Get Started Challenge #3 – Close Up

The Get Started Challenge is a 4-week series that uses themes and hashtags to help new Lytro camera owners get started and get inspired by each other. Check out all the Challenges.

For this third Challenge, we switch to using Creative Mode, which lets you control the refocus range of your living pictures. This mode allows you to shoot subjects that are extremely close to the lens, closer than four inches and even touching the lens. This is a great mode for shooting food – or anything else with tiny details such as jewelry, plants and insects.

Need help setting up this shot? It is just like the first shot in the “More Control with Creative Mode” video when Chris shows off his foodie tendencies by taking a close up, extreme macro shot of strawberries:

  • To activate Creative Mode, swipe up on the main screen then tap on the box on left. You’ll notice a blue border appears to indicate you’re in creative mode.
  • Get really close. You can almost touch the object you are shooting if that is how you want to frame your shot.
  • Tap the screen to set what you want to refocus around before you press the shutter. Make sure that the part of the object that is closest to you appears a little blurry on the screen.
  • Try shooting this picture a few times from slightly different distances to see how it affects your living pictures.

Share your favorite pictures. Post it to our Facebook Wall or share it on Twitter with the hashtag #lytroshowme. If we reshare your picture on Facebook, Twitter or the blog, we’ll send you a Lytro T-shirt.

Experiment. Get Creative. Happy Shooting!

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  • Lisa

    Just wanted to say I am horribly jealous of anyone who has this camera. I want it so bad it hurts. :( This challenge makes it worse because macro photos of flowers and pretty stuff is my passion! Come to Canada soon please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://identify.us.com Peter Nelson

    Would appreciate hearing from any Lytro users that have experience with or an interest in microscopy level imagery and add-ons to support various magnification levels from say 10x on up to 400x.

    • Richard

      Hi Peter,
      I have played around with this some and had contacted Lytro about 8 months ago regarding such an ideal. They appear to be focusing on the consumer arena right now. I have played with objectives and lens that I had laying around the lab. We managed to get some decent images by “taping” a unit together.

  • http://www.nga.gov Michael Skalka

    I would love to work with the features of the camera and experiment with the macro abilities of the camera – as soon as you get the Windows software released. Until then, I can’t download or work with the images.