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Articles written by Alex Cooke

A Look at the Clever Automation of Film Cameras
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We take a lot for granted in the digital era, particularly the automation of a lot of functions. In the early days of film, everything was fully manual, and even one parameter set incorrectly could ruin an entire roll. Later in the 20th century, a standard called DX (Digital indeX) was introduced, and it automated a lot of settings, reducing errors and making photography more accessible to amateurs and casual users. How did it work? This neat video takes you behind the scenes of the surprisingly sophisticated system.

How to Quickly Remove Flyaway Hairs on a Subject's Face in Photoshop
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One of the most common and annoying issues portrait photographers will have to deal with is flyaway hairs, which can be particularly distracting when they run across your subject's face. Nonetheless, you can get rid of them quickly and convincingly using Photoshop, and this great video tutorial will show you how to do just that.

A Helpful Approach for Better Landscape Photos
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One of the beautiful things about landscape photography is that there are so many ways to approach how you create images. If you are working on your own approach, check out this great video tutorial that features an experienced landscape photographer discussing an effective approach for the genre.

A Review of the Venus Optics Argus 18mm f/0.95 MFT APO Lens
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Venus Optics has established themselves as a maker of unique lenses that often push the boundaries of design, and the new Argus 18mm f/0.95 MFT APO continues that trends by offering Micro Four Thirds photographers a versatile focal length paired with an extremely wide maximum aperture. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

How to Use Photoshop's Powerful New Masking Features
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Lightroom and Photoshop have made some major steps forward in masking capabilities, and complicated masks that used to take a lot of intricate and time-intensive work can now be made in mere seconds with just a click. This great video tutorial will show you where to find Photoshop's new AI masking features and how to use them for quick and precise edits.

How to Edit Portraits Using Lightroom's Powerful New Masking Features
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It used to be that if you wanted to edit portraits, you would head to Photoshop. However, in recent years, Lightroom has gained more advanced capabilities, and now, with its powerful new masking features, it stands as a viable alternative for at least basic to moderate portrait edits. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to take advantage of those new features to edit your portrait shots in Lightroom.

5 Things That Derail Landscape Photography
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Landscape photography is a challenging genre that takes a variety of different aptitudes coming together simultaneously to create successful images. As such, there are a lot of things that can inadvertently derail your process. This great video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer discussing five such things and how to fix or avoid them in the first place.

Can a $69 Lens Produce Professional Photos?
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50mm lenses can cost anywhere from under $100 to well over $2,000, with options at just about every level in between. At the very lowest end of the spectrum sits the TTArtisan 50mm f/2, which retails for just $69. Can it produce worthwhile images at such a low price? This great video review takes a look to answer that question.

Just How Good Is the Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera?
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Canon's 7D line of APS-C DSLRs were very popular during their time, offering many features and capabilities from high-level professional cameras in much more affordable bodies. The EOS R7 has continued that in the mirrorless age, and in the meantime, it has also brought with it a wide range of new features and upgrades that make it appealing for a lot of creatives. This great video review takes a look at the EOS R7 in a challenging scenario and just how far you can push those capabilities.

Comparing the Sony a7 IV, Canon EOS R6, and Fujifilm X-H2
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There is certainly no shortage of powerful and capable mirrorless cameras available today, and as such, it can be a little difficult to know which one is right for you. Three of the most well-balanced and reasonably priced options are the Sony a7 IV, Canon EOS R6, and Fujifilm X-H2, and this excellent video review compares the three to help you pick the best one.

How to Pick the Right Fill Light for Portrait Photography
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While we spend a lot of time talking about the choice of key light and how it is used in a portrait, it is often not the only light source present in a shot. The fill light makes a large difference in the final look of your image and deserves just as much attention as the key. This great video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of different fill lights and how they affect the final look of your portrait photos.

A Complete Guide to Diegetic and Non-diegetic Sound
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If you want to get into filmmaking, one of the most fundamental and powerful tools you will need to get a grasp of is the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. If you are unfamiliar with the concept and how you can manipulate it to your advantage for more powerful storytelling, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.

How to Edit an Architecture Photo Into a Dramatic Fine Art Image
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You have probably seen black and white architectural images of single buildings edited to have dramatic, contrasty lighting against an inky black background. Of course, this is not how it looks in real life and takes some Photoshop savvy to achieve. This great video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to achieve that look.

A Review of the New Fujifilm X-T5 Mirrorless Camera
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Fujifilm's new X-T5 mirrorless camera is an exciting step forward for the ever-popular X-T series, bringing with it a wide range of upgrades and innovative features. How does it stand up in practice? This excellent video review takes a look at the camera specifically for photography work and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in those scenarios.

4 Things Every Budding Professional Photographer Needs to Learn
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The road to becoming a successful professional photographer has many aspects to it, ranging from the photo work itself through business practice and more. If you would like to one day make money from your images, check out this helpful video tutorial that features an experienced pro discussing four things you need to learn on the photography side of things.

12 Composition Tips for Winter Landscape Photography
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Winter will be upon us soon, and seemingly familiar landscapes will be totally transformed into entirely different worlds. As such, it takes a different approach to create compelling landscape images. If that is something you struggle with during the colder months, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you 12 tips for better winter landscape photo compositions.

Your Guide to the Latest Features in Capture One 23
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Capture One 23 is here, and fans of the program will be pleased to see that it brings with it a variety of new features and upgrades that make editing easier, more powerful, and more efficient. This helpful video tutorial will show you the new features and how to employ them in your own workflow for better edits.

9 Useful Drone Features You Might Have Overlooked
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Drones have quickly evolved into powerful and sophisticated tools for aerial photography and filmmaking, making them desirable tools for a wide range of creatives and applications. In all that sophistication are a lot of nifty and useful features that are easy to overlook. This great video tutorial will show you nine great features you should check out on your drone.

How to Create Eye-catching Portraits Using Fallen Leaves
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Autumn is just about over, and though the leaves are no longer on the trees, that does not mean we do not have any use for them anymore. If you gather a pile of leaves and bring them into your studio, you have a wonderful prop for a wide variety of portrait looks with all the control of studio lighting. This great video tutorial will show you how to take fallen leaves and turn them into an eye-catching and versatile props for studio portraits.

How This Jaw-Dropping Image Was Created
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Earlier this year, the scientific community was abuzz when an image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the galactic center of the Milky Way, was released. How did scientists actually create the image, though? It took petabytes of data from a virtual telescope that size of the entire planet. This interesting video will take you behind the scenes to see how it all came together.