Articles written by Alex Cooke

Panasonic has been quietly releasing some mightily powerful cameras in the last few years, and their latest, the Lumix S5 IIX, shows they have little intention of slowing down anytime soon. This great video review takes a look at the impressively well-balanced camera and the sort of performance and quality you can expect from it in practice.

There are few skills more fundamental to Photoshop than knowing how to make a proper selection. Done right, it allows you to take greater control of your edits and dial in precise adjustments. And in recent years, Adobe has greatly expanded the application's selection tools. If you are new to the program, check out this excellent video tutorial that will get you up and running with Photoshop's many selection capabilities in no time.

Samyang has long been known for manufacturing impressively sharp and low-cost manual focus lenses, but in recent years, the company has started adding autofocus options to their lineup as well. And even though those options now bring autofocus, they have remained competitively priced. One of the most impressive recent options is the AF 75mm f/1.8 for Fujifilm X Series mirrorless cameras. This excellent video review takes a look at the sort of the performance and image quality you can expect from the lens in practice.

Photo presets often have a bad reputation, but used in the proper manner, they can be useful tools that can save you time and make your life easier. If you are new to photography and feeling tempted by presets, check out this quick and helpful video tutorial that will show you the proper way to make use of them.

Landscape photography is both a wonderful experience and challenging genre, and it helps to always absorb new perspectives, advice, and philosophies to continue to grow and improve. If you would like to make your work better, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced landscape photographer sharing a wide range of advice and perspective sure to put you on the right track.

Blending modes are some of the most useful functions in Photoshop, and yet, they are often overlooked, which is a shame, because they offer a ton of power and versatility for dialing in the exact edits you want, whether subtle and understated or an entire overhaul of an image. One of the most useful blending modes is the darken mode, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use it to add a bit of mood to an image.

There are many different ways to grow as a photographer, but one of the most effective ways is to work the same scene or subject multiple times, evaluate what went well and what did not, and try again. This excellent video follows an experienced photographer as he does that and shows how he aims for the best shot at the end of the day.

Photoshop is a tremendously powerful and intricate program, and as such, it can be tricky to master (or even be aware of) every single feature it contains. If you would like to expand your Photoshop capabilities, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features some of the best Photoshop experts in the world sharing their best tips for using the program.

You might think that creating enveloping wraparound light requires multiple sources, but it can actually be done with just a single source. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to create such a portrait using only a single light and a small home studio.