Photos are fairly easy. The trick is you need to upload them to a photo-hosting site such as TinyPic. Copy the Direct Link for Layouts and stick it in your copy where you want the photo to be, no coding required. Put a caption below that if you want one. Learn to center or make full-width later.

There are several ways to format copy, as you may have discovered. I use this coding for links: [copy you want to appear](full link address), but that may not work with all formatting methods.