by Skip Cohen

My passion for professional photography lies in the business and marketing side. I don't make my living as a photographer, but that doesn't mean I don't have an incredible passion for imaging with a camera in my hands! I recently started shooting with a LUMIX FZ300, and I'm blown away by the technology packed into this relatively small SLR.

We were in Ohio a few weeks ago and wandered out to some of the vineyards. There was a little man-made pool in the corner of the restaurant's patio, and I started playing with the camera. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I had to do the best I could handheld.

It reminded me of an early lesson my good buddy Tom Danielson taught me scuba-diving years ago. We were shooting with a new underwater housing for the Hasselblad.  On one dive I came up and commented there wasn't much to photograph. Tom just looked at me and laughed. He suggested on the next dive I just hang out at the first coral head I came to and photograph everything I saw.

The little pond below, complete with garden hose wound up being a lot of fun to photograph and reminds me of that coral head. I played with the camera in and out of macro and then for the image above used the in-camera soft focus filter. There's so much we walk by every day and never notice the detail.

The FZ300 has a 25-600mm fixed lens, touch screen, 4K and splashproof/dustproof technology. Plus, this little gem has most of the features that have made Panasonic's LUMIX family a leader in mirrorless technology - all, right at your fingertips.  And, it's smaller and lighter than the FZ1000.

Check out images captured with many of the LUMIX family of cameras from Panasonic's Luminary team over at the LUMIX Lounge. You'll find incredible diversity from some of the finest educators and artists in photography today.

​Just click on the LUMIX logo below to visit the Lounge.

Intro by Skip Cohen

Panasonic's Luminary team is one of the most diverse group of artists in professional photography today. They're always pushing the edge of the envelope with their creativity and this post by my good buddy, Bob Coates, is a perfect example.

Back in the film days, shooting infrared was a lot more difficult than it is today with digital technology. Even better is shooting infrared with a member of the LUMIX family of cameras. And, as Bob points out, it's the perfect technique to play with at those times of day when you wouldn't normally be shooting outdoors.

Check out more of Bob's infrared images and how-to suggestions on technique by visiting his links below.  Put Bob on your radar, along with his blog, Successful-Photographer.com.  Then wander over to the Lumix Lounge and meet the rest of the Luminary team!

Panasonic isn't just making incredible equipment - they're staying true to their tagline:

​A great way to repurpose an older camera is to have it converted to infrared. IR photography opens up a whole new time of day to creativity. Midday, when you normally put your camera up because of the high contrast, is made for IR capture.
 
I had a Lumix G6 converted by LifePixel with a normal Infrared filter and it’s been a blast. You may or not remember the days when infrared was a very dicey way to photograph. Film was very susceptible to fogging with the tiniest exposure to light. The filters used to filter out visible light made focusing very difficult. You often had to remove the filter to focus. Put the filter back on and then make another adjustment because the infrared light focused on a different plane than visible light.

OK enough of the problems of the past. Infrared photography with digital is a blast. If you set your camera to black and white you can get a good idea of what the infrared capture will look like. Focus is a breeze.
 
I recommend capturing images in RAW plus jpeg and bracketing exposures, especially when you first start out. The final infrared image is created in postproduction and it’s good to have options of density from the different exposures.
 
You can see more about my journey into digital infrared and post processing methods by checking out the links below.

http://successful-photographer.com/infrared-photography-part-three
 
http://successful-photographer.com/gila-wilderness-infrared-photos
 
http://successful-photographer.com/people-infrared-photos-part-dos/

One of my favorite things to do is hit a good classic car show. Back in my home town of Painesville, Ohio last week the weekly Friday night car show was perfect to take my new FZ300 out for a spin. Every Friday night over the summer locals from the area put their passion for cars on display. 

While the FZ300 hasn't been out long enough to be considered a classic, the features of this ace put it well on its way. It all starts with a 25-600mm fixed lens, touch screen, 4K and splashproof/dustproof technology. Plus, most of the features that have made Panasonic's LUMIX family a leader in mirrorless technology are right at your fingertips. 

What I enjoy most is its size. It's smaller and lighter than my FZ1000. The lens quality is excellent and so is this little gem's ability to deliver what you want. It's the perfect camera to travel with, fitting easily in my backpack and adding no significant weight, coming in at under two pounds! 

​As with most serious hobbyists, especially at a car show, their pride is unmatched. This yellow dream on the right and more detailed below is a 1935 Plymouth. The owner worked on it for twelve years.

He took us through every inch of the car pointing out everything was the "original steel!" And, as with most classic cars, the detail in the engine was incredible - hardly the original, but built with that same incredible pride.

I had a lot of fun playing with some of the built-in presets. Look, I accept that my profile is often more like a serious hobbyist vs. those of you who are working professionals.  As I've written before, my passion has always been the business and marketing side of photography, but I know more than I let on.

Under pressure I could probably do a decent job shooting a classic portrait, but it would take me all day to do what many of you do in a few minutes!  However, even for you diehard pros out there, some of these presets are a lot of fun to play with. 

The first image below is clean with no in-camera enhancement, but as always, it was fun to play with a few more presets. The last image is a 100% blow up from the first image below. I love the detail the FZ300 is capable of capturing.

So, don't take my word for it, wander into a LUMIX retailer and check this little "classic" out for yourself. In fact, check out the entire LUMIX family. And, if you're looking for more images as well as the workshop schedule of the Luminary Team, just wander over to the LUMIX Lounge!

Intro by Skip Cohen

It should have been obvious for some time that I'm a big fan of mirrorless technology and especially Panasonic's LUMIX line of cameras. And, while they are a partner here at SCU, that's got nothing to do with my enthusiasm. Besides the features of the cameras themselves, lightweight, compact, outstanding image sharpness, great low-light capability, and 4K - my biggest inspiration comes from the Luminary Team, many of who have become great friends over the years.

I wanted to share these two videos produced by Photo Joseph (Joseph Linaschke) for two reasons. First, think about how you'd tell the story of your business, your technique or your passion for the craft. Joseph is a master storyteller, and the first video takes you through his experiences a few months ago in New Orleans with Panasonic's new GX85. 

Second, is the camera itself and features what the GX85 brings to the party. And maybe there's a secondary reason to share - watch the first video and then the second, which is a sampler of Joseph's visit to New Orleans. Again, it's all about storytelling and nobody does it better than Joseph with a LUMIX GX85!

Just to clarify the nomenclature of the camera, because I know many of you are outside the US - it's a GX85 in the US, GX80 in Europe and GX7 Mark II in Japan. 

Interested in finding out more about Photo Joseph's images, workshops and schedule, his website is just a click away.  He needs to be on your radar. Here's the link to his blog and more of the story about his New Orleans trip. 

​Check out the Panasonic Luminary team as well with a visit to the LUMIX Lounge. They're an incredibly diverse and talented group. You'll never be disappointed!