How To Take A Light Field Photo

Truth be told, the Lytro light field camera is kind of unwieldy. It’s tricky. Because of the unique way that you can focus on any part of a photo after it’s taken, the Lytro excels at a very particular type of shot, where there are clearly articulated subjects in the foreground and background. But if you know what you’re doing, you can pull off some pretty amazing non-traditional photography, particularly if composition is your strong suit. To find the best light-field photos — which are really the best guide on how to take them — Lytro’s running a photo contest that I’m helping to judge. These are some of the best of the bunch.

This was actually favorite of the bunch because it beautifully shows just what light-field photography is capable of, but it didn’t quite crack the top five, which follow below.

My favorite amongst the five finalists. Jellyfish rule.