Day Three with the Lytro, continued

Greetings, all of you shoot-now-focus-later types…

I spent the afternoon walking at Morro Bay State Park, and on the Morro Strand State Beach with my new Lytro camera. It was a gorgeous day (almost 80 degrees).

A sand dollar at Morro Strand State Beach, on the central coast of California. You can click on this “Living Picture” to experiment with focus-after-the-fact. I apologize for the crooked horizon; I couldn’t see the viewfinder very well in the bright sunlight.

I used the camera quite a bit, composing images with something in the foreground, and something interesting in the background. Morro Rock, at 581 feet, makes just such an interesting subject. Folks who live in that seaside town call it their “pet rock.”

The Lytro is behaving as advertised. Working with it in bright sunlight proved to exceptionally difficult, so I shaded the camera with my baseball cap when taking photos this afternoon. It was the only way I could see anything on that LCD viewfinder.

Mine! One of Morro Bay’s finest seagulls stands atop Signal Rock, at the entrance to Morro Bay. You can click on the background or the bird to change the focus of this image.

But it still makes interesting photos. I continue to see promise in this technology. It could find its way into scientific cameras, medical optics, and it could be used for forensic photography. At its current resolution it wouldn’t be very valuable, but it won’t take long for the Lytrologists to come out with a “pro” version of this clever camera.

If I could make a suggestion to the Lytro company, it would be to add a tripod socket, which would allow the camera to be used for studio photography more easily.

End of Day Three: I am still impressed with this camera. I was stopped by two women who had read about the camera in the New York Times. They asked me what it’s for. I answered that it’s a technology demonstration, the first of a whole new generation of digital devices as yet unknown.

I liken it to the first digital cameras. What’s it for? Wait and see!

 

About Brian Lawler

Brian Lawler is an Emeritus Professor of Graphic Communication at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and was a Guest Professor at Hochschule München from September, 2021 to September, 2022. He writes about graphic arts processes and technologies for various industry publications, and on his blog, The Blognosticator.
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One Response to Day Three with the Lytro, continued

  1. Stephen Vance says:

    Alright, alright … enough! You’re hurting me. I’m ordering my Lytro today.

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