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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

A Review of One of the Craziest Lenses Ever Made

Generally, the longest focal length lenses available are 800mm f/5.6 options, aside from rare or discontinued examples. And even as a prime, such a lens is massive. So, you can imagine just how big things get if you want to make a zoom that can reach 800mm with an f/5.6 aperture, but that is just what this lens known as the "Sigmonster" can do.

5 Mistakes Landscape Photographers Make With Wide Angle Lenses

Wide angle lenses are often the option of choice in landscape photography, but they can present some unique challenges that make them difficult to produce strong photos with. If you are newer to landscape photography, this helpful video tutorial will show you five common mistakes landscape photographers make with wide angle lenses and how to fix them or avoid them entirely.

A Review of the Sony a7 IV Mirrorless Camera

Perhaps no camera has been more highly anticipated in the last few years than the Sony a7 IV, and now that it has been available for a few months, photographers and filmmakers have had a chance to evaluate the latest entry in the company's highly respected line of hybrid mirrorless cameras. This excellent video review takes a look a look at the new camera and the sort of performance and quality you can expect from it in practice.

What Does This Strange Lightroom Function Do?

If you have not taken a deep dive into Lightroom's new masking features yet, you are definitely missing out on some impressively capable and easy-to-use tools. One function inside the new system is a bit strange, however, and it is not immediately obvious what it is and how to effectively use it. This helpful video tutorial will show you the Intersect function, the logic behind it, and how to use it to create better, more efficient, and more precise edits of your images.

Can This Samyang 50mm Keep Pace With a Premium Sony 50mm Lens?

A high-quality 50mm lens with a wide aperture is one of the most versatile options a photographer can own, suitable for anything from portraits to events and more. Sony shooters have an overabundance of 50mm lenses to choose from, and this excellent video review compares two of them, the premium Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA and the more affordable but still impressive Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 EF II.

Is This Affordable Lens All Nikon Shooters Need?

Nikon's Z 50 mirrorless camera has gained a fair bit of popularity by offering an affordable APS-C entry into the world of mirrorless cameras in a compact but capable body. The NIKKOR Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens offers a huge range of focal lengths in a small body, making it a natural companion to the Z 50 for a wide gamut of uses. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

How to Deal With Boring Skies in Landscape Photography

We often preach the importance of planning ahead in landscape photography, but the truth remains that nature does not always cooperate, and even if you expected dramatic, interesting skies, even a slight deviation from the weather forecast can leave you with dull monotony overhead. So, what can you do to avoid going home empty-handed? This helpful video tutorial will show you.

Photographer Hit by Errant Golf Tee Shot

On February 9, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open Pro-Am Tournament, a photographer was hit by an errant tee shot, with the event captured on video.

Canon Patents Yet Another Set of Crazy Lenses

It has only been a week since news of exciting Canon lens patents came out, and here we are again with another set of ridiculous lenses emerging from the company. This time, it is for a set of superzooms that stretch beyond the limits of most such lenses we have seen in the past.

Storage Is About to Get More Expensive

Supply shortages have hit many industries quite hard in the last few years, and the camera and computer industries have not been immune. A recent discovery of contaminated materials at two major manufacturing plants has led to significant impacts on the flash memory market, which analysts predict will likely lead to increased prices.

5 Helpful Portrait Photography Tips That Will Improve Your Images

The challenge of portrait photography is that beyond needing to master an array of technical things like lighting setups and often fairly intricate editing techniques, you also need to be able to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera, all while managing the photography side of things. If you are wondering how you can improve your own portraiture, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you five tips to help you take better images.

A Review of the New Sigma 20mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary Lens

Years ago, Sigma reinvented themselves with the Art series, which quickly grew into a full line of highly respected lenses, known in particular for their image quality and affordable prices. The company has continued to expand its offerings, which now include the Contemporary line, meant to "achieve a balance between convenience and performance." The 20mm f/2 DG DN is the latest entry in that line, and this excellent video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect from it.

You Can Always Take a Good Landscape Photo, No Matter What the Conditions Are

If you look at the sort of landscape photos that tend to dominate the popular pages of Instagram and the like, they are often lit with warm, golden rays, augmented by dramatic skies, rich colors, and dramatic contrasts. And of course, those can be incredible images, but the conditions required to create them are often not present, and they are not the only compelling type of landscape photo. This excellent video shows you that you can create good landscape images no matter what the conditions you encounter.

How to Quickly and Easily Remove People From a Crowded Photo Automatically Using Photoshop

There are a ton of beautiful tourist spots out there begging to be photographed, but the problem is that unless you are extremely lucky, you will likely have to deal with people in the shot. You could take a bunch of photographs as people move around and then painstakingly mask in different parts of the image, or you could try this neat method that lets Photoshop take care of it automatically in just a few seconds, as this helpful video tutorial shows.

A Review of the Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm f/2 Aspherical Lens

Voigtlander is known for making lenses with rugged build quality and great image quality, and the MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm f/2 Aspherical lens is no different. This fantastic image review takes a look at this interesting lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

Why You Should 'Steal' From Other Photographers

Of course, you should never outright copy or steal the work of other photographers; that is never in question. However, there is something to be said for turning work you know and love into something of your own, and this great video tutorial discusses the merits of doing so.

How to Create Compelling Square Images

In the days of film, the square format used to be more popular, particularly since 6x6 medium format cameras were around. Nowadays, no digital camera has a native 1:1 aspect ratio, and as such, the square format has fallen out of popularity quite a bit. That being said, it is a tremendously interesting and different way to compose and digest images, and this helpful video tutorial will give you some useful advice on creating interesting photos using it.

How to Pitch to Brands and Land Photography Clients

If you want to shoot for brands and land large commercial projects, you have to know how to pitch to brands in a way that matches their expectations while still helping your own work stand apart from the other portfolios they have seen. If that is something you are new to or if you want to improve your chances, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will walk you through the entire process step by step to get you up and running in no time.