For those celebrating today - a big Merry Christmas to you and yours!

The holidays are filled with food, family, and relaxation. But hey, if you’re just lounging around the house and taking a few days off, then why not get ahead of those 2016 resolutions than to dedicate this time of year to brush up on some new skills. Today, I'm kicking off a 3-part mini series on "Learning through the Holidays"

I’m starting with what I know best - photography. By far the most frequently asked question on my blog is about how I edit my photos. I do everything is done in Photoshop. I have built my own action packs and presets over time, but I also love to dabble in some commercial software created to give images an extra kick.

1. VSCO Film
VSCO is my jam. Not only do I use the VSCO Cam for all my iPhone photo editing, but VSCO Film is my go-to editing software. I put 80% of my digital camera images through VSCO as my starting point. VSCO offers a huge selection of processed film looks that give your images rich and vivid tones that emulated classic negative films.

2. RadLab
I have known about RadLab for a while but didn’t get around to trying the product until I saw Urban Pixxel’s post about it. I downloaded the 14-day trial and was sold immediately. I'm drawn to the simplicity of RadLab and how it allows me to build up an image one “action” at a time, and to eventually create my own ultimate recipe.

3. Mastin Labs
The processed film look is all the craze these days: enter Mastin Labs for even more Film presets. I think I know of more wedding photographers who use Mastin Labs than photographers of any other specialty, but I particularly like the classic looks of the Mastin Labs Fuji Pro Pack. It's perfect for travel images and portraits of all kinds.