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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

How to Get Started in the Business of Photography

Starting a photography business is about a lot more than simply being good with a camera and finding people to pay you for your skills. If it is something you are interested in but you have no idea how to get started, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced professional photographer discussing some advice he would give up-and-coming pros.

The Beauty of Landscape Photography in Bad Weather

Almost no one enjoys standing in the wind and rain, and I certainly would not blame you if you saw the clouds rolling in and wanted to pack up your equipment and head home. Nonetheless, you might be missing out on fantastic images if you do not stick around for the storm, and this fantastic video will show you just what you might be able to accomplish in those situations.

Save a Landscape Photograph With a Black and White Edit

For the most part, a landscape photo is not finished once you press the shutter, as half of the image-making process is in the direction you decide to take the edit. Sometimes, if you are looking at an image you know has potential but you can't figure out to do with it, you should consider turning it into a black and white photo. This great video tutorial makes a case for why and shows you some techniques to do so.

Finding Purpose in Photography

All of us first picked up a camera and started taking photos simply because we enjoyed the magic of the creative process. But after years working in photography, whether professionally or simply as hobbyists sharing our work with the world, that reason we do that can become obfuscated or forgotten entirely. Do you know your purpose in photography? This important video essay discusses the topic.

How to Edit Wedding Portraits in Lightroom

Lightroom is more powerful than ever, and you can complete quite a few edits in the application without needing to switch to Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit wedding portraits using a wide variety of techniques, all in Lightroom.

How to Become a Successful Bird Photographer

Bird photography is not an easy genre in which to find success; it takes a fair amount of both specialized equipment and knowledge (a lot of which is outside photography) along with a lot of time, patience, and effort to find success. This great video features a few seasoned bird photographers discussing how to navigate the road to success in bird photography and some of the important lessons they learned along the way.

10 of the Weirdest Digital Cameras Ever Made

The form of the digital cameras has become relatively standardized. There are certainly variations from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the basic design is generally stable across companies. That was not always the case, however, particularly in the early days of digital. This neat video takes a look at 10 of the weirdest digital cameras ever made and just what made them so unique.

What Lightroom Sky Adjustment Tool Should You Use?

Landscape photography often takes at least a bit of editing to produce a completed image, and as such, you will usually be doing some kind of editing work on the sky. Lightroom's newest version has a wide range of useful tools for doing this, and this excellent video tutorial will show you some of the options for selecting and adjusting a sky and the pros and cons of each.

5 Useful Hidden Lightroom Features

Lightroom is a more powerful and nuanced application than we sometimes give it credit for, and there are some useful features that are easy to overlook. This awesome video tutorial will show you five hidden features in Lightroom that can make your work life a lot easier and more efficient and even improve the quality of your images.

A Look at an Interesting and Unique Lens From Sony

Once you get wider than 20mm, you generally do not encounter apertures wider than f/2.0, save for a few rare circumstances. One such option is the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM, which positions itself as a fantastic creative tool for a wide variety of uses, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

5 Things Camera Companies Won't Tell You

The camera industry is quite the well-oiled PR machine, with short update cycles that get photographers drooling over new gear every few months and a lot of hype drummed up over the latest and greatest camera or lens — some deserved and some not so much. This great video essay discusses five things camera companies will not tell you, and it is well worth giving it a listen.

Helpful Tips for Dealing With Light Pollution in Night Photography

Shooting the night sky, whether by itself or as part of a landscape, can be a magical thing. The problem is that with such low levels of ambient light, any manmade sources can quickly overwhelm the stars and ruin the frame. So, how do you deal with light pollution? This helpful video tutorial will give you some useful tips on how to avoid or mitigate it and come away with more desirable images.

Three Ways to Use a Second Light for Portraits

Every photographer starting out with artificial light should work exclusively with a single strobe until they are comfortable with the basics of lighting, but once you feel like you are ready to move on to more advanced setups, the first step, of course, is to add a second light, which opens up a wide range of creative possibilities. This fantastic video tutorial will show you three different ways to use that second light for portrait work to expand your creative palette.

Learn How These Fantastic Portraits Were Lit and Shot

Portrait lighting is about a lot more than simply creating a technically balanced image of your subject; it is your chance to exercise your creativity and show off your subject in a compelling and interesting fashion. If you would like to improve your own portrait photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you how one photographer lit and shot a set of portraits using several lights and modifiers.

A Look at the New Nikon NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S Lens

Nikon has really started to step it up in the professional mirrorless realm lately, and the new NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens is particularly emblematic of that, offering professional-level performance and image quality in an extremely portable design, all at a frankly insanely low price. This great video takes a first look at the new lens and what you can expect from it in real-world usage.

5 Great Tips to Help You Take Better Pet Portraits

Whether you want to do it professionally, donate your talents to a shelter, or just want to create some nice memories of your favorite pup or kitty, pet photography can be a tremendously fun and rewarding thing to do. No matter why you are doing it, this excellent video tutorial featuring an experienced pet photographer will give you five great tips that are sure to help you get better results.

A Full Tutorial on Retouching a Portrait Using Photoshop

Knowing how to light, pose, and shoot a good portrait is only half of what it takes to produce a compelling final image; you also need to know how to retouch in a tasteful and balanced yet creative manner. If you want to improve your portrait retouching, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will walk you through an entire edit using a variety of advanced techniques and features all in Photoshop.

Everything a Beginner Photographer Needs to Know About Lenses

The lens is probably the most important piece of gear any photographer will carry, having a tremendous impact on the technical and creative qualities of your images. If you are new to photography and wondering what you need to know about lenses, check out this fantastic video tutorial by an Australian Geographic photographer that will teach both their standard properties and the fundamentals of their usage.

What's the Best Computer for Your Work, the Mac Studio M1 Ultra or MacBook Pro M1 Max?

Apple's M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips have blown the doors off the industry by providing highly powerful performance with equally impressive efficiency to match. The Max and Ultra chips sit at the top of the line, but the Ultra chip is only available in the desktop Mac Studio. So, should you opt for the Studio and its top-level power or the versatility of a MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip? This excellent video comparison will help you decide.

You'll Be Amazed What You Can Accomplish With a $25 Camera

Modern cameras are highly impressive, able to tackle just about any challenging situation you can throw at them, even those that just a few years ago would have thrown the best options off their game. As such, it can be easy to rely on that technology a little too much and to forget just how far you can get with good technique and a solid creative foundation. This neat video reminds you of that by showing what you can do with a $25 camera that is almost two decades old.