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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Facebook's Imperfect Attempt at Preventing Revenge Porn Reveals the Dark Side of a Photo-Laden Future

Facebook recently announced the launch of a new tool aimed at preventing cases of revenge porn, an act in which an ex posts intimate imagery of their former partner without permission in an attempt to humiliate or cause the person serious distress. While obviously well intentioned, the program has a major flaw and highlights a future where photos of every part of our lives will not always be a good thing.

Success as a Creative: The Only Way to Be a Professional Is to Be Professional

There's a certain mysticality that often gets assigned to work as a creative — the gifted artist that somehow conjures genius from thin air. This image is inaccurate at best, and it's downright poisonous for the artist themselves to subscribe to it. Here's how a professional really thinks and works.

A Quick and Easy Way to Enhance Skin Tones Using Photoshop

Whether it's because you're shooting in the dead of winter or just because your model is naturally pale, sometimes, you'll want to add slightly more vibrant tones that give your subject richer skin. This helpful tutorial will show you how to do just that quickly and effectively.

Follow the Re-creation of One of the Most Famous Photographs in History

Philippe Halsman's "Dali Atomicus" is one of the most famous images ever, notable for its complex composition and remarkable timing that captured the soul of its famous subject. This modern re-creation goes to painstaking effort to replicate the original, and the process is very neat to watch.

Why Photography Matters to Us

The one thing that ties us all together here is our passion for photography. For some of us, it's a beloved hobby, while for others, it's a career. This awesome video tells the story of how photography has had a positive impact in one person's life.

Is It Worth Upgrading to the Sony a7R III From the a7R II?

The Sony a7R III is the highly anticipated update to the very popular a7R II. Since it uses the same sensor as its predecessor, it might seem like this is more an incremental release, but this helpful video will highlight the newest and most improved features to help you decide if it's worth the upgrade.

The Importance of Persistence and Effort in Photography

We all like to get results and to know that our efforts have not been for naught. Sometimes, though, getting that killer shot is just not in the cards, often because of forces outside our control, which is when it's important to remember how effort and persistence will eventually pay off.

An Introduction to Creative Portrait Techniques

Half the fun of shooting portraits is the veritable multitude of ways you can use photographic techniques and creative ideas to represent a person. This fun video will show you three such techniques that only require bare-minimum equipment and a subject.

24 Shots: A Fun Exercise to Get You Thinking About Your Photography

When I was a kid, I used to shoot a ton of film, so much that I was eventually given a roll a week by my parents to shoot whatever I cared to. But of course, I had to carefully choose what I shot over the course of each week. The thrill was getting the envelope of prints back from the grocery store a few weeks later. This fun challenge recaptures a lot of that nostalgia and exercises your photographic brain.

Some Handy Hidden Tricks in Lightroom

Lightroom is likely where you spend a lot of, if not the majority of your post-processing time. And so, any little shortcuts or tricks you can pick up can add up to more efficiency and better output down the road. This helpful video will show you five such tricks to add to your arsenal.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (October 2017): Mikeila Borgia

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2017, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

Getting the Best Shot: Take Lots of Photos, But With a Purpose

I'll be honest: while I quickly grew out of the "spray and pray" phase I started my photography career in, I've still never quite bought into waiting for the precise moment when I click off that one perfect frame. This helpful video beautifully articulates why I think a philosophy somewhere in the middle is best.

Enhance Your Photographic Creativity by Restricting It

It might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes, when you're in a creative rut, the best way to get out of it is to actually limit your options. This great video will show you how some creative restrictions can get you to see the world in a different way and knock you out of that stoppage in no time.

How to Create a Great Product Photo Using Things Lying Around Your House

If there's any genre that requires the photographer to constantly be creatively resourceful, it's probably product photography. This helpful tutorial will show you how to create an interesting shot of a watch using common items you probably have around your house and some creative editing in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Nikon Closes China Camera Factory, Cites Smartphones as Cause

In news that's mostly unsurprising, Nikon has announced that they will discontinue operations of Nikon Imaging (China), a manufacturing subsidiary of their imaging business, citing the rise of smartphones and the consequential fall of compact cameras as the main reason.

There's More to Life Than Photographic Technical Perfection

If I have one major regret about how I handled my portfolio when I was first learning, it's that I threw away a ton of images that weren't technically perfect when I should have kept them. Now, I really wish I had a lot of those images back, because they were compelling despite their flaws. There's more to life than perfection.

On Staying True to Yourself as a Creative

Creative pursuits these days often seem to be a tightrope act of being true to yourself and creating content that is marketable to a wide audience, especially if your financial well-being is tied to those pursuits. It's important, however, to never lose sight of who you are as a creative. Else, why are you doing this?

How the Inverse Square Law Can Make You Better at Lighting

Don't worry, this video isn't about all about math. Rather, it aims to give you an intuitive understanding of one of the most fundamental laws of physics related to photography and shows you why it's so crucial to have a solid understanding of how it works.