As a partner in Blue Pixel (www.bluepixel.net) most of my time is split between developing and teaching digital photography programs (such as Nikon School Digital 101 and 201, www.nikonschool.com) and consulting with other companies on digital photography projects. I rarely have time to simply go out and shoot pictures for myself. That's why I especially enjoy teaching a shooting workshop, as I did recently in Tucson, AZ.

Since 2000 I've been working with American Photo, teaching Mentor Trek programs for them (www.mentorseries.com). I spent the last weekend of February 2005, teaching one with fellow instructor John Reddy and about thirty students in Tucson. We started early Friday morning with a group session, where Mirjam Evers and Michelle Cast of American Photo laid out the workshop's plans and schedule. That was followed by the instructors showing some of their work and talking about what they hope people will get out of the weekend. The last part of the morning is spent in portfolio critiques, with every student showing 5-10 photos to the instructors. So far so good, but what everyone's really here for is to shoot pictures.

After lunch we loaded onto a bus and started the fun part of the weekend. Every daylight minute is planned around photography, and Tucson is a great place for this. We started at Tucson Studios, a re-creation of an old-west town where films and ads are shot, complete with cowboys, dancing girls and shoot-outs and hangings. From there a short drive took us into the desert for sunset shots of mountains and cactus. Friday ended with me giving a late-night Photoshop class.

Saturday morning we headed off to the historic town of Tombstone, where two models and old-time settings are awaiting us. From there we went to the old mining town of Bisbee, then to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for more scenery and wildlife (bear, cougar, coyote, etc.) We stopped for another sunset session just outside the museum before heading back to call it a night.

Sunday morning was our early day with a 5:30am wake-up to go to the historic Mission San Zavier de Bac, an old Spanish mission built in 1783. Afterwards we returned to the Radisson hotel for breakfast, then some time spent in the nearby La Placita Village, an interesting three-story adobe-style office, shop and restaurant complex with beautiful southwestern colors.

The wrap-up was just after lunch on Sunday, with a slideshow of everyone's best photos from the weekend and closing remarks. Some of the group stayed in the area for a few more days of photography and sightseeing while the rest of us headed to the airport to catch some sleep on the flight home.

Making a success of a weekend like this takes several things:

• The right location(s). In this case it's easy, because the American Photo staff has already found and scheduled those for you. Otherwise you'll want to do some research to know where you want to be at what times.
• Enthusiasm and flexibility. Not everything will go the way you'd like, so you have to be able to roll with the punches, and see opportunity in adversity (what if it rains?).
• A willingness to talk to the instructors. The instructors are there as a resource for you. Take advantage of the time to ask questions, or follow along with them as you look for photos together. I had some wonderful walks with different students as we took advantage of having more than one pair of eyes to look for photos.
• A goal for yourself. Look for opportunities to go beyond the type of photography you're used to doing. Perhaps you want to do more people photography, or close-up, or work more with strobes or filters. Photography has many different avenues you can travel, and you never know what may interest you until you try it.
• The right equipment. My list is below. Think about where you're going, what kind of photos you want to make, and what you'll need to do that. Are there any special tools you want to bring or try? In my case, I took some Cokin Graduated Neutral Density filters as I wanted to try them for sunset and/or sunrise.

Here's a list of the equipment I brought. I prefer to hand-carry my gear on the plane to make sure there aren't any problems with lost or damaged luggage. That means I can't bring everything I own, so I pick and choose to have the right gear for the photography I intend to do.

Nikon D70 and D100 digital SLRs
Nikon Coolpix 8400
Lexar cards (8) ranging from 512MB to 4GB
Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 lens
Nikkor 60mm macro lens
Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 VR lens
Nikkor 18-70mm 3.5-4.5 lens
Nikon SB-800DX strobe and SC-17 TTL cable
Gels for strobe (Fluorescent and Incandescent)
Gray card for custom white balance settings
Polarizing filter
Cokin Graduated ND filters and holders
Think Tank waistbelt system to carry gear comfortably
Gitzo Mountaineer carbon fiber tripod (this was in my luggage)
Apple G4 Powerbook
Apple iPod for backing up images to Lexar MMC card reader for transferring images

The weekend was a fun time with a great bunch of people. Now comes the hard part - picking my favorite pictures and printing them!

Reed Hoffmann Bio