Intro by Skip Cohen

I love sharing posts from good buddy, Mark Toal. Mark is part of the team at "Mirrorless Photo Tips" along with two other great friends, Joe and Mary Farace. They're sharing great content every day and need to be on your radar.

Last year Mark was featured on an episode of "Why?" and sharing one of his favorite images, another beautiful infrared shot. Just click on the thumbnail of his image to the right to listen to the backstory.

by Mark Toal
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It’s been a long, rainy winter in the Northwest this year so I haven’t been able to use my Infrared camera as much as I would have liked. Infrared photography is easiest when there are white puffy clouds against a blue sky and fairly bright light. The middle of the day is perfect for infrared photography so a recent trip to Tucson was a perfect time to pack my converted Panasonic Lumix GX7 with the Lumix G Vario Lens, 7-14mm f/4.0 ASPH lens.

If you have a camera that you’re not using that much, why not send it to LifePixel to be converted to infrared. Trust me you won’t regret it. And for a limited time only, if you want to save $50 off for Priority Processing Upgrade when converting your camera to infrared, use the coupon code “ToalIR.” ​​

Joe’s book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography is currently out-of-print but used copies are available from Amazon for under $6. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and is available from Amazon with new copies under $6 and used copies less than five bucks. You can buy’em both for less than $12.

If a butterfly lands on your shoulder it's supposed to mean "good luck." I wonder what it means when it lands on your head? They like bright colors - guess all the gray hair at this point in my life was a good thing! LOL

Here's the scenario - I shared a few of these images yesterday in a post about my wife's birthday. Two months ago, with the help of a local landscaper we created a water feature in the backyard surrounded by plants that attract butterflies. I decided to have some fun and purchased a few to release in the garden as part of her birthday celebration.

I had two cameras to play with, a LUMIX FZ300 and an FZ1000. It was a bright sunny day and all of the images were captured hand-held. I know it's pretty tough to screw up a shot of a butterfly, but nonetheless, the technology of the cameras often make me look better than I deserve!

The first two images below are of Zebra Longwings. They were released about ten minutes apart and checked out the area on their own. They headed off in opposite directions, but a Hibiscus brought them back for a little reunion about an hour later. 

The third image is a Monarch. We had four of them and they all went straight for the Milk Weed. After three hours they were still hanging out at the "buffet." The next morning two of them were still in the area.

There's an old Indian legend I shared in yesterday's post, but it's worthy of being shared again...

It was an emotional afternoon filled with nothing but smiles. We know the chances of any of them staying in the area and laying eggs is a stretch, but nothing matches the memories made or how much we enjoy the images of the "kids" during the afternoon.

It's time for you to learn a little more about four artists who should be on your radar, Daniel J. Cox , Suzette Allen and Charles and Jennifer Maring. They've all shared a lot of great content here at SCU, but these short slide shows will tell you even more about them.

A few weeks ago the "Queen of Hybrid," Suzette, put together a series of slide shows featuring each member of Panasonic's LUMIX Luminary Team, of which she's also a member. I'll be sharing more of the videos in the weeks ahead, but today I chose these two presentations because they each represent completely different specialties. Or maybe not so much - Daniel photographs wildlife outdoors and Charles and Jennifer photograph "wild life," mostly indoors. (LOL - you didn't honestly think I could just let that one by did you?)

Several things to pay attention to during each video:

• Every image shared was captured with a camera from the LUMIX family. Panasonic's tagline of "Changing Photography" couldn't be more accurate.
• Effective slide shows don't have to be long. Both of these are under a minute.
• Notice how Suzette tells each story - good music, great images and enough information to tell you what you need to know about the artist.
•  How would you tell your story? Could you do an effective marketing piece in a minute or less?

Thanks to technology everything in the way we share images has changed over the last few years and just keeps getting better. As imaging artists, you have the largest selection of creative tools in the history of photography. This includes the tools you have for marketing, and if you're not creating slideshows to show your work and skills as a storyteller, then you're missing a golden opportunity.

And, between the features of LUMIX cameras and Photodex software for creating slide shows, it couldn't be easier to share the stories you want to tell! I told Photodex years ago since I'm a poster child for user-friendly technology, they should use me for a testimonial ad - "If Skip can do it, anybody can!" Check out ProShow 8, loaded with features to help you create outstanding presentations.

Learn more about the complete LUMIX line with a visit to the Lumix Lounge. While you're there, get to know the Luminaries. They're an incredibly diverse group of artists with an outstanding common denominator. They all believe in education and helping you raise the bar on your skill set.