For many, Christmas is the most magical time of the year. The family is together, and it would be a shame not to document them together too. “Document” them? Yes—because Christmas photography can be about more than just children before the tree. How should you approach this task, and what equipment should you use? Read on to find out.

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.

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.

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 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.

The lens is the part of your camera that you need to protect against scratches, impacts, dirt, and more. You can protect your lens using a lens hood and a UV filter. Choosing a lens hood is simple, but what about the UV filter? Which brands are good, and what do the more expensive UV filters offer, when they’re “just a piece of glass?”

Transporting photo equipment may seem like a simple issue, but it’s not. You need to safely get your gear to a shoot, take your pictures, and safely get things back home. You’ll need different gear for every discipline and genre, and your choice of photo equipment bag will need to adapt to that.

You’re always going to have an inspiration that will influence your work. And it won’t always stay the same. As your photography matures, so will your photos—and your inspirations. It’s important to have a model or idol in your work. It motivates you to take better and better pictures! Your photographic inspiration can be a photo, a photographer, a movie, life itself, or even an event you want to respond to.

The first successful photograph of motion was taken by photographer and inventor Eadweard Muybridge in 1878, using a technique called chronophotography. This was part of his study called “The Horse in Motion.” In this article we’d like to talk about how to freeze motion, and also how to highlight it by blurring certain parts of a picture.