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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Sony, Sigma, and Tamron: Who Makes the Best Supertelephoto Zoom Lens?
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Supertelephoto zoom lenses are useful for a wide range of genres, including everything from sports and wildlife to landscapes. There are a lot of options out there, and this excellent video review takes a look at four of them, the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport, Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS, Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS, and Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD.

A First Look at the New Affordable and Portable DJI Mini SE Drone
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DJI's latest drone, the Mini SE, is a bit strange, essentially taking some of the tech from the original Mavic Mini and putting it into the body of the Mini 2. Nonetheless, at $299, the Mini SE is highly affordable and remarkably portable, making it a potentially great option for a casual user or anyone who wants a drone they can drop in their bag for occasional photos and video without adding a ton of heft. This great first look video takes a look at the Mini SE and the kind of performance you can expect from it.

5 Investments New Wedding Photographers Should Make
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Wedding photography is a highly competitive genre that requires a lot of anyone looking to make a career of it. And so, when you are first starting, it is important to do everything you can to give yourself the best chances for success. This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned wedding pro discussing five things you should invest in when starting a wedding photography business.

Why One Person Left an Engineering Job to Become a Photographer
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Few things are certain in the career of a photographer, and so, it can seem crazy to leave a relatively stable profession like engineering to pick up a camera instead. However, that is exactly what one photographer did, and this great video essay features him discussing his journey, why he chose to get into photography, and how he went about it.

An Easy and Straightforward Composition Technique for Landscape Photography
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Few things are more important to making a successful landscape photograph than a clear and compelling composition. If that is something you struggle with, the great video tutorial will show you a helpful technique to ensure you create a good composition every time you head out with your camera.

A Long-Term Review of the Sony a7C Mirrorless Camera
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The Sony a7C was the company's first major design departure from the highly respected a7 series of mirrorless camera, taking a full frame sensor and dropping it into a remarkably small and portable body, albeit with a few compromises. How does it hold up over the long run? This great video review discusses the camera.

A Review of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S Lens
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An f/2.8 ultra-wide angle zoom lens can be useful for a wide variety of scenarios ranging from events work to astrophotography and landscapes. For Nikon mirrorless shooters, there is the NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S, and this great video review takes a look at the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

What a Professional Photographer Wishes He Knew Before He Got Started
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Being a successful professional photographer takes the confluence of a wide variety of skills, and it is easy to make some mistakes along the way. It helps to know what you might be facing before you get started. This excellent video essay discusses some things a professional wishes he knew before he got started.

8 Helpful Camera Hacks for Landscape Photographers
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Landscape photography often takes a wide variety of accessories to produce a finished image, and it is easy to forget them or get bogged down by the cost of it all. This awesome video tutorial will show you a range of hacks and useful techniques to make it easier to take photos and explore your creativity a bit more.

Thinking of Buying Some New Gear? Watch This First
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No doubt, almost all of us are tempted by new gear at one time or another; after all, cameras and lenses are exciting technology. However, they are not cheap, and if you planning to invest in new equipment, it is important to ensure that you are doing so for the right reasons. This excellent video essay discusses the topic and offers some important advice in the process.

How to Use HSL to Enhance a Photo
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When it comes to landscape photography, being able to control and fine-tune the colors in your images is crucial to creating better edits and adding more of your personal creative identity. One effective and fun way to do that is through the use of the HSL panel, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how it's done.

Why Program Mode Is Great for Beginners
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When it comes to camera settings, the common wisdom is that one should always use manual mode or at least a semiautomatic mode. But when you are brand new to photography, perhaps it is better to go fully automatic. This awesome video discusses why it might be best to set your camera to Program mode for just a little while to start.

What's the Best 24-105mm for Canon?
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While 24-70mm lenses are generally the workhorses of choice for a lot of photographers, many others prefer a 24-105mm for the extra reach, even if it means losing a stop of aperture. Canon shooters have a wide range of options when it comes to 24-105mm lenses, and this excellent video comparison takes a look at three of them, the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM, RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, and the RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM.

7 Mistakes in Black and White Landscape Photography
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When you think of landscape photography, you probably think of bright and vibrant swathes of color, but black and white images can be dramatic, compelling, and eye-catching. That being said, working in black and white comes with its own challenges and pitfalls beyond those of working in color. This helpful video tutorial discusses seven common mistakes landscape photographers make when working in black and white and how to avoid or fix them.

The Upcoming Canon EOS R3 Will Challenge One of Sony's Best Features
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The Canon EOS R3 is inching closer to its full official announcement, and we are getting more and more details about the camera. The newest detail is particularly intriguing, as it shows Canon going toe to toe with Sony on one of its most innovative features.

Sky Replacement Is All the Rage: Is It Acceptable?
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Sky replacement has been a thing for a long time now, but new tools that automate what used to be a tedious process have made the practice explode in usage. Should we be really doing it, though? This great video debate discusses the topic.

More Ways to Annoy a Photographer
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Photographers frequently have to handle a wide range of annoying things from plenty of sources, ranging from customers to other photographers — so many things, in fact, that they could not be contained in just one video. So, here is another video of things that annoy photographers.

Is the Fujifilm GFX 100S the Ultimate Landscape Photography Camera?
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The Fujifilm GFX mirrorless camera series has rewritten a lot of industry paradigms, bringing medium format to the market at prices that compete with upper-level full frame options, making it a tempting choice for landscape photographers. This great video follows a professional landscape photographer as he uses the camera in the field and shows you the experience with and image quality from it.

A Long-Term Review of the Incredible Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM Lens
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Canon's RF system has brought us some of the most extreme and impressive lens designs in a long time, and one of the most show-stopping was the RF 28-70mm f/2L USM. If you have been eyeing this lens, check out this awesome video review that takes a long-term look at its performance, usage experience, and image quality.

Why Prime Lenses Are Sometimes Overrated
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A lot of professional photographers espouse the use of prime lenses, whether for their sharpness, wider apertures, portability, or for some other reason. And while there are certainly advantages to prime lenses, you should not just automatically shun zooms without a second thought; in fact, they might actually be better for your needs, and this great video essay discusses why.