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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Brilliant Project Captures the Faces of Photographers Behind the Camera

As photographers, we're used to being behind the camera, contorting and squishing our faces against the viewfinder to get the shot. Wondering what we looked like behind all of that, Richard Johnson used his latest project, "Behind the Mask," to capture the moment when photographers capture a moment.

Retouching Controversy Tarnishes a Photography Contest in an Unusual Genre

We've become quite accustomed to unpermitted retouching damaging the reputation of photography competitions. In particular, press photography is especially susceptible to this. Strict rules on maintaining the sanctity of reality combined with environments in which outside factors frequently affect the ability to achieve clean and pleasing competition often beget a strong temptation for photographers to doctor images. However, such manipulation has now become an issue in a genre in which one normally does have the luxury of time and compositional choice: architecture.

Instagram Quietly Testing Multiple Account Support on Android; Photographers Rejoice

In a move sure to delight photographers everywhere, Instagram has begun testing support for multiple accounts within the app. The ability to post and interact using separate accounts without having to resort to third-party solutions or logging in and out of the app has been highly requested for years. If this comes to fruition, it will represent a paradigm change in workflow for many mobile photographers.

FAA Reassures Drone Photographers That Registration Will Be Straightforward

As the legal situation involving drones continues to evolve and registration becomes an inevitability, many "drone registration" firms have begun to spring up. The FAA has made it a point to note that drone owners do not need to jump the gun, as registration is likely to be a simple and straightforward process, easily completable without outside assistance.

Photographer Makes the Case for Phone-Less Weddings With One Photo

We can argue back and forth for days about if guests should have the right to take photos as they please at weddings, but when it comes down to it, if the happy couple can't experience their special day without a guest interfering, haven't we gone too far? Photographer Thomas Stewart thinks so.

The Story of One of the Earliest Composite Controversies

The use and misuse of composite photography is a story we hear about quite often. Long before the days of Photoshop and digital manipulation, though, composite photography existed. Here's the story of one of the earliest controversies surrounding a composite.

The Beautiful Results of an Underwater Photographer and MIT Physicist Working Together

Keith Ellenbogen is an underwater photographer whose work centers on marine conservation, while Allan Adams is a theoretical physicist whose work revolves around fluid dynamics inside black holes. When they met at a party in 2013, they realized they could combine their talents to produce gorgeous video of some of nature's most interesting marine life.

VSCO Jumps Into the GIF Game With DSCO

On Thursday, Visual Supply Company (makers of the immensely popular editing app, VSCO) announced the release of DSCO, their new app for creating short, GIF-like clips. I downloaded the app and spent some time with it today.

Britain's Rail Provider Issues Plea to Stop Taking Photos on Tracks

Just months after America's largest railroad launched a campaign to get people off the tracks, Britain's rail provider, Network Rail, is doing the same, after one disturbing day showed eight incidents at a single rural crossing. With 6,100 total crossings in their purview, Network Rail is seriously concerned about the safety of its users, particularly as the older crossings do not have many of the modern safety features newer ones do, allowing people to generally walk directly onto the tracks, or as the videos show, even sit on them.

Snapseed Now Offers Raw Editing on Android

Snapseed, Google's ridiculously powerful and popular image editing smartphone app, just got a major upgrade for its Android users. Following up on the introduction of raw file capabilities in Android 5 last year, the app now supports editing of those files right on your phone, greatly increasing the capabilities of photographers on the go.

The Photography Accessory That Could Get You Killed

I've seen photography products that have made me laugh at their silliness. I've seen products that have made me roll my eyes at their absurdity. But it wasn't until I saw this product that I audibly cursed at my computer screen in sheer disbelief.

Photos Show Immigrants as They Arrived on Ellis Island

From 1892 to 1925, Augustus Sherman, the chief registry clerk of Ellis Island, took photographs of immigrants as they arrived in the United States. The photographs are striking for their display of the vast array of cultural backgrounds that passed through on their way to becoming citizens of the U.S. Take a look at some of the history contained in this archive.

Astropad Mini Updated to Support 3D Touch, Now Has Pressure Sensitivity and Is Free

Astropad Mini, the app that allows iPhone and iPad users to turn their device into a graphics tablet for the Mac, received a major update on Tuesday. The app now includes support for Apple's 3D Touch, meaning it can now recognize 256 levels of pressure, bringing it even closer to turning your iPhone into a fully functioning graphic tablet.