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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

A Review of the Fujifilm X100V Mirrorless Camera

The Fujifilm X100 series has always been popular among photographers looking for a pure shooting experience, and the latest iteration is a powerful and nimble machine. This excellent video review takes a look at the X100V and how it performs in practice.

Street Photography Is a Different World at Extreme Focal Lengths

When you think of street photography, you probably think of fairly standard focal lengths — normally a 35mm or 50mm lens — or maybe a 24mm for a bit of a more unusual perspective. Of course, that does not mean you have to use those focal lengths. This neat video follows a photographer as he heads out to shoot with extremely long focal lengths and shows the unique perspectives they produce.

Shooting Natural Light Portraits With the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM Lens

Canon's RF 85mm f/1.2L USM is the company's premium portrait lens, practically begging to be shot wide open for natural light portraits, where its f/1.2 aperture can turn backgrounds into nothing but amorphous blurs of light and color. This awesome video shows the sort of shots you can get with it.

How to Grade Canon C-Log Video Footage

Log is the manner of capture of choice for lots of videographers, as it gives a lot more dynamic range and creative freedom, though it takes more work in post-processing. This excellent video will show you how to grade Canon Log footage (though the lessons can apply to any brand).

How to Create Lighting for Headshots and Portraits

Good communication with your subject, posing, and post-processing are all crucial skills as a headshot photographer, but you also need to have a strong grasp of lighting to make great images. This comprehensive video tutorial will show you how to create lighting setups for portraits and headshots.

Six Months With the Canon EOS R5

The Canon EOS R5 has been out for a little while now and has been in the hands of a lot of photographers for several months. This great video review takes a look at the EOS R5 and how it has held up after six months of usage.

A Review of the Powerful Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera

The Sony a1 is here, and it has caused a ton of waves thanks to its ridiculous specs. It has started to reach the hands of some users, and this fantastic video review takes a look at this powerhouse and the kind of photo and video performance you can expect from it in practice.

How Color Theory Can Help You Improve Your Photos

We spend a lot of time working on all sorts of techniques and ideas to improve our photos, including things like composition, editing techniques, settings, and a lot more. However, one thing that gets a bit overlooked is color theory, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how you can apply it to your own images to improve their quality.

This Lens Was Made for Bokeh

A lot of photographers sure do love their bokeh, and this vintage lens has a unique property that gives it some fantastic bokeh. This great video takes a look at the Tair 11A 135mm f/2.8 lens, its unique design, and the sort of images you can take with it.

The Exposure Triangle: Something Every Photographer Should Know

There are few things more fundamental and important to becoming a technically competent photographer than mastering the exposure triangle. If you are new to photography, this fantastic video tutorial will show you how the exposure triangle works and how to use it to take better control of your photos.

How Does Sony a1 Image Quality Compare to the Canon EOS R5?

The Sony a1 is all the talk of the photography world right now, with some of the most impressive specs we have ever seen in a camera. The Canon EOS R5 is its main competition at the moment, and this great video comparison takes a look at the image quality between the two and which one comes out on top.

A Review of the Sigma 24mm f/3.5 DG DN Contemporary Lens

A 24mm prime lens is a popular choice, as it offers a wide perspective without the more extreme distortion seen in ultra-wide focal lengths, making it a good choice for a lot of different uses. The Sigma 24mm f/3.5 DG DN Contemporary is a remarkably small lens, making it a great walkaround option, and this fantastic video review takes a look at how it performs in practice.

7 Tips for Better Landscape Photos in Bad Weather

When you think of great landscape photos, you likely think of scenes with beautiful sunsets and gracefully floating clouds, and while those can certainly be fantastic, you might be surprised by the wonderful images you can get when you embrace bad weather. This fantastic video tutorial will show you seven tips for taking better landscape photos in bad weather.

How to Improve Your Wide Angle Landscape Photos

Wide angles lenses are very common for landscape photography, but they can be tricky to use effectively. This excellent video tutorial discusses how to improve your wide angle landscape photos.

How to Create Perfect Vignettes in Photoshop

Vignettes are by far one of the most common and effective ways to draw your viewers' attention to the subject of your photo, but you can get far more control and creative freedom by customizing the process instead of using Photoshop's built-in tools, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to do so.

Do You Hate Your Own Photos?

No doubt, nearly all of us go through periods of hating our own work, even if we love the process of photography itself. What can you do during such times? This fantastic video essay discusses the topic of artistic anxiety and how to move past it and gain confidence in your work again.

A Review of the Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G Lens

For many genres, an ultra-wide angle zoom lens can be quite useful, and while an f/2.8 aperture can be quite helpful, the extra expense and bulk is not always necessary for people like landscape or architectural photographers. For Sony shooters, there is also the FE 12-24mm f/4 G lens, and this fantastic video review takes a look at the kind of performance you can expect from it in practice.

How to Shoot Flash Portraits at Night

Portraits that combine flash with natural light are a highly popular look and a technique that will do a lot to help you gain more confidence and versatility when working with artificial light. However, when you start shooting at night, the technique becomes a little trickier. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to shoot portraits at night when using a flash.

Why You Should Consider Embracing Prime Lenses

No doubt, zoom lenses are extremely convenient and useful for a wide variety of applications across a wide range of genres. Nonetheless, prime lenses can help you improve by forcing you into creative problem-solving, and this fantastic video essay discusses why you might want to try using them more often.