I was in the hta.access file and was trying to add code to upgrade the php version to 5.4 and got 500 errors? This is what the code looks like in the file RewriteEngine off

    suPHP_ConfigPath /home/neenah/public_html/php.ini
            order allow,deny

deny from all

got the other issue fixed then stumbled into this one shortly thereafter./Bob

Well, that certainly is not the standard Zenphoto .htaccess file.
It's probably best to contact your host.

It depends on host to host how you change php versions. Some use a user.ini or php.ini within a folder to switch, some htaccess. On some you may even not be allowed.

If you placed that htaccess instead of the ZP one that is most likely not to work.

Sun Nov 17 07:22:35 2013] [alert] [client 66.249.74.185] /home3/neenah/.htaccess: without matching section this is straight from the log error page/Bob

Sorry, this error message does not really mean anything without context. Install ZP as described on the installation page and use the original Zenphoto htaccess file as created by setup.

What ever your wish to do via htaccess you have to add it to that htaccess file (or however your host allows php version switching). You cannot have two htaccess files within a folder.