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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

A Beginner's Guide to Luminosity Masks in Photoshop

When it comes to post-processing, one of the most useful tools at your disposal is the luminosity mask, which can help you create more precise and efficient edits. If you have not tried luminosity masks if your work before, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the ins and outs of creating and using them.

10 Crucial Tips for Photographing Your First Wedding

Wedding photography is one of the most demanding and difficult genres, requiring strong technical and creative capabilities, the ability to quickly and effectively solve problems, and strong interpersonal skills. If you are getting ready to photograph your first wedding and feeling a bit nervous, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced wedding photographer sharing 10 important tips that will help you to better prepare and ease your nerves.

Affordable and Versatile: A Review of the Tamron 20mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Lens

In the last few years, Tamron has reinvented itself to become one of the most exciting companies in the photography industry, offering a wide range of lenses that are both affordable and rather versatile. Perhaps no lens is more emblematic of that than the 20mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2, which is both quite cheap and able to tackle a wide range of needs. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

Which Is Better for Photography: The Canon EOS R6 Mark II or Sony a7 IV?

While there are extreme cameras out there that offer things like ultra-high levels of resolution or super-fast burst rates, for the majority of photographers, they are a bit of overkill. Cameras with more moderate specifications and features will satisfy the needs of most of today's photographers, and two of the best options out there are the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and the Sony a7 IV. This great video comparison takes a look at both to help you decide which is right for you.

A Look at the New Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM Lens

Recently, Canon announced the EOS R6 Mark II mirrorless camera, and alongside it came the RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM lens, the update to one of the company's most popular lenses, the EF 135mm f/2L. As such, expectations are high for the new version. This great review takes a look at the new lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

A Review of the Impressively Affordable Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II

Samyang has long had a reputation for producing manual focus lenses that are sharp and very affordable, and recently, they have started to add autofocus options, making them viable for many more photographers and situations. One such option is the AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II, which offers photographers the popular combination of a portrait focal length and very wide maximum aperture, all at a price significantly lower than many other options. Can it compete with those more expensive options? This excellent video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect.

Will We Finally See Sigma Lenses for Canon RF Mount?

Canon has clamped down tightly on the RF mount, disallowing essentially any third-party lenses with autofocus. This has been to the dismay of many photographers who embraced lenses from companies like Sigma and Tamron, which often offered options that were either cheaper or simply not available from Canon itself. At least one company is still highly interested in the RF mount, as recently confirmed by Sigma's CEO, Kazuto Yamaki.

Helpful Landscape Photography Advice and Tips

Landscape photography can be tricky, complex, and frustrating, but it can also be tremendously rewarding. If you'd like to improve your own work, check out this excellent video interview that offers a lot of insightful advice sure to help you on your way.

Is This the End of the Stock Photographer?

The demand for images is higher than ever, and yet, the security of many photo jobs is in more peril than ever. One of the hardest-hit genres of the last few decades has been stock photography. Is AI going to kill the genre entirely?

A Review of the Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera for Photography

The Canon 7D and 7D Mark II were two of the company's most popular DSLRs, as they offered professionals and advanced amateurs many of the features from higher-level cameras like the 1D series at much more affordable prices. Now that we are in the mirrorless era, the EOS R7 has picked up that torch and has brought with it a huge range of new features and upgrades sure to catch the eyes of a lot of photographers. This great video review takes a look at the camera from a photographer's perspective and the image quality and performance you can expect from it in usage.

A Review of the Fujifilm GFX 100S Medium Format Mirrorless Camera

Fujifilm's GFX line of medium format mirrorless cameras revolutionized the industry by including an array of modern features traditionally reserved for smaller-sensor bodies and putting them all together at extremely competitive prices. Perhaps the most intriguing option of the line is the GFX 100S, which brings the company's best sensor in a body that competes on price with top-level full frame options. This great video review takes a look at the image quality and performance you can expect from the camera.

3 Important Landscape Photography Lessons

Landscape photography is a challenging genre that requires a balance of technical abilities, creative vision, the ability to predict and adapt to evolving conditions, and a lot of persistence. If you would like to improve your work, check out this fantastic video tutorial from an experienced landscape photographer that will teach you some important lessons sure to put you on the right track.

An Effective Technique for Waterfall Photography

Waterfalls are some of the most popular landscape photography subjects, offering the ability to add a sense of motion to otherwise still scenes and to leverage natural leading lines to bring your viewers' eyes through the scene. If you are new to the genre and looking to improve, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you some helpful tips and techniques for improving your waterfall photography.

Why Camera Gear Matters

Photographers love to talk about gear, but there is also a strong contingent of those who believe that all that discussion is a distraction from what really matters. The truth is probably somewhere in-between: gear does matter, and your choice of it can affect your workflow, but it is still the means, not the end. This interesting video discusses the matter and why gear matters.

A Practical Beginner's Guide to Aperture

Along with shutter speed and ISO, aperture is one of the fundamental parameters that helps you create balanced exposures and gives you a ton of creative control over the look of your photos. If you are new to photography and looking to improve your photos, check out this awesome video tutorial that will show you the ins and outs of aperture and how to use it to take better control of your images.

The Best and Worst Cameras and Lenses of 2022

2022 has been quite the year for photo gear, with a huge range of impressive camera and lens releases. What has been your favorite? What failed to impress you? This hilarious video discusses the best and worst camera and lenses of the past year.

An Unusual but Effective One-Light Portrait Photography Setup

If you are new to working with artificial light, you might look at some of the complex multi-light setups seasoned professionals use and feel a bit overwhelmed or discouraged. However, you can absolutely make creative, compelling, and professional-level portraits with just a single light, and this neat video tutorial will show you one of the more unusual but effective ways of doing so.

Do You Really Need Photography Contracts?

When you are new to photography, you spend most of your time focusing on the image-making process, but as you start to charge for your work, there are important fundamentals of business you must learn as well, one of the most crucial being the contract. This important video discusses why you should really have a contract, even if you think you don't need one.

Can This Famous Lens Keep Up With Modern Sensors?

When it was first released, the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art was one of the most exciting and innovative lenses ever seen, being the only standard zoom with an aperture below f/2. Nonetheless, the lens is almost a decade old now, and in the meantime, sensor resolutions have increased. So, can this famous lens keep up with the demands of a modern camera? This excellent video review takes a look.

A Review of the Versatile Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD Lens

In recent years, Tamron has shown that they intend on creating impressively versatile and often innovative zoom lenses that can take the place of several others in a photographer's bag. One such lens is the 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD, which covers everything from normal to supertelephoto focal lengths. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.