We haven't had much rain around here this season. So when we had a storm move through here earlier this week, I was a bit excited that one of my favorite day trip locations might actually have received a bit of snow. I was hoping there was enough snow to be able to take my iPhone and my DSLR along to capture some incredible photos.

So with a couple of friends and their children, we made the drive to Yosemite yesterday. We took along layers of clothing, expecting it to be a bit on the chilly side and possibly see some snow on the valley floor.

Unfortunately, the snow that fell on Tuesday had no chance of lasting with our warm spring temperatures. Even though we didn't see any snow in Yosemite Valley, the tops of the towering granite mountains had enough snow to add just a bit of a reminder that it really is still early spring.

On our way out of the park, we did stop at one of my favorite spots to take a photo:

Before photo, straight from my iPhone with no edits and no filters

Once I arrived back home, I took a bit of time to edit this photo with a new photo editing app:

What app did I use? I have been experimenting with Enlight. Not sure how I found out about this app, but I am loving all of the features of this app. Now, I am not usually one to pay for an app, but because I love photography, I decided the price was worth it.

On the Enlight blog and their Facebook page, they are starting to share some tutorials on how to use some of the features contained in the app to help you create some incredible images.

If you give Enlight a shot, be sure to tag me in one of your photos on Instagram. I would love to see what you create!

One of my goals this year was to 'improve my photography by working through books and tutorials'. Of course when I wrote that goal, I fully intended to be working with my Nikon D3100 camera. But life gets busy and I have not put in the time I was hoping to when I initially wrote that goal.

What I did discover recently though was an iPhone photography course by David Molnar which has really changed the way I think about photography and editing. When I first starting shooting pictures with a digital camera, I was all about trying to shoot the best picture I could without having to do any editing. However, what David teaches in his course is that you edit to recreate the feeling you felt when you took the picture. So sometimes that means a bit of tweaking.

Let me show you a couple of examples:

Here is a before photo of cream puffs...

...and here is the after. Which ones would you rather eat?

Before photo I had to stop and take on our way home from my daughter's class. Not really anything wrong, but...

...I love the way the quick edit transform the basic photo into something much more beautiful!

So you may be asking what apps I am using on my iPhone to take and create these photographs. Right now, I have an iPhone 4s and I must say I am really happy that when we got these phones about a year and a half ago, I went with the 4s over just the 4. Most of the time, I use the native camera that comes with the iPhone, but in some cases, I do use Camera+. The Camera+ app gives you more control over your settings than the native camera on the iPhone. And they have even just added a macro setting in their latest update which I am hoping to experiment with more soon.

For editing, Snapseed is my go to app. For one, it is a free app! And there is so much you can do in this one app to recreate what you saw when you took that photo. Even just minor adjustments to the brightness, contrast, saturation, and ambiance of a photo can turn your blah photo into something you want to share with friends.

Speaking of sharing, my favorite place to share my photos has got to be Instagram. As a photographer, I love to see the bits and pieces that my friends share, as well as having a place to quickly share something about my day. Whether it be books that I am reading, some project that I am working on, and the glimpses I see on the day trips we are able to take.

Even though I still love to use my Nikon D3100, I sure do love the convenience of using my iPhone for my daily photography habit.