continue reading "Chasing Sunset" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:52 PM | Permalink

I'm not a big shopper. So when my wife and daughter decided to spend the first afternoon of our vacation shopping in Portland, I decided to take a walk instead. With my camera.

Continue reading "They shopped, so I..." »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 06:03 PM | Permalink

I'm just back from leading a photo trip on the Oregon coast for American Photo as part of their Mentor Series program. As is usual on a workshop like this, I took along a few of my favorite accessories, which I often call toys, to add some variety.

Continue reading "Ode to Toys" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:31 AM | Permalink

Nikon recently released a new digital SLR, the D5000, and I just got my hands on one. It's an entry/mid-level DSLR (12MP) with a twist. Literally. It's the first Nikon DSLR with an articulated display. That means the LCD pulls out from the body so you can see what you're framing without having the viewfinder at your eye. Cool.

Continue reading "A Twisted View" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:26 PM | Permalink

I've got a friend who's fond of saying, "I'd rather be lucky than good." I know what he means. Last week I had a workshop to teach in Berkeley, so flew in two days early to take a quick trip to Yosemite with some friends. And boy, did we get lucky.

Continue reading "Photography and Luck" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:39 AM | Permalink

Today's entry will be a small one, to fit the subject. I'm a big fan of compact cameras, often referred to as point-and-shoots. It's not that they're all I ever want to shoot with, but you can't beat their size for what they can do. That means I can have a camera (and a real one, NOT a toy built into my phone) with me almost all the time.

Continue reading "In Praise of Point-and-Shoots" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 03:00 PM | Permalink

This past weekend I was out in Boston to teach a Nikon School (www.nikonschool.com) with friend and fellow instructor Bill Durrence. One of the Nikon sales reps for the area, Bob Watts, is the epitome of the good host, and this time we had a chance to do some shooting together.

Continue reading "With a Little Help from a Friend" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 11:17 AM | Permalink

Lots of times photos can be made better just by talking to people. It doesn't seem like much, but simply walking up and saying "Hi, mind if I take some photos of you?" can lead to much better pictures.

Continue reading "Just say "Hi!"" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:22 PM | Permalink

We're back from the trip to Turkey, and what a wonderful trip it was. Turkey now tops my list of great overseas photo trips.

Continue reading "Turkey's Great" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 01:30 PM | Permalink

This week I'm in Turkey leading a Mentor Trek for American Photo. Our first two days were spent in Istanbul, which has quickly moved into the top of my list of great places to shoot pictures.

Continue reading "Istanbul" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:55 PM | Permalink

For the past two years I've been fortunate enough to be involved in Microsoft's Icons of Imaging program (www.microsoft.com/prophoto). And this past week I had an opportunity to join that group on a trip to Iceland, and discovered what a photographer's paradise it is.

Continue reading "Iceland's Awesome" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 07:22 PM | Permalink

Over the years I've learned that sometimes you just need to spend more money than you'd like to get the gear you need. That's always been easier for the big stuff - cameras, lenses and strobes - than for the little stuff. I'm finally investing in the little stuff, and it's paying off.

Continue reading "Just Bite the Bullet" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:27 AM | Permalink

I've just returned from teaching a photo workshop in Montana, mostly at Glacier National Park. At one point while out shooting I noticed dirt on the sensor in my photos. There's a right way and a wrong way to fix this. Guess which one I chose?

Continue reading "How NOT to clean a Sensor" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 03:20 PM | Permalink

Over the years I've had to shoot pictures in every kind of weather. Hot, cold, snowing, blowing, hail, sleet and rain. I don't mind any of them, except for rain. I hate working in rain. But if you don't go out in the rain to shoot pictures, then you're missing out on some good photos. I ran into this last weekend while teaching an American Photo Mentor Trek in Vermont, and we had some rain on Saturday.

Continue reading "Working in Rain" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 05:28 PM | Permalink

I find that the hardest thing for most people to photograph is people. And that's a shame, because it's a great way to make some nice photos and you usually end up with a good story as well.

Continue reading "Meeting People" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:47 AM | Permalink

I learned years ago that when the photo gods smile on you, you should thank them. And the proper way to do that is to drop to your knees, raise your hands over your head and bow down several times while saying, "Thank you photo gods, thank you photo gods."

Continue reading "Thank You, Photo Gods" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:40 AM | Permalink

Okay, I'll admit it - I'm spoiled. When I'm working in my office I've got two laptops, and each is driving a big screen that's almost 2000-pixels wide. So when I travel, being forced to work on one small laptop screen puts me in screen withdrawal. Not anymore.

Continue reading "Screen for the Road" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 06:38 PM | Permalink

For any photographer who loves to travel, going on an African photo safari must be near the top of their wish list. I've been lucky enough to do that twice now, leading trips to Tanzania in 2006 and the other one a few weeks ago. Each was great in its own way.

Continue reading "African Photo Safari" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:13 AM | Permalink

When I started traveling regularly a few years ago, I did what all smart business travelers do - I asked for aisle seating. What a mistake that was!

Continue reading "I'll Take the Window Seat, Thank You" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 04:37 PM | Permalink

I'm just back from Peru and Mexico City, where I finished the last two international training sessions for the Associated Press (whew!). And I saw something I never expected to in Mexico City - outdoor ice skating.

Continue reading "Mexico City Ice Capades" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 11:39 AM | Permalink

It's been a busy week. The day before Thanksgiving I left home on a whirlwind trip, and over the next six days visited China, Africa, Mexico and the mountains of India, with brief visits to France, England and Canada along the way.

Continue reading "World Traveler" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 12:07 PM | Permalink

If you haven't tried making your own photo book yet, you're missing out on a lot of fun. Apple made it easy at the consumer level through iPhoto several years ago, and then a bunch of other companies jumped in to serve the non-Apple user. The result is that we have a lot of choices now, and it couldn't be easier.

Continue reading "Book Publishing" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:15 AM | Permalink

As you've probably noticed, I've been doing a lot of traveling the last six weeks. After three weeks in Europe and Asia, I flew home, only to go to Tokyo the following week. That's given me plenty of opportunity to practice dealing with jet lag. Returning from Japan, I used a fish market to help fight the time change.

Continue reading "Fish and Jet Lag" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 02:23 PM | Permalink

I've been in Tokyo this week to lead some training for the Associated Press, and arrived a day early to make sure I got here in time. I also wanted to have some time to adjust to the jet lag (14-hrs worth!), and was hoping to see some of Tokyo and shoot photos. Unfortunately, the day was overcast and dreary.

Continue reading "When the Light's Boring..." »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 07:08 PM | Permalink

Having returned recently from a photo trip to Greece, I've been getting all of my images sorted and archived. At one point I decided to total the amount of hard drive space those photos were taking up, and it was something of a shock. Seven days of shooting resulted in 30 Gigabytes of images!

Continue reading "Size Matters" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:36 AM | Permalink

Recently I was in Bangkok to do some teaching, and had an afternoon free. Wanting to see more of the city, I signed up for a river and canal tour. Thailand has lots of water, and Bangkok is laced with canals. It was a good tour and I made some nice photos. But one photo I really liked when I shot it doesn't work, because I forgot to think about what I was doing.

Continue reading "Missing the Big Picture" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 01:41 PM | Permalink

As you know, I've been traveling overseas lately, first to Greece, then to India and now I'm in Thailand. When I'm on the road in the U.S., cell phones have made it easy to stay in touch with my office, friends and family. Leaving the country, though, had made that a lot more challenging.

Continue reading "Hooked on Skype" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:33 AM | Permalink

I'm on the road still, having gone to India from Greece. Flew into Delhi early (very, very early) Wednesday morning, where I'm here to lead two days of digital workflow training for some members of the Associated Press photo staff in Asia. The rest of Wednesday was a free day, though, so I wanted to get out for some fresh air and see some of Delhi.

Continue reading "Getting Lucky" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:15 AM | Permalink

Sometimes you get amazingly lucky, and then sometimes you don't. Kevin Gilbert and I just finished leading a photo trek of Greece for American Photo. We had a lot of fun with a great group of people, and everyone headed home with some new photos and new ideas for their photography. We started the trip in Athens, with an afternoon tour of the town and the Acropolis, who's most famous feature is the Parthenon, visible from much of Athens.

Continue reading "Parthenon at Night" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:08 AM | Permalink

It never ceases to amaze me how pervasive American culture is. We spent four hours driving and walking into the bush of Tanzania in 2006 to find a remote tribe of bushmen and found one of them wearing a Nike t-shirt. Then two days ago, walking through Aio, a small town on the tip of Santorini, a Greek island, I came across this car coated in dust, with messages written across the windshield. And once again I'm reminded of the saying - you either love or hate the Yankees, wherever you are.

Continue reading "Passion for the Yankees" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 04:34 AM | Permalink

I'm in Greece leading a photo trek for American Photo. We've had a great time so far, starting in Athens and then going on to the island of Mykonos. After three days here, today we take the ferry to Santorini. We've made a lot of good photos, but perhaps as important, we've had fun and time to relax as well.

Continue reading "Hard(ly) at Work" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 03:40 AM | Permalink

Last week I was doing a bit of packing, as I was preparing to head to Greece to lead a photo trek for American Photo (www.mentorseries.com), where I am now. Yes, I know, tough life. I do a lot of travel, and am always looking for new ways to cut down on the amount of stuff I have to drag along. That's become even more important now that we take computers, hard drives and chargers with us.

Continue reading "Favorite Travel Tools (Toys!)" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:08 PM | Permalink

I spend a lot of time these days teaching photography. And at almost every workshop I teach, at least one person comes up to me and asks, "How can I turn photography into a career?" I always give them some suggestions, but I also ask them to think long and hard about whether they truly want to do that. They may find that photography's more rewarding as a hobby.

Continue reading "Photography for Fun" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 09:46 PM | Permalink

Later this month I'm taking a group of photographers to Peru for a photography workshop. Part of our preparation has been a little high-tech scouting using the internet.

Continue reading "Location Scouting from Home" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:06 AM | Permalink

Part of my job is to stay up-to-date with changes in the field of digital photography. That includes many models of cameras, lenses, strobes, computers, operating systems, software, hard drives, printers, etc. etc. etc. As you know, that's a lot of information, so I'm always looking for better ways to accomplish that. My latest trick helps me do that during time that would otherwise be wasted..

Continue reading "Keeping up With Changes" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 02:59 PM | Permalink

Every now and then I try out a new gizmo that so surprises or impresses me that I've just GOT to write about it. This time it's the Nikon TC-20 E II teleconverter, which I'd played with a few years ago and promptly forgot about..

Continue reading "New Toy -Teleconverter" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 03:01 PM | Permalink

Recently I received an email from someone who was part of a workshop I taught, and thought it might make a good blog entry: "I attended your two workshops in Berkeley last week, and didn't get a chance to ask my specific question. I'm leaving for an Antarctic peninsula cruise this coming week, and any suggestions for specific settings (e.g. White Balance) to try under those unusual lighting conditions?"

Continue reading "Arctic Suggestions" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 11:49 AM | Permalink

After traveling to 53 countries as a professional photographer, I decided to really live like the everyday traveler and head off on a trip to Morocco with just a Nikon D40, an 18-200 mm lens, and a 2 gig Lexar SD card..

Continue reading "Traveling Light" »

Posted by Kevin T. Gilbert at 06:10 PM | Permalink

Last weekend I went to Berkeley to teach a two-day photo class. I was working with Nick Didlick, a good friend and excellent photographer from Vancouver, Canada, and we both flew in two days early to meet some friends and drive to Yosemite National Park. I've been lucky enough to visit Yosemite several times over the last few years, so I decided to take a different approach to photographing it this time.

Continue reading "A Closer View" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:22 AM | Permalink

I'm just back from leading a photo trek to Maui for American Photo (www.mentorseries.com). I do about four trips a year like this, and we had just over thirty people joining us. The second day we spent driving and shooting along the road to Hana, and after dinner that night most of us headed to the beach for a little light painting.

Continue reading "Light Painting" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:26 AM | Permalink

Last year while shooting winter photos in Yosemite National Park, Nick Didlick (a friend and Blue Pixel Associate) came up with a unique (and low-cost) way of shooting time exposures. I was reminded of that recently when I needed to do the same thing, and didn't have a cable release.

Continue reading "Pebble Release" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:01 PM | Permalink

When it comes to photography, people always want to talk cameras and lenses. Yes, they're important (and I like to talk about them too), but one tool that doesn't get enough chat time is tripods.

Continue reading "Tool Time - Tripods" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 06:29 AM | Permalink

Occasionally we at Blue Pixel find ourselves being interviewed and written about, which was recently the case for myself and Alex Stevens.

Continue reading "Blue Pixel in Print" »

Posted by Kevin T. Gilbert at 01:55 PM | Permalink

When people find out what I do for a living - shoot pictures at big events (pro sports), do photography for some reality TV (Contender, Apprentice, Rock Star), travel the country teaching photography seminars and lead photo trips to cool places (I’ve got trips to the southwest, Maui, Tucson and Peru in the next few months) - they say, "Wow, what a great life!" It is, but it involves a lot of travel, which often is anything but fun.

Continue reading "The Joys of Travel" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 08:39 PM | Permalink

Last week I was in Las Vegas for Photoshop World. I was there to speak on Pro Digital Workflow. As with any trip, though, I wanted to get out and shoot some photos too.

Continue reading "Scouting Trip" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 02:21 PM | Permalink

I just returned from a raft trip to Alaska. We had a great time, but one of the big surprises for me was what camera I chose to shoot many of the photos with.

Continue reading "Right Camera for the Right Job" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 05:09 PM | Permalink

I just returned from a photography trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and my favorite photos from there aren't what you might expect.

Continue reading "Looking for Something Different" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 11:27 AM | Permalink

Sometimes you'll find a picture that's just about perfect, but the light's not quite what you want. If you're lucky, you'll be able add that little bit of light yourself.

Continue reading "Add a Little Light" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 10:47 AM | Permalink

This week I'm in Sweden teaching an American Photo Mentor photo workshop (www.mentorseries.com). The country's beautiful, the people nice, food is good and the group we've got is a lot of fun to be with. Our first day out, though, we came across a photo we couldn't make. At least at first.

Continue reading "Putting the Pieces Together" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 01:23 AM | Permalink

Hi. My name's Nick and I'm a gadget freak. In fact I think being a gadget freak is in the male genetic make-up. As a photographer and digital imaging consultant I'm always on the lookout for new gadgets that will make my job easier, faster and ultimately cooler.

Continue reading "Gadget Freak" »

Posted by Nick Didlick at 09:58 AM | Permalink

Do you love to shoot nature photography? I know that I love to travel and get up before sunrise to shoot a cool landscape or the dew on a flower. It's a great way for me to shoot things I normally don't cover, but there are guys out there that do it everyday that are exceptional at their craft. One of those is Daniel J. Cox.

Continue reading "Nature Photography Seminars" »

Posted by Kevin T. Gilbert at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, we made it back from Africa, safe and sound. We had a great trip, and aside from a few bumps along the way, I think we’d all be eager to go again.

The trip was 11 days, but with travel we really had 9 days in Tanzania. Most of that time was spent on what’s called a safari drive (driving through Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater areas), with a couple of days for seeing some of the towns and local culture.

Here’s what we learned...

Continue reading "We made it back from Africa" »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 07:43 PM | Permalink

Okay, I admit that getting to travel around the world leading photo workshops is pretty cool. I really enjoy spending a weekend or more helping a bunch of nice people learn to shoot better pictures, and quite honestly, they help me find good pictures too.

The downside to doing all this is the packing and travel. Over the years I’ve learned some tricks to make that easier, and I’m still learning them.

Continue reading "A Lesson In Packing " »

Posted by Reed Hoffmann at 07:39 AM | Permalink

It's hard to escape the fact that trade shows suck. Sure, lots of people look forward to shows like PhotoPlus East, PMA, WWPI and ImagingUSA, and for good reason. Trade shows, especially those that feature top-notch semiars, can be really fascinating. It's a perfect opportunity to see the newest and best products, and to actually get a moment to get some hands-on time with really pricey equipment. (And
sometimes seeing how something will feel in your hands makes all the difference.)

But when you've gone to trade shows for a while, they become some of the most grating, irritating places on earth. This year marks the fifteenth year that I've been going to trade shows, though my attendance didn't really pick up until about a decade ago. These days, I'm at about eight a year....

Continue reading "Getting Away From It All " »

Posted by David Schloss at 07:25 AM | Permalink

I love technology. I thrive on it. As a photojournalist, it makes perfect sense to me that I have every advantage of shooting a picture and getting it back before the next guy. When cell phones came along, I thought this is the answer to transmitting a photo back to the paper. But it was clunky and cumbersome, and easier to find a motel or rest stop to hook up to a phone line and drop a $20 on the waitress for the help....

Continue reading "Photographers are gadget hounds..." »

Posted by Kevin T. Gilbert at 07:05 AM | Permalink