Articles written by Alex Cooke

Many photographers seek a versatile "do-it-all" zoom lens to use for the variety of shooting scenarios they face, keeping it mounted to their camera at all times. This type of lens tends to offer a useful zoom range as well as a moderately fast aperture around f/2.8 or f/4. For Fujifilm shooters looking for this kind of walkaround optic, this helpful video review examines the XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it practice.

Retro camera designs can stir nostalgia, but when investing in high-end gear, photographers need more than appearance. Functionality, versatility, and innovation must also be of a high level. So, does Nikon's Zf mirrorless camera deliver substantive performance to match its throwback aesthetic? This excellent video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect.

In the realm of photography, images possess a transcendent power. They freeze moments, tell stories, and most importantly, drive change. For environmental activism, this power is not just artistic; it's transformative and essential.

While many photographers shy away from hard light, thinking it is unflattering, portraits can benefit from judicious application of hard shadows and contrast. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to use hard light to create a dramatic and dynamic portrait.

When it comes to artificial lighting, while technical skills are critical, even more important is learning to light scenes in service of the narrative rather than conspicuous lighting for its own sake. This great video demonstrates that concept and offers five useful steps to put you on the path to success.

In an increasingly polarized world, one of photography’s most profound strengths is its ability to cultivate empathy and compassion across cultures. At its best, photography can transport us into unfamiliar environments, activities, and viewpoints. It reveals the humanity in people whose lives and backgrounds differ vastly from our own. Photography has a transcendent way of building understanding and sympathy by showing us new perspectives.

Learning how to apply batch edits to your images is one of the best ways to increase the efficiency of your workflow. This great video tutorial will show you one such Lightroom tool for doing that.

If you shoot in raw, you will need to sharpen your images in post-processing, but with literally dozens of approaches to doing this, it can be tricky to know the best way to go about such a crucial step. If you would like to improve your landscape images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced photographer sharing his approach.

The Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L IS USM and Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS are two of the most extreme new lenses on the market right now, meant to help professional sports, wildlife, and bird photographers capture stunning images no matter how demanding the conditions. How do these two top-shelf options compare? This excellent video comparison puts them both to the test.