Wounded Warriors
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
Last week I had an amazing inspirational experience. Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA.org) was running a massive event in Breckenridge, Colorado, the Ski Spectacular. Disabled people from around the world come to learn to ski, improve their skiing abilities and race. I was there to begin work on a project to document the Wounded Warriors program, which helps injured soldiers and sailors get back into outdoor activities. Over my life I've had the opportunity to see some pretty impressive things, but this one was at a whole new level.
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New Sports Lens?
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
Over the years, Nikon's 200-400mm f/4 zoom has become a huge favorite among wildlife photographers. Its reasonable size, fast aperture and ability to zoom has made it a "must-have" lens for this group. It's never been very popular among sports photographers, though, as it wasn't quite fast enough for night sports. That's changing.
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Available Dark
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
Photography's all about light, and people often talk about "available light" photography. In photojournalism we often called it "available dark," a joke about how little light there often was. Quite honestly, though, I'm a big fan of available dark photography.
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Luck or Skill?
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
After shooting the Kansas City Chiefs game against the San Diego Chargers recently, another photographer and I were discussing the differences between luck and skill. Those are two things every good photographer has experience with.
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The Beauty of Blur
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
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.
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Mastering Travel Itineraries
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
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!
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Great New Softbox
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
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 :)
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A Better Camera Strap?
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
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.
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Model Performance
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
Back in my newspaper days I volunteered at one time to do the food and fashion shoots. That wasn't really my kind of photography, but it was time to try something new. I ended up enjoying it, and learned the value of working with an experienced model.
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Backup in my Pocket
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 by Reed Hoffmann
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.
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