Modern softboxes and stands aren’t as expensive as they used to be. Still, it might not make sense for beginners to invest too much in them before they know whether they’ll use them or what size they’ll need. With this inexpensive DIY cardboard softbox, you can easily experiment and test different shapes and sizes.

Need to remove the background from a photo but don’t want to spend time manually selecting the subject? With Zoner Studio’s AI-powered tools, you can do it in just a few clicks. AI automatically detects the main subject and removes the background for you.

A mirror is an ordinary object everyone has at home. However, in photography,  a mirror can become a surprisingly versatile prop. It can hide certain things, reveal something outside the frame, divide an image into several parts, or connect two completely different worlds.

From his first point-and-shoot camera and a childhood fascination with nature to becoming a Zoner Studio ambassador, Kevin Bruseby describes how he found his own direction in photography in this personal story. He also shares why he decided to focus on nature and storytelling, and how editing became an integral part of his creative process.

Bokeh isn't just about how much a lens blurs the background. Its appearance is determined by an entire range of optical properties—from the shape of the aperture blades to internal lens design and optical aberrations. Let’s take a look at how bokeh is rendered, what causes “cat’s eyes” and “onion rings,” and how your camera body itself can influence the appearance of bokeh.

A wide-angle lens gives you a beautiful shot with great depth but those distant mountains turn into tiny bumps on the horizon. The solution is a technique called focal length blending—combining two or more photos taken at different focal lengths into a single image that looks natural, even though it couldn’t be captured in a single frame. In this article, I’ll show you how to take the photos, where to place the transition, and how to avoid the most common blending mistakes.

As photographers, we are constantly searching for what we’re doing wrong. But sometimes it isn’t a mistake that’s holding us back, but rather something we keep doing the same way over and over again. A habit that once helped us can become a barrier that stops us from experimenting, making decisions, and developing our own signature style. Here are six photography habits that are worth reevaluating.

A square photograph is not just a cropped rectangle. With a 1:1 aspect ratio, it changes the way we work with composition, symmetry, rhythm, and negative space. In this article, I’ll show you how photographers like Vivian Maier and Roman Franc have come to love the square format, how it influences the way they perceive their images, and how you can master square composition—even if your camera only shoots in a rectangular format.

Water is one of the most rewarding subjects in photography. You can freeze water into sharp droplets and splashes, or use long exposures to transform it into a smooth, silky mist. You can also experiment with wet glass or oil and water to create truly unique photos at home.

Diagonal composition is one of the most effective compositional techniques in photography. It adds movement, depth, and tension to an image and naturally guides the viewer’s eye through the frame. In this article, I‘ll show you how to use diagonals in landscape, portrait, and action photography, when they work best, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.