Today I’ll be taking a look at the art of improving a picture after the shot. I’ll be demonstrating how to emphasize the subject and remove distractions in an already well-exposed photo, using a series of careful post-edits.

Today we’ll once again be taking a look at fixing a specific picture—to help you bridge the gap from theory to real-world work on fixing real-world photos. This shot was taken in poor light conditions—under hard light. We’ll be softening the light to get a picture that’s easier on the eyes. We will use Zoner Photo Studio for all the needed edits. You’re very welcome to follow along with us—just download the photo above and then imitate our steps.

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.

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.

Stan Sholik has spent over four decades as a commercial, advertising and illustrative photographer in Orange County, CA. During that time he has developed a national reputation in a wide range of technology-oriented specialties for his clients in the computer, electronics, medical device and food industries.

Stan Sholik has spent over four decades as a commercial, advertising and illustrative photographer in Orange County, CA. During that time he has developed a national reputation in a wide range of technology-oriented specialties for his clients in the computer, electronics, medical device and food industries.

128 128 128. That’s the color code for neutral gray. And neutral gray is extremely important for digital photography. Not only because it’s easy to “hide” (to make it neutral, translucent), but also because you can us this color to easily balance all the other colors in a picture... or even in other pictures.

Invisibility—it’s not just for superheroes! Every good photographer should be able to turn at least partly invisible. That means not calling attention to themselves—trying to not be seen, to blend in with the crowd. These are major building blocks for success when you’re photographing people. Especially if you’re doing street photography, reportage, or events like weddings.

Hollywood has been using color edits to get some fascinating looks for certain films in recent years. The’re especially prominent in war movies like Saving Private Ryan and Fury. Outside film, you’ll find them in Band of Brothers. Contrast and desaturation electrify these works’ atmosphere. The same look does great things for photos too. Read on to learn all about it.

How can you give photos just the right look, one that lets the right colors shine through? The blending modes in Zoner Photo Studio are your friend here—especially the Multiply, Soft light, and Lightness modes. In this article we’ll explain what they are and how they work. Most edits in Zoner Photo Studio lie on a temporary layer until you apply them, and that layer can be blended into the picture in various ways, called modes. To pick the most useful mode for a job, you need to know how modes work and what kinds of image information go best with which modes.