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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Which Mac Studio Is Right for You?

Apple's Mac Studio is ludicrously powerful. It comes in two basic configurations, the M1 Max and M1 Ultra, which might leave you wondering which you should pick for your work. If you are asking yourself that question, check out this excellent video that discusses three options for video editing to help you choose.

5 Portrait Lighting Setups Using Just One Umbrella

When you are newer to working with artificial lighting, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to pick the right modifier for a given shoot. Umbrellas are easily the cheapest modifiers you can get, making them a great tool for learning how to work with artificial light, and they are more versatile than you might think. This great video tutorial will show you five different single umbrella setups for shooting portraits.

A Review of the Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 AF Lens

35mm lenses are popular for good reason, as they offer a versatile focal length that is neutral enough for a variety of applications, including portraits, street photography, events, astrophotography, and more. The Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 AF is one of the more affordable options out there, but it still offers a range of great features. This excellent 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 Edit High-ISO Photos in Lightroom

Modern cameras can handle low light quite impressively, but high ISOs will still introduce some noise into your images. So, what can you do when that happens? This excellent video tutorial will show you how to process high-ISO images in Lightroom to reduce the appearance of noise while still maintaining sharp results with plenty of detail.

Video Shows Camera Operator Hit in Head by Home Run

During the May 16 Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game, Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta turned on a Craig Kimbrel fastball, lifting it for a home run over the right field fence. Unfortunately, the ball came down on the head of a camera operator standing on top of the outfield wall.

How Are Fill Lights Used for Portrait Photography?

You can absolutely create professional-level portraits using nothing but a single key light, but once you move into multi-light setups, you get a bit more creative and technical control over the final image. One of the first ways to do this is by adding a fill light, and this excellent video tutorial will show you what it is and how it can be used to create better portraits.

A Review of the Affordable and Versatile Samyang AF 45mm f/1.8 FE Lens

Samyang has long been known for producing sharp and highly affordable manual focus lenses, but in recent years, they have moved into producing autofocus lenses as well, while still keeping those budget prices that have endeared them to many photographers. At $299, the AF 45mm f/1.8 FE offers a lot of lens for not a lot of money, and this excellent video review takes a long-term look at the performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

A Review of the Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Lens

Zeiss lenses are known for providing sharp and contrasty images with silky-smooth bokeh, making them favorites of a lot of photographers. For photographers looking for a 35mm lens, one option is the Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2, and 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.

A Comprehensive Guide To Street Photography

Street photography is not the easiest genre to get into, especially if you tend to have a more timid personality or enjoy working alone. However, it can be a tremendously interesting one, and even if it is not your primary pursuit, it can do a lot of good to sharpen your skills in many other genres. If you are interesting in street photography and wondering how to get started, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything from composition and lighting to gear choices and editing.

How to Fix a Clipped Bird Wing in Photoshop

There are few things more frustrating than getting the perfect shot with a beautiful pose, lovely background, and perfect lighting, only to discover you accidentally cropped out part of the bird's wing. When that happens, Photoshop can come to the rescue. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to fix a photo with a clipped bird wing using Photoshop.

A Reminder of the Joy of Photography

No doubt, the last few years have been stressful for many of us, and it can be difficult to remember how to destress and find peace and contentment again. Photography should be an escape, however, and this great video reminds us of that.

A Review of the New Panasonic GH6 Mirrorless Camera

The Panasonic GH6 mirrorless camera is here, and it came with a variety of new features and improvements over the popular GH5. This great video review takes a look at the camera and the sort of performance you can expect from it in practice.

3 Great Budget Canon Lenses

Canon's RF lenses have been highly impressive, offering fantastic performance and image quality while pushing the envelope of lens design, but on the other hand, many of them are quite expensive. There are some budget gems available, however, and this fantastic video will show you three great options that get you a lot of performance and image quality for not a lot of money.

A Comprehensive Guide to Canon EF-M Lenses

At the moment, all of the focus on Canon cameras and lenses is on the RF line, but before that series existed, there was the EF-M line, which is still hanging around and offers small and impressively affordable bodies and lenses. If you are looking for such a setup, check out this fantastic video tutorial that offers a comprehensive guide to all the lenses in the EF-M system.

How To Remove Marks on Skin Using Photoshop

One of the most common things you will have to do when retouching is removing various marks and blemishes on skin. Sometimes, this is as straightforward as running an automatic tool over a small area, but for larger, less uniform blemishes, you need some more advanced techniques. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to remove a variety of marks in Photoshop while still retaining skin texture.

The Advice You Don't Want To Hear That Will Make You a Better Photographer

There are a lot of products out there that promise to make you a better photographer quickly, whether by teaching you some well-kept secret or by offering a magic shortcut known only to seasoned pros. While those can all be quite enticing, the real secret to becoming a better photographer is something we do not always want to hear.

A Review of the Affordable and Versatile Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Lens

Fujifilm's XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens offers X series photographers a ton of reach at a relatively affordable price, making it suitable for anything from sports to bird photography and more. This excellent 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 Automatically Replace Skies in Photoshop

Sky replacement used to be something that was quite tedious and took a fair amount of effort and technique to accomplish convincingly, but in the last few years, we have seen a lot of advancement in automated sky replacement features in various applications. If you are new to using them, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the ins and outs of using Photoshop's sky replacement features and how to use your own skies for the task.

The First Tools New Photographers Should Learn in Photoshop

Photoshop is quite the behemoth application, and if you are new to working with it, it can be a bit overwhelming knowing where to start. If you are new to working with Photoshop and wondering how to get started, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the first tools you should learn and how to use them to work on your photos.

How To Handle High-ISO Noise in Post-Processing

In almost every genre, you will encounter situations in which you are using your lens' widest aperture and you can't make your shutter speed any slower, meaning all you can do is raise your ISO. That will introduce noise into your images, but thankfully, modern post-processing software can do quite a lot to correct that, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to leverage it to do just that.