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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

A Review of the Affordable Yongnuo YN35mm f/2R DF DSM Lens

Yongnuo is well known for making highly affordable speedlights, but in the last few years, the company has branched out into manufacturing lenses that follow in that budget-friendly tradition. One such lens is the YN35mm f/2R DF DSM lens, and this excellent video review takes a look at how it performs in the real world.

Which Leica System Is Right for You?

When most people think of Leica cameras, they think of their iconic rangefinders and associated lenses, but the company actually maintains several different camera systems. If you are interested in the Leica aesthetic and experience but are not sure which one is right for you, this excellent video review goes over three distinct full frame options and their differences, pros, and cons.

The Reality of Being a Landscape Photographer

Hop on Instagram, and you will probably get the impression that landscape photography is the sort of thing where you travel from epic place to place, enjoying jaw-dropping views and beautiful weather. The reality is far from that, though, and you can get a greater appreciation for the process by seeing what really happens behind the social media posts, and this awesome video will show you just that.

The Importance of Preparation in Autumn Photography

The season of colorful leaves and pumpkin spice everything is upon us, and just like those orange coffee drinks, the vibrant foliage of fall is a fleeting presence. Are you and your camera ready for it? The time to prepare for autumn photography is now.

A Deep Look at the New Canon EOS R3

The Canon EOS R3 is finally here, and it offers some jaw-dropping specs that are sure to have a lot of photographers and filmmakers salivating. How does it hold up in real-world usage? This excellent video review takes a look at the new camera and discusses how it performs.

5 Helpful Tips for Photographing Landscapes With a Wide Angle Lens

When it comes to landscape photography, a wide angle lens is most often the tool chosen for a given scene, simply because most scenes have a lot to take in. However, wide angle lenses come with their own unique challenges and pitfalls. This great video tutorial will show you five helpful tips for improving your landscape images when working with a wide angle lens.

What Are These Strange Drone Accessories Used For?

Most drones are pretty simple when it comes down to it: a flying device with a camera attached. Accessories are not really that common in the drone world besides basic things like propeller guards. However, one DJI drone system comes with some bizarre accessories, and this neat video takes a look at them, what they are useful for, and how well they work.

Why Tethering Is So Useful

The majority of photographers simply take their pictures, pop out the memory card, and import their images into their computer. If you are working in a studio, however, tethering can be a real improvement to your workflow, and this great video tutorial will show you why and help you troubleshoot common tethering issues in Lightroom and Capture One.

An Astrophotography Review of the Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens

It takes more than a wide aperture and the right focal length to make a good astrophotography lens. Sigma's 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens offers a slightly longer but still reasonable focal length paired with that wide aperture, making it a potentially useful candidate for astro work. This great video review takes a look at the lens from an astrophotographer's perspective and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it.

An Advanced Five-Light Portrait Setup With Gels

It is important to work with one light at first so you can master all its fundamental properties and techniques, but once you feel comfortable with that, you can really expand your creativity by experimenting with more complex multi-light setups. This informative video tutorial will show you how a photographer created a challenging and eye-catching hair shot using five lights and gels.

5 Helpful Tips for Better Environmental Portraits

While portraits with a narrow depth of field that isolate the subject against a wall of blurry colors and ill-defined shapes are quite popular, they can sometimes be a bit one-dimensional. Environmental portraits are a chance to increase the nuance of your images and tell stories about your subjects. If you want to improve your own environmental portraits, this great video tutorial will give you five tips that will help you on your way.

A Review of the New Sigma 90mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary Lens

Premium portrait lenses usually offer apertures of around f/1.4 and sit at prices around $1,500 to $2,500. If you just want a portrait-length lens without ultra-narrow depth of field or the high price tag such lenses come with, one with an aperture like f/2 or f/2.8 could be a better choice. Sigma's new 90mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens seeks to fill that need at an affordable price, and this great video review takes a look at the image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

How to Change the Color of Clothing in Photoshop

One of Photoshop's most useful and classic techniques is the ability to change the color of any object convincingly. This can come in handy in a wide variety of situations, such as adjusting the color of your subject's clothing, and this great video tutorial will show you how it is done.

This Rarely Used Technique Can Give You Cleaner Photos

Back before we had spectacularly capable modern sensors and advanced post-processing programs, photographers had to turn toward more involved techniques for reducing noise, and those methods are still useful today. This particular technique can both reduce noise in your images and help you create long exposures in post, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how it is done.

There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather in Landscape Photography

Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. Something like a tornado would probably qualify as bad weather. However, if the weather is not threatening your very safety, I would go so far as to say it is good weather for landscape photography, rain, shine, or anywhere in between, and this great video demonstrates why.

A Review of the New Sigma 24mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary Lens

One of Sigma's newest lenses is the 24mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary, and it brings with the promise of good image quality and performance in a small package, making it suitable for a wide range of applications. How does it hold up in practice? This great video review takes a look at what you can expect.

How Good Is DJI's New OM 5 Smartphone Gimbal?

Smartphones have reached a point where they are legitimate creative tools, and as such, one of the most useful accessories creatives can purchase is a smartphone gimbal. DJI is one of the leaders in this space, and their new OM 5 gimbal brings their latest features and tech to the table. How does it perform? This great video review takes a look.

Helpful Advice for Fall Photography

Fall is also upon us, and with it will come numerous opportunities for photos of vibrant leaves and landscapes. The time of best color often passes unexpectedly quickly, though, so it is important to be ready and have a plan in place if you want to get the best possible photos. If you are preparing for autumn photography, check out this great video tutorial that offers some helpful tips and advice.

Why You Should Embrace Local Photography

No doubt, we would all love to travel to the world's most epic and popular photography destinations, but there are thousands (if not millions) of nearly identical shots from each spot, and it can cost a lot of time and money to plan such a trip. However, there are treasures to photograph all around us, and this great video essay discusses why we should consider taking more pictures of our home areas.

A Beginner's Three-Step Guide to Creating a Landscape Photo

Starting in any new genre of photography can be daunting. Each comes with its own challenges, and landscape photography is no different. If you are a beginner landscape photographer and looking to get started with it, check out this helpful video tutorial that will give you a basic three-step process for creating images.