Articles written by Alex Cooke

Macro lenses with short telephoto focal lengths are fantastically useful, capable of offering a glimpse into an amazing world all around us and pulling double duty as razor-sharp portrait options. The Venus Optics Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO offers a particularly high magnification ratio even by macro standards, and this awesome video takes a look at what you can create with it in the field.

With its innovative APS-C and medium format cameras, many have long wondered why Fujifilm has steadfastly refused to enter the full frame market. It turns out they have had their eyes on the full frame market the whole time.

Lenses with wide maximum apertures are extremely popular both for working in conditions with low light and for creating images with very narrow depth of field. In recent years, we have seen an explosion of lenses that push well past traditional thresholds like f/1.4 and into extreme apertures like f/1.0 or even f/0.95 and f/0.85. Are these insanely wide lenses worth it? This insightful video discusses the issue.

The GFX100 II, the followup to the highly popular Fujifilm GFX 100S medium format mirrorless camera is here, and it looks like an incredible camera.

As if a new medium format camera and three new lenses weren't enough, Fujifilm has also announced plans for two rather innovative medium format lenses.

The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD is easily one of the most intriguing lenses to hit the market in some time, offering an extremely useful focal range in combination with especially wide maximum apertures, making it a dream lens for people like events photographers, at least on paper. How does it hold up in the real world? This great video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from the Nikon Z mount version.

One of the greatest aspects of mirrorless cameras is that you can adapt just about any SLR lens to them, making it easy to take full advantage of decades worth of lenses to explore your creativity or find an often much more affordable alternative to modern lenses. Are they worth the cost and effort, though? This great video discusses the issue.

Wedding photography is a challenging genre that requires rock-solid technique, the ability to think on your feet, and a ton of people skills. One of the most difficult aspects of the day is large group portraits. If you are a budding wedding photographer and want to learn how to take those big portraits, check out this awesome video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.

Generally, you can expect relative stability in the amount of couples needing wedding photography services, at least across short to medium periods of time. However, the COVID pandemic was an unprecedented hit to the industry that resulted in less couples getting engaged in subsequent years, meaning that a few years later, we are seeing a drop in those couples getting married, placing strain on wedding photographers. What can wedding shooters do to weather the lull? This helpful video tutorial offers a range of great ideas and advice.