New to Sony colour? Start here — the one concept plus one complete recipe (The Daily) to prove it works. Love it and want all 8 mood recipes? Upgrade to the full Sony Colour Guide.

The one idea that makes your Sony colours look intentional before you ever open an editing app, plus one complete recipe you can dial in today.

If your photos look a little flat straight out of the camera, here is the good news: it is almost never the camera. Your Sony is set to neutral, waiting for you to tell it what you want.

This short guide gives you the one idea that changes everything, plus one complete recipe you can set up today. It is the same thing behind every photo you have ever seen that looked "edited" but somehow also looked effortless: the colour was baked in before the shutter ever clicked.

Get this one concept, try the recipe, and your photos will look intentional before you open a single editing app. That is how you start beating the editing accusations: by not editing at all.

This works across most Sony cameras. Colour settings travel between bodies far better than exposure settings do, so whether you shoot a ZV-1, an RX100VII, an a6000-series, or a newer Creative Look body, you have a starting point. The guide leads with Creative Style (what most of you are shooting) and gives the Creative Look translation underneath.

WHAT'S INSIDE

• The Secret Sauce: the two-control idea behind every "is that edited?" photo

• How to read a recipe, so every future recipe makes sense at a glance

• The Daily: one complete, tested recipe that works on every Sony, Creative Style and Creative Look translation included

• Where the magic actually lives (the White Balance shift most people never touch)

• A clear path into the full Secret Sauce library when you want more moods

WHO THIS IS FOR

For Sony shooters who love their photos in the moment but feel like the colour falls a little flat once it is on the screen. If you have ever wondered how other people get that rich, holds-its-colour look without hours of editing, this is the foundation. Total beginners welcome: it is just photography, not rocket science.

This guide gives you the concept and one complete recipe to prove it works. When you are ready for the full library, eight tested mood recipes for golden hour, saturated sunsets, clean coastal days and more, the complete Sony Colour Guide is where the rest of them live.