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Unless you’re a professional portrait photographer with a well-equipped studio, the best way to make pleasing people pictures is to keep things simple and either shoot outdoors under good light, or use a basic indoor setup at home. In this tutorial, you’ll see how to do the latter with a technique that delivers dramatic results.

Regular readers know that I emphasize in these columns the idea of visualizing opportunities that will set your images apart from the rest. There is another aspect to that idea, and that’s setting your images apart from each other. In other words, adding variety to your photography by adding, and even combining, techniques.

If there’s one universal truth that applies to whatever type of photographs you shoot, it’s this: If you don’t compose a scene properly, the image you capture won’t have as much visual power as possible. And despite our best efforts to frame photos correctly in the camera, a bit of cropping is occasionally necessary during the editing process.

Shooting something like rocket launches takes a whole lot of planning and talent no doubt, and this wasn’t Brady Kenniston’s first experience in the trade.

Let’s face it: we’ve all seen, taken, edited, judged, read, or written about so many photographs over so many years, sometimes we get…well, jaded. Then, if we’re lucky, along comes something that delivers a jolting reminder of the surprise and delight photography is capable of delivering.

One sure way to gain inspiration and a better understanding of what make a great image is to study the work of renowned artists—be they photographers or other masters of the visual arts. In the fascinating video below, you’ll see how one pro landscape photographer learned to capture images with dramatic light, by scrutinizing the famous paintings of Rembrandt.

Superzoom point-and-shoot cameras are an attractive option for everyone from casual shooters to serious enthusiasts because they provide unmatched versatility and value, typically in compact, portable packages. Here are our 7 favorites.