Having an eye for photography is about more than just having an eye for great composition. It also means you know how to see light, and when to take your picture. If you’re lucky and catch a “fever” for photography, then the basics like light and composition will become so natural for you that you won’t even think about them—just do them.

There are many ways to approach photography. When something catches a beginner’s eye, they just point, and click. (What innocent bliss!) With experience, photographers start thinking about subject placement and the Golden Ratio. But have you ever thought about taking composition to the extreme, for example by shrinking the main subject until it’s almost invisible, or by practically eliminating the background? That’s minimalism. What do you get after that? Well, if you want to take a break from the sea of Christmas ornaments around you, read on.

Christmas is drawing near, and so we’re here with inspiring answers to the question: what do you give a photographer? Although the best gift of all is the new Zoner Photo Studio 17, today we’ll be bringing you lots of tips on other ways to bring joy to every photographer.

Have you ever wondered on Earth you should shoot to RAW files? After all, they’re huge, and they have to be developed on a PC before use. Today we’ll look at some areas where RAW has the upper hand.

Most photographers disdain phone cameras and scorn their use. They own a DSLR or other high-quality equipment, so why would they ever shoot with a mere telephone? But are things really as simple here as they seem?

There are lots of roads to ruined pictures. Dirt and sensor defects are two of them. How can you uncover and solve these problems?

People who are just photography consumers—non-photographers—often envy professionals for the models (the “naked” models!) they photograph. But there’s nothing simple about this photographic discipline, where your photos can easily end up as kitsch that flatters neither your model, nor you.

We recently caught up with Orman, a devote user of Zoner Photo Studio, and chatted about the photography profession, where her inspiration comes from, and of course, the fun she has had diving into Zoner Photo Studio.

We recently offered some advice on how to choose a camera bag. This time, we’ll tell you what ought to be in it besides just a camera. We’ll start from the basics, but we have some surprises for you at the end.

Today we’ll look behind the scenes of one type of commercial photography. You’ll learn the whats and hows of preparing to photograph fashion models. And you’ll see how this work reaches beyond just photography—it’s largely about meeting, calling, and communicating with people.