Lytro camera - a new view on photography

Years ago camera technology changed when the average consumer was able to purchase a digital camera, and no longer was required to purchase film later paying to have it developed. The digital camera changed photography drastically in the late 1990's. I remember clearly back in 1999 when a neighbor of mine permitted me to use her digital - wow! Then, as she requested, after snapping some pictures outside of trees, flowers, and other objects in nature we connected the camera to her workstation, and minutes later the photos appeared on the screen - amazing!

1999 came and went quickly followed by the dreaded year 2000 and the rollover of Y2K (nothing really happened no laptops to my knowledge blew up). In that year of Y2K recovery I received my first digital camera. It was around 0.3 megapixel; however, it was in color! I was unable to preview the camera for it is a very, extremely simplistic digital (for fun read about the first digital photography back in 1975).Okay, skip forward twelves years to 2012. Are you amazed on the quality of megapixels offered in the photography world...? If not, you should be stupefied with jaw-dropping jealously! 

2012 - Cannon, Pentax, Fuji, Nikon, Sony, they are selling expensive Digital SLR Cameras with wide angle, zoom lens, external flash attachments, and even remote controls. I don't disagree with the price; although, it quickly becomes out of hand when you purchase accessories and the extra lens. Nevertheless, with practice, much coaching, a class or two, and post five-thousand "test" pictures you'd be amazed how great these D-SLR photographs turn out! But, what about the focus? What about the depth of the picture?

2011 - Lytro

Directly from their website, Lytro - a new camera. A new way to take and experience pictures. The feature of variable depth of field and refocusing were amazing photographic experience. The photographs snapped gave the ability to change the focal point. Many pictures were ruined simply because the camera moved at the wrong moment or the subject moved, was too far away, or there were objects in the way. The Lytro technology changes all of this. After using the camera the 30-day trial period I returned it. For me, the camera was more of a gimmick and could not justify the  $299.00 price tag. It was great fun to use the camera, very easy, battery life was great and then the sharing came into play. The audience I shared with had a difficult time editing the pictures and it initially slow to change the focus. Here are some details on their wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytro

2012 - the iPhone camerasAfter purchasing the Apple iPhone 3G back in 2009 it was an addiction I knew so little about. 50,000 photographs later the models keep coming. In 2012 it was the iPhone 5. The software continued to change as did camera hardware. Apple kept adding more, and more, and more functionality tempting you to upgrade each year. Well, not every year did I succumb to their tricky advertising, okay, most years I did.

2016 - the iPhone 7 Plus released
October, 2016 passed far too slowly as I patiently awaited the shipment of the iPhone 7 Plus. I took far to long for they were on back order. Today as I finish this article, August 30, 2017, nearly a year passed by and yes, I still port the same smartphone, the exact same one. No major software or hardware issues warranted a return or exchange for the first time in years. Even better, I've kept it leaving in a shock-proof case to avoid breakage. Apple has made far too much money off me in replacing cracked screens. The addition to taking pictures has transformed into a healthy hobby of photography. With the

iPhone Timeline

2007 iPhone

2008 iPhone 3G  

Original iPhone and the iPhone 3G on the right

2009 iPhone 3GS 

2010 iPhone 4

2011 - iPhone 4S

2012 - iPhone 5

2013 - iPhone 5S

2013 - a variant of the iPhone 5 was the iPhone 5C

2014 - iPhone 6

2014 - iPhone 6 Plus

2015 - iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus, and yes, they looked very much like the six series with upgraded screens, hardware, and more awesome software.

2016 - iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus - new camera lens!

* photo courtesy of the Apple.com website - https://www.apple.com/iphone-7/

Yeah, the iPhone 7 Plus has been my overall favorite for the camera lenses. It snaps amazing pictures with both light, depth, clarity, color, and a crispness many love. The screen is large, and this is the biggest smartphone I have ever owned. At times I have missed the size of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6, alas, it is worth the trouble of caring a large phone to capture the great photographs. Here's a Google album of a few of my favorite photographs captured over the past 10 months: https://goo.gl/photos/Dz3yRRPzNA4L3gX38

2017 - iPhone 8 - we'll know more on September 12, 2017