Submit your favorite living pictures. Each month of the contest, the judges will choose five finalists to win $250. One finalist will be chosen as the grand prize winner and have their cash doubled to $500, plus be invited to become a Lytro Pro Shooter. Photographers may use any of the Lytro camera’s features, including Living Filters and Perspective Shift as well as Manual Controls to show their creativity.

Don’t have a Lytro camera? You could win one by voting for your favorite living picture. Vote for your favorite living picture and you could win an 8GB Lytro Light Field Camera. Three cameras will be awarded each month of the contest.

Vote or submit your picture at http://contest.lytro.com

FAQs:
When does the contest start? The submission and voting period opens Wednesday, May 1.
How do photographers win? Winners are chosen based on a combination of votes and judges evaluation.
What are the prizes? Five finalists will each win $250. One will take the grand prize and have their cash doubled to $500, plus they will be invited to become a Lytro Pro Shooter.
Who is eligible to enter the contest?Anyone age 18 or older.
Can I win if I don’t have a Lytro camera? You’ll be eligible to win a special sweepstakes for voters, with a chance to win Lytro cameras.
Will I need a Facebook account to submit a picture? No. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you may choose to use your Twitter credentials to verify your identity.

Previously, tapping the screen while in Creative Mode set the middle of the refocus range. Now, you’ll just tap the object in your composition that’s most interesting to you, and that’s what will be in focus.

The current zoom position, focus position, and relative distances are all automatically taken into account under this new approach to establish the refocus range for your picture. The goal is to simplify capturing great Creative Mode shots.

Want to try it out? Simply plug in your camera to your computer to update your camera’s firmware.

Give it a go then share your pictures or let us know what you think of the change by posting to the comments.

Jason comes to Lytro with more than 20 years of experience at important companies that helped shape tech history. He’s held leadership positions at HP, Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), AOL and Netscape. He also served as CEO of social media pioneer Ning, which was acquired by Glam Media. Jason joins Lytro from Silver Lake, a global technology investment firm, where he was an Operating Executive.

We are excited about where Jason’s talents will take us…and the future of light field technology. And we extend our deepest thanks to Charles Chi, who served as our interim CEO during our search for Jason and who will stay deeply involved and remain on our board of directors, representing Greylock Partners. Our founder and former CEO Ren Ng, who has transitioned to Lytro’s executive chairman, continues to focus his energies on the product roadmap and helping us advance light field science.

Jason Rosenthal Bio

Jason R. Rosenthal is the CEO of Lytro, Inc., where he brings a breadth of marketing and business experience to Lytro’s executive team.

Prior to joining Lytro, Jason was an Operating Executive at Silver Lake, a global technology investment firm.

Previously, Jason served on the executive teams at Ning, HP, and Opsware (formerly Loudcloud). He has also worked on the product teams at Netscape and AOL. Rosenthal began his career working for Rebuild LA, the inner city economic development organization founded in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots by Peter Ueberroth.

Rosenthal holds a B.A. in history from Pomona College where he also serves on the board of trustees and he received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

On March 19th, just over a week into his year-long project, Hanlin shared the picture below, “Small in size, tall in ambition,” with us on Facebook. We shared the picture as part of a Lytro Blog post about some of our new light field photographers.

A year later, his picture has over 100,000 views and the count continues to grow. We liked the whimsy of his picture, and asked him if we could use it on the Lytro website to demonstrate the nine Living Filters that we launched in November.

When we updated the Lytro camera experience to include manual controls, Hanlin started sharing experiments, including this lightpainting self-portrait.

Thank you Hanlin, for sharing your creativity, curiosity and experimentation with us. Your photography inspires us. See all 365 of Hanlin’s pictures and click on the hearts below the pictures to let Hanlin know which are your favorites.

We are joining Disney on a multi-city Journey to Oz Balloon Tour to bring Oz to life for the first time ever in light field pictures. The “Oz” hot-air balloon has started its tour around the country with Lytro photographers capturing the excitement of the balloon’s visit.

Check out interactive map on Disney’s official Facebook app to check out pictures from the following destinations:

• Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood
• Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California
• Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida (coming soon)
• Central Park in New York City (coming after the balloon’s March 5th & 6th visit)

Fans who visit Disney’s Facebook app will also have an opportunity to unlock screenings in cities across the country. Vote by tweeting with the hashtag for your city (i.e. #DisneyOzSanFrancisco) or sharing your vote on Facebook. The movie premieres nationwide on March 8th

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has kicked off in New York and Style Network is bringing you the first light field pictures from the runway. Lytro’s Director of Photography, Eric Cheng, is in New York capturing vibrant moments everywhere from behind the scenes to the streets of New York City.

Check out picture galleries from Czar by Cesar Galindo, L. Catherine London and 4 Corners of a Circle and Hope McGrath/Nastuko Kanno.

PhotoCamp is open to all, SXSW attendees and locals alike. We’ll offer unique sessions on the evolution of photography, digital asset management and offer a Photographer Meet Up. Make time on Monday, March 11 between 11am and 6pm to head across the street from the Austin Convention Center to 101 Red River.

Find out how you could win Lytro cameras during both PhotoCamp and SXSW Create.

If you can’t join us in person, make sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see pictures and updates.

You also can check out TechCrunch’s interview with Lytro directory of photography, Eric Cheng, or play with the living pictures that The Huffington Post used in their roundup of the best gadgets at CES 2013.

Are you ready for the biggest college football game of the year? The BCS Championship game is coming up and we’ve Lytro-ized a potential winner! Who do you think will win the big game, Notre Dame or Alabama?