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Alex Coleman
Phoenix, AZ

Articles written by Alex Coleman

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.

Why Eye AF Is All Anyone Talks About

So much of the discourse surrounding the latest cameras is usually about Eye AF: how fast it is, how consistent, is camera X’s better than camera Y’s. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just because it’s the latest buzzword.

The Analog Look in Lightroom: A Review of RNI’s All Films Pack

There’s a lot of options in the preset and profiles space, but in my experience, one has stood above the rest. If you’re looking to bring a bit of analog spirit to your images, here’s why RNI's All Films 5 pack is the product you should get.

Did Photoshop’s New Feature Just Crush This AI Product?

One of the latest buzzwords in tech and editing has been AI. While the earliest implementations were a bit of a gimmick, powerful tools and developments from companies like Adobe, NVIDIA, and Luminar have brought AI to the end-user in a meaningful way. Photoshop’s March 2021 update introduces a new AI tool that promises massive resolution improvements for any camera. Does it live up to the hype?

Creative Lighting Without Limits? Fstoppers Reviews the Godox TL60

Whether you’re a photographer or videographer, you know the difference lighting can make in creating a compelling shot. While there are dozens of tools and techniques you can leverage in your next shoot, the Godox TL60 tube light might offer the creative possibilities you’re looking for, particularly for video work. Want to see what makes it so special?

The Perfect Entry to Off-Camera Flash? The Godox AD100Pro Reviewed

Godox’s line of flashes, including the incredibly popular AD200 and V1, have become a mainstay of the on and off-camera lighting market. They’ve become so popular, in part, thanks to the surprising value and feature set offered at each price point. As a result, the AD100Pro, a new addition to the line, has quite the legacy to live up to. Has it earned a place in photographer’s bags?

Clever Ways To Speed up Photoshop and Lightroom on Your Existing Hardware

If you’re in the market for a speed boost when editing, times are tough. AMD’s new 5000 series processors are incredible, and NVIDIA’s 3000 series cards are blazing fast, but both are incredibly difficult to find. Until you can get your hands on some new hardware, there’s still some smart ways to improve your computer’s performance in Lightroom and Photoshop.

The Lark 150 Microphone System Reviewed: Effortless Wireless Audio

Getting good audio is essential to creating a quality video. The Lark 150 from Hollyland is positioned as a turnkey solution for easily recording two subjects without the need for a tangle of wires. Whether you’re just getting started with video or are looking for a competent wireless option, you’ve got to hear what this piece of kit can do!

ACDSee Photo Studio's Color Wheels Are Great for Refining Color in Travel Photos

In my look at the new features of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, I was excited to see the inclusion of color wheels and tone wheels. I first started using this style of editor in video production; it’s a big part of what gives stylized video like Mad Max its distinctive look. When editing photos, however, it’s a great, intuitive way of working with the luminosity and color ranges in your image.

Got a Bad Gift? Here Are 5 Ways to Turn It Into Something Useful

If you ended up with oven mitts and no gift receipt instead of the 50mm lens you actually wanted, all hope isn’t lost. Whether you’ve got it easy with an Amazon gift card or are trying to find a way to use store credit to Home Depot, every store has at least something that can come in handy as a photographer.

Godox Launches Their Take on RGB Tube Lights: The Godox TL60

One lighting trend I've found particularly interesting has been the emergence of RGB tube lights. Godox has just launched their TL60 tube light that brings a few unique features to the space. If you're looking for a unique way to light your next photo or video shoot, are these the ones you should pick up?

Resolve 17 Studio: An Incredible Value

My favorite editing software, DaVinci Resolve, has just released the newest version, and for a limited time, you can get a full license to the latest version and an incredibly powerful keyboard editing interface for just the price of the license alone. The Speed Editor bundle includes a purpose-built portable keyboard with a unique set of features, including dedicated keyboard shortcuts and a weighted search dial. Want to know what makes it such a good value?