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Alex Coleman
Phoenix, AZ

Articles written by Alex Coleman

Fstoppers Reviews Venus Optic’s 85mm f/5.6 2x Macro Lens: Amazing Magnification From a Tiny Lens

If you’re into macro photography, you might be wondering why so many macro lenses emphasize a wide aperture; f/2.8 is nice to have, but when focused down to 1:1, it’ll leave you with no depth of field. From my point of view, Venus Optics seems to have had the same thought. They built a macro lens with a spec sheet that’s focused on delivering macro results. Is this the new best option for macro photographers?

Photoshop Isn’t King Here: The Speciality Programs That Are Just Plain Better

Just about every important image I publish or send to a client passes through Photoshop. It’s an essential part of my workflow, and if you’re like most photographers, I’m sure it’s a part of yours. There are, however, a number of cases where I’ve just found a significantly better tool for the job, one that’s worth paying for. Want to see why you should consider snagging these programs that beat Photoshop at their own game?

Zhiyun’s Crane-M3: An All-in-One Gimbal With Unique Features

Zhiyun is no stranger to interesting camera stabilization options, with past products featuring innovative designs that put a twist on the traditional “stabilized stick” form factor of gimbals. Their latest launch, the Crane-M3, brings a number of firsts to the Crane lineup and just might reinvent how content creators approach rigging up a video setup.

Focus Stacking Can Unlock a New Range of Subjects and It’s Now Easier Than Ever

Whether you’re shooting macro subjects like jewelry and flowers or landscapes on the latest high-resolution bodies, controlling depth of field can be essential. Focus stacking, where you combine multiple exposures at different focus points, can completely change the game when it comes to tricky depth of field situations. When you don’t have to worry about stopping down or picking what’s in focus, you can be even more creative. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to properly focus stack. Check out this guide to the best field and post-production practices.

We Review Nikon’s Z 105mm Macro: Did Nikon Make the Safe Choice?

Announced back in June, Nikon’s first macro lenses for the Z mount appeared to be typical successors to their F mount predecessors, covering 50mm and 100mm focal lengths. The Z 105mm, as before, is a more premium choice, offering a few more features and a more choice designation. I’ve finally gotten my hands on one, and after some thorough testing, I’m ready to share my thoughts on this recent entry to the Z lineup. Whether you’re a macro specialist or Z photographer, you’ll want to check out this review.

3 Key Things I Keep in Mind for Every Fall Photo

The season of red, orange, and yellow leaves is just about here. Whether you’ve already gone out and taken some photos or are just about to, it can be really helpful to keep a few key concepts in mind. In this guide, we'll be taking a look at what to do when you’re behind the camera, as well as in front of the monitor editing those shots.

Fstoppers Reviews Haida’s NanoPro Magnetic Kit: Essential Filters Made Easy

While there are dozens of options for filters, covering different effects, sizes, and manufacturers, I’ve found that I only need a few key filters for a landscape shoot. I like to use neutral density filters and circular polarizers, both of which are impactful and less easy to replicate in software. Haida’s NanoPro line has delivered great results in my past experience — can their magnetic filter line deliver the same quality?

Shooting Through a Window? You Can Still Make a Great Image With These Tricks

Whether you’re using your iPhone or regular camera, shooting through windows and transparent surfaces can be one of the trickiest situations you’ll encounter. With just a few simple tricks, you can greatly improve the results next time you try photographing through a window.

2x Macro at Half the Price: Fstoppers Reviews Laowa’s 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

If you’re looking to get into macro photography, the first party lens options can seem too expensive for a lens with a more niche use, particularly on the latest Z and R mounts. Laowa, however, has a very promising 100mm lens that even exceeds those other 100mm options in one notable way. hould it be the lens you choose when shooting up close?

Make Lightroom Classic Yours: The Best Ways To Customize Your Experience

While Lightroom Classic doesn’t offer as many customization options as programs like Photoshop, there’s still a number of major improvements you can make to the default experience. You can speed up browsing, create a way smarter default set of adjustments, and even rebrand Lightroom with your logo, in just minutes.

Nikon Is the New Hasselblad: That’s Bad

Hasselblad is and was a photography company with a true pedigree, known for making the cameras NASA chose to use on the moon. But in the early 2010s, they seemed to have lost their way. Nikon seems to be in a similar position. Can they turn it around as Hasselblad did?

Own a Drone in the US? You've Got to Do This Before Your Next Flight

The FAA has some new regulations you have to follow as a drone pilot, regardless of whether you're just flying recreationally, or even if you already hold the Part 107 certification. Fortunately, compliance is free and easy, and you can do it right now.

Is the Next Ansel Adams Going to Be a NVIDIA GPU?

While this view of the Tetons and Snake River, as made famous by Ansel Adam’s iconic photo, doesn’t have great resolution, there’s a reason for that. One of the biggest changes to photography might start with landscape photos just like this, only it doesn’t involve hiking or even camera gear. Want to know what it is?

Wedio and Cooke Optics Reimagine How Cinematographers Source Lenses: Is Your Camera Next?

For many years, manufacturers were quite distant from their consumers, choosing to sell through a series of distributors and dealers. While the last couple years have shown a little change, via developments like roadmaps, influencer connections, and some direct-to-consumer sales, it’s still tough to make your voice heard. A new announcement by Wedio and Cooke Optics shows that you might have a closer connection with the maker of your next lens.

Bought a New Lens? Here’s the First Thing You Should Do

Whether you just bought a new lens from a reputable vendor or snagged a deal off an auction site, you’ve got to test it. Fortunately, you don’t need a crazy, dedicated setup just to check out your gear. In this guide, I’ll run through how I’d test a newly acquired lens in about 10 minutes, all without any fancy gear.

Stop Storing Your Files Like It’s 1999

Whether you’re shooting 8K video or are just coming back from a shoot with 1,000 images to sort through, your digital asset management strategy has to be on point. Over the last few years, technology and standards have advanced quite a bit, and it’s easier than ever to create a powerful, versatile, and safer approach to storing your files, but it can also be confusing. This guide will take a look at the standards you have to know when upgrading your storage.

Bigger Is Better: We Review PNY’s PRO Elite MicroSD Cards

While the choice of a memory card might seem simple if you normally just grab whatever’s on sale, there are a number of reasons to reconsider that method. The latest generation of cards offer faster speeds and larger capacities at better price points. Whether you’re looking to equip your newest action cam or drone, PNY’s Pro Elite MicroSD card is a great choice.

Fstoppers Reviews Haida’s NanoPro Mist Black Filter: Softer Can Be Better

While many reviews look at how sharp a lens can be, for this review, we’ll be looking at a filter that does the opposite. Haida's NanoPro Mist filter is actually designed to add a soft glow, while still keeping fine details. Now, before you think about the JCPenney portrait studio shots of the past decades, this filter is subtler. Haida’s NanoPro Mist filter is instead designed to diffuse the highlights and soften the overall contrast, bringing the filmic characteristic of halation to digital. Does it live up to the task?

Photoshop’s Save Functionality Just Broke: Here’s How to Fix It

Photoshop’s newest version introduced a head-scratching change to one of the essential functions of Photoshop: if you’re used to easily saving a quick JPEG or having your choice of file formats, the latest update has changed things for the worse. Fortunately, there’s a quick and easy way to get things back to normal, and it uses one of the best workflow-enhancing parts of Photoshop.

3 Things Lightroom is Still Missing 14 Years Later

I use Lightroom, in some capacity, for everything I shoot. Without it, my workflow would be entirely different, and probably not for the better. While some of the recent feature updates have been fine, I still can’t believe these three features haven’t made it into the software after all this time.