Articles written by Alex Cooke

When it comes to zoom lenses, the professional standard is f/2.8, which offers a suitably wide aperture for isolating subjects and working in low-light situations. However, many f/2.8 zooms also have f/4 variants, which are both far cheaper and much more portable. This great video essay discusses why you might want to consider f/4 options for your camera bag.

A photographer who spent $3,000 on a Sony camera was shocked to discover nothing but an empty box and bags of mysterious white powder when it was delivered.

When it comes to creating compelling, professional-level portraits, it can be easy to think that you need a complex, multi-light setup in order to get worthwhile results. And while two or three lights can certainly give you more versatility, you can absolutely create compelling results with just one light. This excellent video tutorial will show you two effective and straightforward one-light setups for portraits.

The 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is the workhorse of choice for many creatives, offering a useful range of focal lengths and a decently wide aperture. However, for those who do not need that fast aperture, an f/4 option is both far cheaper and more portable, making it a nice alternative. Sony's FE 20-70mm f/4 G is one such option, and it offers extra reach at the wide end, making it more versatile. This excellent video review takes a look at the new lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in usage.

While the Canon EOS R5 got a lot of the accolades upon its release, the EOS R6 is arguably the most practical workhorse in Canon's lineup, with a balanced feature set that borrows a lot of the advanced capabilities from its bigger sibling without the added luxuries that would drive its price up. The EOS R6 Mark II takes that foundation and includes a range of improvements and new features that add up to a refined and well-rounded professional instrument. This great video review takes a look at the camera for stills work and how it compares with the latest options from Sony and Panasonic.

Lightroom has evolved into a tremendously versatile and powerful program, capable of tackling many things that one used to have to switch to Photoshop for. Nonetheless, there is always room to grow. This great video essay features a seasoned Lightroom educator discussing five things he would still like to see Adobe add to the program.

Aperture is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools you have at your disposal for controlling the look of your images. As such, understanding and mastering every property of it and consequence it has on your photos is crucial. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer giving a nuanced approach for choosing the right aperture for your images.

Canon has developed a new sensor that employs a clever trick for increasing dynamic range.

The Sony a7R series of mirrorless cameras has long been popular for offering some of the highest levels of resolution and image quality available in a full frame camera, but now in the fifth iteration, the a7R V is far from a one trick pony. A range of new and improved capabilities make it a powerhouse camera capable of tackling a variety of scenarios and needs. This great video review takes a look at the camera and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.