Hopefully you all had a happy holiday, got some family time, and a bit new gear. This is your photography news of the week, just in article form. If you want to see Toby's take on things live go try out the NEW Photo Enthusiast Network (PEN) for live videos, Lightroom training, and more. The live show also has a critique, our shot at microstock, Q&A, Discussion, Special PEN content, plus a few surprises!

This Week at Photorec.tv

As we're human and it's the Holidays, not a lot of content went out this week. Hopefully, your holiday was great! But we do have a few things to get through:

• B&H Deals, if you missed yesterday's post there is a bunch of hot sales covering the previous Black Friday sales and more. Check it out at photorec.tv/megadealzone.
• Your Best Photo of 2017. Our yearly tradition to showcase all your shots from our amazing fan base. Entries are over and Toby's cramming atm to get the video out soon for the new year!
• Pen Tuesday Tip - Flip it! - Special PEN content on how your eyes track an image and how to adjust a photo to make the most of it.
• New PEN Critiques - As a new bonus to PEN members beyond the live show critique we'll be starting a new informal tips critique and a harder PPA (Professional Photographers of America) level critique.
• Webinar Coming Soon - As PEN consists of a group of Instructors and not just Toby, we'll be having a live Webinar coming soon for members. Compared to the live show this will be more focused content on specific topics from different instructors and sometimes guests.

While it's cold out try some frozen bubbles as a fun DIY. It's an older article but being that it's that time of the year and starting to get quite cold give it a shot.

Around the Web

We can't cover everything photography news related but we try. For everything else, we've got the best news articles from around the web.Confirmed: DxO says new Nik Collection to be released in 2018The Nik Collection is a great set of tools to boost your editing from things such as noise reduction to a great black and white conversion in Lightroom and Photoshop. It's still free, but bought out by DxO from Google, the worry being that without development it would eventually stop working. With an announcement, it looks like we've got a 2018 version coming soon, just no word on a price if any. If you're interested in the NIK collection get it now at nikcollection.dxo.com.Free Lightroom alternative Darktable is now available on WindowsLooking for a Lightroom alternative now that they've gone to subscription only? Darktable has been ported finally to Windows giving you an option on all platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux) for a free open-source lookalike. If you want to give it a try you can check it out at www.darktable.org.Get Free Unlimited Google Drive StorageFor those that don't have unlimited photo storage with Amazon Prime another great option to backup your photos now is Google Drive's unlimited storage. The catch is you have to be an active student or Alumni with a .EDU email from a school using Google for Education. That said, it's worth the five minutes to find out, you may have a new spot to backup your computer for free (bar the crippling cost of college).Other Stories You Might Like:

• The First 10 Things You Should Do With That New Camera You Received for the Holidays
• When an Email Scammer Poses as a Famous Photographer…
• Is There Really Bad Light: How to Take Awesome Travel Photos in All Lighting Conditions
• Tamron sets up 'VIP Club' for users with four or more registered lenses
• The Power of Resilience as a Photographer
• 52 Week Photography Challenge for 2018
• A happy ending: Police recover stolen limited edition Leica from The Camera Store robbery
• 5 Tips for Photographing in Harsh Midday Sunlight
• What a Lifelong Photographer Has to Say About What Makes a True Photographer
• Photographer Documenting Mother’s Mental Illness Wins TIME’s Instagram Photographer of the Year
• Imatag Uses Invisible Watermarks to Protect Your Photos

Featured Photos Weekly Challenge

It's the holiday season and we've extended our weekly photo challenge on Instagram to two weeks to cover everything holiday All-AT-ONCE. That means you've got until next Wednesday (1/3) at noon to upload your holiday photos and New Years shots. Simply throw them up on Instagram with the tag #PRTV_holiday2. That does cover a lot so that means it could be portraits like Manfella's kiddos below, decorations, a New Years ball drop, yummy food, or something else you enjoy to shoot.

For more info, the schedule, and past top picks go check out photorec.tv/prtv. Try out some of Toby's Instagram Tips. For everything else Instagram, tag those shots #PRTV and #penlive for our daily photo features.

Photos from Space

Stunning Time-Lapse of SpaceX Falcon9 Rocket LaunchMore space-related, but the story that had the news coverage this week is the SpaceX rocket launch from Vandenberg Airforce base on the 22nd. While not UFOs Jesse Watson was set up early and caught the action in this great timelapse you can check out above. A big bonus to The Photographer's Ephermeris (GET THIS APP<-) and Google Maps for nailing the location. This was shot with a Nikon D810, Sony a6500, and Sony a7S II for this great view in 1,315 images.Also: Idaho Gets First International Dark Sky Reserve in the United StatesPick up a "Major Tom" spaceman LED light for your computer today. Part of Toby's Photos from space segment and it helps support the site. Click here to buy your own Major Tom on Amazon.

That's it for this week and hopefully, you guy's like the new content. For PEN members we'll be back next year (week) live so go sign up. If you guy's like the highlights leave us comments on the social media posts and this may be a weekly thing!