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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Why Zooming With a Lens and With Your Feet Produce Different Images
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You will often hear proponents of prime lenses tell fans of zoom lenses to simply "zoom with their feet." However, zooming with your feet will not produce the same image as zooming with your lens, and understanding the difference will give you lots of creative capabilities for taking more powerful images. This helpful video will show you the difference and the impact it will have on your photos.

Why Manual Mode Is Sometimes Overrated
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A lot of beginner photographers hear the advice that professionals only shoot in manual mode and that it is a necessary method for becoming truly adept with a camera. And while there is certainly some truth to the benefits of using manual mode, you might be surprised just how often professionals use various semi-automatic modes, and this great video discusses why and how they can benefit your own work.

Can This Unbelievably Cheap Lens Actually Deliver Good Images?
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Generally, you need to get into about the $300 range before you start to see any lenses that can really deliver great results, but occasionally, a gem comes along at a price that seems too good to be true. The Pergear 35mm f/1.6 seems like it could be one of those lenses, and this great video review takes a look at it and what you can expect.

9 Creative Tricks Using 360 and Action Cameras
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360 and action cameras are experiencing increasing popularity, especially as video quality improves more and more. This great video will show you nine creative tricks for better 360 and action camera footage.

5 Different Ways to Use a Single Octabox
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An octabox is a highly versatile and relatively affordable modifier that many photographers use in a wide variety of genres and scenarios. This fantastic video will show you five different ways to use a single octabox.

Don't Be a Photography Snob
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Photography seems particularly prone to creating an air of snobbery around it for a variety of reasons, and it can impede us in lots of ways. This great video discusses the problem, and it poses some greats points I am sure a lot of us will agree with.

Which DJI Drone Is Right for You?
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DJI makes a range of consumer drones at varying price points, sizes, and capabilities, and you can generally find one that fits your needs within their lineup. If you are wondering which one is right for you, this great comparison video takes a look at the Mavic Air 2, the Mavic Mini, and the Mavic 2 Pro to help you decide which one is right for you.

5 Great Tips for More Powerful Reflections in Landscape Photos
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Reflections are a fantastic way to create more visual interest in a photo or to add a pleasing symmetry that helps to balance the composition. They take a bit of technique and consideration, however, and this fantastic video will give you five helpful tips to make your reflection images more powerful.

Helpful Tips for Better Long Exposure Photography
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Long exposure photography is a highly popular technique, one that is a ton of fun and an excellent way to create stunning images. If you want to improve your long exposure work, this fantastic video will give you lots of great tips for better images.

A Look at How to Improve One-Light Portraits
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I firmly believe that anyone starting out with artificial lighting should master working with a single light first, but that does not mean one-light setups can't produce versatile and professional results. This great video will show you a critique of several one-light images and provide you with a ton of helpful advice on lighting, posing, and more.

Can a $100 Vintage Lens Compete With Its $1,500 Modern Equivalent?
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The rising popularity of mirrorless cameras has reinvigorated the vintage lens market, with many photographers opting for far cheaper older glass used with adapters over much more expensive modern options. This excellent comparison video takes a look at the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM versus the Canon FD 24mm f/2.8.

How to Create Fake Fire Through Creative Lighting
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Fire will always be something that evokes feelings of excitement, dread, and more, making it a fantastic dramatic tool in short films, wedding videos, and more. But of course, you can't just go around lighting fires wherever and whenever you want, so this great video will show you how you can convincingly fake it with your lighting.

Softboxes Versus Diffusion Panels: Which Is Right for Your Work?
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Fundamentally speaking, diffusion panels and softboxes serve the same purpose: creating a larger source and thus, softer overall light. However, in practice, they can have different effects on your subject and can also be easier or harder to work with depending on your needs and setup. This great video will show you their advantages and disadvantages to help you decide which is right for your work.

Want to Have Some Fun at Home? Try Splash Photography!
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A lot of us are stuck at home right now and probably itching for something to shoot to keep our technical skills sharp and the creative juices flowing. If you are looking for something that is a ton of fun to shoot, now is a great time to learn more about splash photography, and this great video will get you up and running in no time.

All About Lightroom's Tone Curve: What It Is and How to Use It
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The tone curve is by far one of the most versatile, efficient, and powerful adjustment tools in Lightroom, and mastering it can take you a long way to better image edits and more creative control. If you are unfamiliar with the tool, this fantastic video will show you not only you can use it to adjust things like shadows and highlights, but how it can also be used to color grade an image.

Lightroom Versus Luminar 4: Which Is Right for Your Needs?
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Luminar 4 has brought with it some advanced AI features that can save a lot of time in edits and enable new creative avenues. How does it hold up against Lightroom when it comes to editing? This great video shows a photographer processing the same image in both apps and what you can expect from each.

What Does It Take to Photograph a Car in Studio?
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Photographing cars is no small task — literally. Their size makes them trickier to photograph than a lot of other subjects, requiring more lights, more space, and a range of other adjustments and considerations to create a successful shot. This interesting video shows you what it takes to photograph a car in a studio.