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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

These Fantastic DIY Lighting Modifiers Cost Nothing to Make

Lighting modifiers are powerful creative tools that can drastically change the look of your photos and videos, but they can also grow very expensive quite quickly. Luckily, if you understand the basics of lighting, you can create a variety of DIY modifiers using basic items and materials you probably already own and save yourself a ton of money in the process.

Why Is Pentax Convinced That DSLRs Are the Future?

Pentax recently announced the K-3 Mark III, the third iteration of their flagship APS-C camera, which reinforces their stance that their future (and as they argue, the future of photography) is in DSLRs, not mirrorless cameras. With an industry increasingly focused on mirrorless cameras, why is Pentax going against the grain?

3 Fantastic Beauty Lighting Setups for Stunning Portraits

A beauty dish is one of the most popular lighting modifiers for portraits and for good reason, as it can create dramatic, contrasty images that instantly capture the viewer's eye. This fantastic video tutorial will show you three lighting setups using a beauty dish and other modifiers that capture a range of moods.

How Does the Powerful Fujifilm GFX 100 Hold Up for Landscape Photography?

The Fujifilm GFX 100 is a stunning camera in many ways, and its ultra-high sensor resolution and fantastic dynamic range make it seemingly tailor-made for landscape photography. This great video takes a look at an experienced landscape photographer's use of the camera and his thoughts on how it holds up for such work.

Just How Great Is the Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR Lens?

Fujifilm has long had the XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens, which offers fantastic portrait lens quality and lots of shallow depth of field for bokeh fanatics. Now, the XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR is here, blowing past the f/1.2 lens with an even wider aperture. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens in a variety of situations and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it.

A Review of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S Lens

85mm is the classic focal length of choice for portrait photography, and in the past few years, we have seen an influx of high-quality f/1.8 variants that are significantly more affordable than their f/1.4 and f/1.2 cousins. This excellent video review takes a look at one such lens, the Nikon NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S.

A Review of the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens

The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM is the company's professional mirrorless wide angle zoom, making it a versatile lens for a variety of applications. This great video review takes a look at what you can expect from the lens in practice.

Nifty Fifty: A Review of the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens

A nifty fifty lens is one of the most versatile and useful lenses many photographers can have, and given their generally affordable prices, they make a fantastic first upgrade from a kit lens for newer photographers or a backup lens for pros with more established kits. This excellent video review takes a look at Nikon's version of the lens, the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G.

Using Fog and Autumn Leaves to Create Stunning Landscape Photos

Fall is a favorite time of many landscape photographers, as the changing leaves transform the outdoors into vibrant washes of color and texture. Fog can be another great addition to the already compelling scenes, and this fantastic video discusses choosing the correct settings and the importance of patience in getting the best possible photos.

How to Use a Reflector to Light Portraits

When you are lighting portraits, you might sometimes notice unflattering shadows created on your subject's face. It does not take much to fix that, however; often, just adding a reflector can fix those issues, and this great video tutorial will show you how to do that.

4 New Camera Features and Improvements in iOS 14

Along with the latest iPhones being recently introduced, we also have the latest version of iOS, version 14, available for installation on several generations of iPhones. And with it comes several new features and upgrades to the camera app, though you might not be aware of all the new capabilities. This great video discusses four new features and improvements that you might have missed in iOS 14.

Helpful Tips and Tricks for Editing Bird Photos in Lightroom

Bird photography is a genre that requires great technique and a heck of a lot of patience, all backed up by good editing skills to create the best possible image. This fantastic video tutorial offers over 20 tips and tricks for editing bird images in Lightroom.

How to Create Dramatic Black and White Portraits With Better Lighting

Good black and white portraits are timeless and will always be in style, but they demand a different approach than color portraits. This fantastic video tutorial will show you a few multi-light setups for shooting compelling black and white portraits with dramatic contrast.

Learn This Great Three-Light Setup in Just a Few Minutes

It is always best to start out with one light when you are first learning how to use artificial light, but once you have mastered the basics, you can enter an entirely new world of creativity when you start working with multi-light setups. This fantastic video tutorial will show you a dynamic and professional three-light setup for creating compelling portraits.

The Fujifilm GFX 100: Can Medium Format Match the Demands of Wedding Photography?

When you think of medium format cameras, you do not generally think of them as working fast enough to keep up with the demands of wedding photography, but on the other hand, the Fujifilm GFX 100 is not a normal medium format camera. This great video discusses how well it performs for wedding photography.

Versatile Reach: A Review of the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens

Though they simply cannot offer the same level of image quality of less extreme lenses, superzoom lenses can often give you quite good image quality with the added convenience of a very wide range of focal lengths all in one device. This great video review takes a look at one such lens, the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports.

How to Decide When It Is Time to Buy a New Camera

Camera technology is moving at quite a fast pace nowadays, and it can be awfully tempting to pick up the latest and greatest gear. But on the other hand, cameras are hardly cheap, and it is the sort of purchase that should be carefully considered. So, how do you decide when it is time to actually buy a new camera? This great video discusses that question.

You've Probably Never Seen Bokeh Like This

Photographers certainly love their bokeh, and not all bokeh is the same, as different lenses can have vastly different character. This neat video shows the kind of crazy bokeh you can get when you put a less common lens on your camera.

How Good Is Photoshop's New Sky Replacement Tool?

One of the marquee features of Skylum's Luminar 4 has been its AI-powered automatic sky replacement, which seriously cuts down the time spent on what is traditionally a very tedious and time-consuming task. Now, Photoshop has caught up with its own sky replacement tool. How does it compare and how can you use it to create your own composites? This great video tutorial will show you the new tool in action and how to take better control of it for your own work.