Definitely don’t throw out that old Leica gathering dust in your attic! Or any other film camera you’ve got. Considering today’s super-sensitive sensors with an ever-growing megapixel count, the old analogs might look like dinosaurs riding a modern retro wave, but they actually can serve better than you think.

When you’re outdoors with your friends or a model and you want to take a few portraits, nature is quite the ideal backdrop. It’s right there, with hardly any “do not enter” signs, and there’s so much of it around you that you can take even quite wide shots without including passersby.

There’s a wide range of retouching techniques out there, but you may be surprised to learn that one of the most effective and universal portrait techniques is to just lighten and darken certain spots. Read on to learn how to shine with this technique.

Practically every digital photographer has to do edits sometimes. And meanwhile, you only need a few simple edits to take your pictures to the next level. Below we’ll be showing you several of them.

We see the world in color, and cameras can reliably record the colors we see. Despite this, a black and white conversion will often make a photo better. When does black and white pay off?

Having your photo files tagged with GPS coordinates is very practical. Not only do they let you know where exactly you took each photo, but also, using a track log you can see the path you took on your trip and how your photos lead across the map.

Sometimes your pictures can end up with a tilted horizon or oddly-leaning objects that are supposed to be standing straight up. But don’t despair—you don’t have to delete photos like these. Just straighten them in a photo editor.

The main disadvantage of macro shots is their low depth of field. Everyone recommends a tight aperture, but in practice even that won’t get you really sharp macro. But there’s another option—taking multiple shots at varying depths and joining them on a computer.

Have you ever racked your brains because the RAW developer in Zoner Photo Studio produced results that slightly differed from the camera’s JPEGs—for example brighter or differently colored? The problem’s not with you, nor is it with ZPS. It’s a side effect of camera manufacturers’ trade secrets.

Practically every photo is vignetted at least a little. Sometimes you want this, other times you don’t. But either way it’s not a curse, because there are tools for suppressing vignetting—or even adding it. Do you know how and when to use them?