Articles written by Alex Cooke

Natural light portraiture is a great way to stay versatile and able to move through a variety of locations and poses quickly without having to deal with the logistics and interruption to your creative workflow presented by lugging around a bunch of lights and modifiers. However, because you can’t control the light, you need to consider your compositions a bit differently. This excellent video tutorial will show you a four-step process for creating better natural light portrait compositions.

One of the greatest innovations by modern camera and lens manufacturers is image stabilization, which helps to compensate for our natural tendency to slightly shake when holding an object. Like any such feature, though, it is not free, and lenses and cameras with stabilization tend to cost more. So, do you actually need it? If you are new to photography and wondering, check out this great video that will teach you what you need to know.

85mm lenses are the traditional focal length of choice for portraiture, but on the other hand, they are certainly not the only option. 135mm lenses have long been a popular alternative, and there are some high-quality choices out there, such as the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens, its performance and image quality, and what makes it unique among other high-end portraiture options.

Viltrox has developed a reputation for creating very affordable lenses that still offer very good performance and image quality. One of their newest options is the Viltrox AF 13mm f/1.4, which offers Sony, Fujifilm, and Nikon mirrorless APS-C shooters a nice combination of an ultra-wide focal length and a very 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.

If you are new to the world of artificial lighting, it can sometimes feel like trying to learn a foreign language. It is really worth taking the time to learn it, though, as it will open up creative opportunities that simply are not possible otherwise and make you a far more versatile photographer. This excellent video tutorial will show you essential off-camera flash gear and some helpful basic tips to get you off and running.

An 85mm lens with a wide maximum aperture is one of the most popular options on the market, particularly useful for portrait and wedding photographers who want a flattering focal length and narrow depth of field. That being said, such lenses can cost well north of $2,000. This is what makes the Meike 85mm f/1.8 so compelling, with a sub-$200 price tag that still includes autofocus. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

Dancers are incredibly athletic artists, and as such, they can make for wonderful portrait subjects. There are some specific techniques and considerations you should be aware of if you want to get the best possible photos, however. This excellent video tutorial will show you a range of helpful tips for working with dancers to get the most creative and compelling results possible.

Elias Weiss Friedman, better known as The Dogist, has photographed over 50,000 dogs in his career, and as such, he has learned a thing or two along the way. If you are a lover of dogs and photography, check out this fantastic video interview with The Dogist, in which he reveals why he prefers photographing dogs over people and offers a lot of fun insight into his work.

Most of the time, a worthwhile lens is going to cost you at least several hundred dollars, if not somewhere in the thousands. So, the prospect of a $69 lens is certainly intriguing. Can it produce worthwhile images, though? This excellent video review takes a look at the TTArtisan 50mm f/2 and the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it in real-world usage.