Have you just started using your first camera? Are you but still at the stage where you don’t really know your camera—but you’re already sure that you love photography? Then this article is for you. The camera in your hands is probably a nice compact or a beginner DSLR. Read on for some beginners’ tips that will help you to get to know your camera.

Inspiration for photos can come from anywhere—even from a video. In today’s article, we’ll be following the story of a photo inspired by a Pink Floyd video: the birth of its idea, the shoot preparation, the shoot itself, and the post-editing. If you like the picture’s final style, then try to recreate it! All you’ll need is a camera and a lens, plus Zoner Photo Studio for the post-editing.

A camera’s built-in light meter measures the level of incident light and adjusts aperture, shutter speed, and ISO based on that. Your exposure mode setting determines how your camera will work with the light levels that it measures. Depending on the mode, the camera will either adjustments fully automatically, or leave you a certain amount of control over a photo’s final tonality. Meanwhile in manual mode, the meter has no effect on the exposure settings at all. What exposure modes do DSLRs offer and how are they useful? We’ll be answering these questions in today’s article.

Among the many new features in the latest version of Zoner Photo Studio is the High Pass effect, a tool that helps photographers like you to sharpen photos and increase their contrast. Ah, but how? Read on to find out.

You’ve probably heard of gray cards in connection with white balancing. But there’s also another use that, while it may sound strange, is perfectly sensible: getting a firm grip on exposure.

There are many categories in photography. And each of them has subcategories, and below these, sub-subcategories. So finding your place in photography isn’t easy—there are so many places to find. It often takes years before a photographer finds a style. But how will you know when you’ve found the right field for you? You might find the answer in today’s article—which contains a bit of philosophizing.

Camera-shopping lately? You can avoid nasty surprises and grow as a photographer by knowing how camera focusing systems work. There are several different systems with different advantages and disadvantages. Learn them and keep them in mind, and you’ll take clearer pictures—and maybe save money too!

The summer months bring heat, with heat the sun, and with the sun, sharp light. For a photographer, harsh and direct light is among the most unpleasant light there is.

When you’re getting started in photography, even camera settings can be a sack of troubles. Now add to this the fact that sometimes you pull out your camera or cell phone and quickly snap a picture without thinking. In portrait photography, this can spoil your picture—it can deform your subject’s face. So—how do portrait photos look when taken at different focal lengths? And what should you do to keep from ruining your portrait photos? Read on to find out!

Amateur photographer Mark Johnston lives with his wife and two children in Owensboro, Kentucky. We discovered Mark a short while ago on Zonerama. We didn’t wait a moment and wrote in to ask him if he as a power user of Zoner Photo Studio would answer a few photography questions for us.