We had the pleasure of attending a Panasonic Digital Photography class with Rick Gerrity this past weekend. Since we've had the GF1 since June, it intimidated the heck out of me, since I'd always had a simple point and shoot camera. Attending this class, however, has made me a lot more comfortable, and knowledgeable, about photography in general, and about this, and our other camera. I highly recommend these classes, I know I'll be signing up for others in the next few months. Having a small class size was fantastic, gave us alot of opportunity to ask questions and make sure we got the most out of the limited time we had.

Thanks Rick!

Hey everyone!! I have noticed A LOT of people have questions regarding HDR photography and how to do it. So here is some info for you. High Dynamic Range photography or HDR photography is an advanced set of photography techniques that play on image’s dynamic range in exposures. HDR Photography allows photographers to capture a greater range of tonal detail than any camera could capture thru a single photo. The most fundamental of all HDR photography theories is to take multiple shots at varying exposure levels of a particular subject. A special computer program will then combine the images together into a single image. The best way to capture HDR is in aperture priority mode with AWB off. A lower ISO is also recommended as to lower noise in your final image. As they say

Hi,

I thought my first blog post will be an introductory one. I'm 23 years old living in NYC and like taking photos and recently thought id also try shooting HD videos. My current camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ7S and i use Canons HG10 for video. I'm no expert and learn by reading articles here and there and just basically trying stuff out. I love taking pictures because it allows you to capture a moment in time and share it with the world.

I've uploaded some of my favorite photos i've taken over the years on my gallery page. You can see more of my Photos on my personal site GfxTown.com

Thank you for stopping by and have a nice day!

P.S - HD Rules!

With two days remaining  before the trip, these two guys are packing. they are obviously happy to be the choosen ones. The three real kids left at home are a bit LESS pleased.

My first major TV Commercial used B&W photo prints to tell the story about "Sharp Healthcare" doctors, which was in 1982, many

years before the "Ken Burns" effect was popularized (and became an editing transition:).   The new point & shoot

cameras from Panasonic can shoot HD video, with audio, and record excellent audio, and Publication quality stills

that can be dropped into your videos like a "freeze frame".   Even young kids can learn to become creators of

content, producer/directors of short films which has become an important tool for all companies to promote to

their customers.  I had learned Final Cut Pro years ago, but Imovie can give you the same quality, with an

ease of use that a child, or grandparent can grasp.  I believe that this is a good

one more shot - the Washington monument prior to sunset. I must say, shooting in RAW and then needing to learn the "silkypix" software takes quite a while....so this may me slower that i expected.

On the LX3 - with two kids to keep track of, I immediately appreciated the neck strap system for the camera - i have never used that before. Pany includes and excellent beefy strap in the kit. Also, i thought the lens cap would bother me - not at all was the conclusion - even better, the solid cover for the lens proved incredibly useful when i dropped the camera later in the day!

One of the things i most appreciated were the real control dials - you know you pushed a button and turned the knob on this camera, which makes for more conclusive actions for me.

Below EXIF shows A priority, f4.5,

Rather than filling the frame with just the animal, include some of the terrain or location in which it resides. This establishes a sense of place and educates the viewer about where and how the subject dwells. Refrain from fully zooming the lens or getting too close. While it feels great that an animal trusts you to get close enough, it may not make the best image. By all means, get in tight and create the head shot as explained above, but learn to back off a bit a go wider. A more common flow of events is to progressively let the animal gravitate closer to you or slowly enter its world to get the head shot. Should this be the scenario, even as you’re getting closer, think about the perspective of the shot if while you were close, you went wide and get a unique

Ah, who said you can't go out and play in the rain with your camera? Especially when exploring a new camera, rain or shine is my motto! In fact, the overcast skies and slight darkness are a perfect time to learn a few tricks for shooting in low light.

I spotted these two amazing flowers while walking along a lake road—utterly glowing with color. Diffuse light (from overcast skies) is terrific for flowers as it evens out the light and produces rich saturated color. I opened my lens fully to ƒ2.8 and bumped up my ISO to 200 to get a 1/40th second shutter (right at the edge of being safely handheld).

I could have used ISO 400 for more stability, but didn't want more noise/grain as those petals should look velvety. Instead of faster ISOs, try this extra steadying technique

A 9 year old, a 14 year old, myslelf, three backpacks, headed for 6 hours of train travel going thru NYC, Philly and to DC....no shots to post with the LX3 since i do not have a 4th hand for that, but the manual is packed to read on the ride. Only meeting scheduled is later afteroon on the Mall for for photos of the White House and dinner at ESPN Zone ... pretty good work schedule for the day.