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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Canon Is Developing Lighter Supertelephoto Lenses [Rumor]

Supertelephoto lenses are a love/hate relationship for a lot of photographers: they showcase some of the best optical engineering companies have to offer, but carrying them around is quite a workout. Canon is seeking to cut that weight with its supertelephoto lenses in development.

Should Drone Insurance Be Required?

Drone manufacturers and legislators are constantly working to adapt to each other and to create a framework in which operators can work safely alongside everything else in the air. As part of that, the insurance industry is trying to tackle the new landscape. Should drone insurance be mandatory?

How to Make Your Skies More Dramatic Using Photoshop

So much of a landscape image is in how you edit it; many different personalities and effects can shine through the same scene when processed by different photographers. If dramatic skies are something you favor, this helpful tutorial will show you a neat trick for bringing out more detail and creating moodier looks in Photoshop.

A Beautiful Look at the Assembly Process of a Leica Camera

Leica might be the most polarizing camera brand among photographers, but I think most will agree that they're beautifully crafted machines. This lovely short film goes behind the scenes, giving an inside look at the manufacturing process and what goes into making a Leica camera.

A Powerful Guide to Creating Double Exposure Images in Photoshop

Double exposures are one of my favorite effects. Luckily for us, unlike in the age of film, we have vastly more control over the final image thanks to the power of Photoshop. This great tutorial will show you how to create your own.

How to Change Someone's Hairstyle Using Photoshop

Out of all the remarkable things you can pull off in Photoshop, changing someone's hair might be my favorite thing to do. Besides being just plain fun, it'll exercise a lot of techniques that you'll want to have mastered in many other situations as well. Check out this great tutorial on swapping hair.

Are Tourism and Photographers Ruining Photography?

I came across this interesting video in which a frustrated photographer examines the issue of too many people and impolite behavior making landscape photography difficult at beautiful locations. It's definitely an issue that deserves to be addressed, and his take on it is worth hearing.

Something Different: A Quick Landscape Photography Session

I love landscape photography, both for its subject matter and its meditative quality. Undertaking it requires serious commitment of time and resources, however, or so it may seem. This great video highlights what's possible with just a little time and a short walk.

How to Remove Braces Using Photoshop

A lot of us have or have had braces at some point in our lives. And while they're a perfectly normal thing, some people are a bit self-conscious of them, so being able to remove them is a good skill for photographers to possess. This helpful tutorial will show you how to do exactly that.

Some of the Most Absurd and Expensive Bloopers in Filmmaking History

We've all had mishaps on set, whether that was tripping over a lighting stand or dropping a lens. And while those can certainly be costly mistakes, they pale in comparison to the amount of money in play when something goes wrong on a top-dollar film production. Here are some expensive and hilariously absurd examples of such bloopers.

How to Find Where You're Going in Photography

It happens to all of us: we get our first professional camera, and all of a sudden, everything is photogenic, everything is beautiful. But eventually, if we want to make a living from photography, we have to narrow down the genres we shoot, the gear we use, the style in which we edit, etc. This great video explores how to give your photography career a direction.

The Five Dos and Don'ts of Photographing Models

When you're working with models (or anyone really), there are certain things you should keep in mind, both to make the shoot go smoothly and successfully and to ensure that proper boundaries are established and everyone involved feels comfortable and respected. Here are five dos and don't of photographing models.

Do Photographers and Videographers Need to Suck Up to Others to Make It?

It's a topic we're all aware of but few actually bring up. Most, if not all industries involve some level of acceding to higher-ups or more accomplished people or simply, well, sucking up. However, it always seems to be particularly prevalent in creative industries, and this video examines the need (or lack thereof) for that.

Harness the Organizational Power of Auto-Stacking in Lightroom

If you work in certain genres of photography or shoot with a certain style, you might often come home with thousands of images and a small organizational nightmare awaiting you in Lightroom. This helpful tutorial will show you show to quickly and automatically wrangle those huge sets of images into something much more organized and manageable.

How to Fix Harsh Shadows Using Photoshop

One of the most distracting things you can have on a subject is unintentional harsh shadows. Once they're there, they can be very tricky to deal with convincingly in post. This helpful tutorial will help you tackle and reduce them to manageable levels.

Three Ways to Whiten Teeth Using Photoshop

One of the most common retouching tasks you'll be faced with is whitening teeth. Like many things in Photoshop, the key is applying the correct technique in moderation to obtain a realistic result. This helpful tutorial will show you three such ways to do just that.

A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Pen Tool in Photoshop

One of the most fundamentals features in Photoshop is the Pen Tool. It's a bit less intuitive than some other features, however, and it often presents some difficulty for first-time users. This video will get you up and running with it in 30 quick minutes.

Why Bit Depth and Shooting in Raw Are So Important for Your Images

We've all heard it hundreds of times: unless you're a journalist zooming off shots to an editor as the action happens, you should be shooting in raw. But why is it so vital to the quality of your images? Watch this video for a great explanation.