Tip: Photographing “the present”

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Eric Cheng

Internalizing Lytro light field photography techniques can take time and practice, but there’s an easy one that you can master in no time at all. Get a friend to hold an interesting object out in front of him or her and take a picture, holding your camera really close to the object. We call this picture “the present” (as in the verb, not the noun).

Here’s a living picture of Alex, one of Lytro’s handsome designers, presenting his friend’s band’s CD:

… and here’s a picture of me taking that shot. I’m zoomed out all the way (full wide), and the front of my camera is about 4″ away from the CD. Note that 4″ means 4″—not 6″, 8″ or 12″. I’ve had Alex tilt the CD so it takes up less of the frame.
Continue reading →

Get Started Challenge #1 – Show Me

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Lytro

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 the first Challenge, we’ll create compelling re-focusable portraits of your friends and family by asking them to show you something they hold precious or interesting. Need help setting up this shot? It’s just like the sample shot Chris takes of his friend Katie in the “Get to know the Basics” video:

Zoom all the way out by making sure the zoom slider is all the way to the left.
Get super close to the object your friend is holding in their outstretched hand. You know you are close enough when the object starts to get visibly out of focus on your camera screen.
Frame their face in the background then press the shutter button.
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!

Get Started Challenge #2 – Local Landmarks

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Lytro

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 the second Challenge, bring the classic travel shot home by making interactive pictures of your favorite people in front of their favorite neighborhood places. Need help setting up this shot? It is very similar to the second tip in the “Get to know the Basics” video when Chris takes a picture of Nicole with Steve (nice face!) in the background:

Rather than putting the camera super close to your friend’s face, you can stand a few feet back and use the zoom to frame your shot.
Zoom in, moving the zoom slider to the right until your friend’s face fills about 1/4 of the frame.
Fill the remainder of the frame with all or part of their favorite neighborhood landmark in the background, then press the shutter button.
Try shooting this picture a few times from different angles and distances to see how it affects your living pictures. For example, if the landmark is farther off in the background, your picture will have greater refocus.

Experiment. Get Creative. Happy Shooting!