Education, even when you're an established professional, never stops in photography and last week's meeting with Panasonic's Luminaries was certainly no exception. This is an amazing group of twelve artists, totally dedicated to "changing photography".  Having worked with almost all of them, I was invited to participate in their annual conference last week in Austin, Texas.

After a day of being updated on the full product line, technical changes, etc. we headed to Roadhouse Relics complete with a lot of LUMIX gear, two models and an opportunity to just shoot for the fun of it.

While I'm not normally a fan of in-camera presets, shooting over the shoulders of the Luminaries, I had a chance to do some of my own experimenting. My favorite is the sweetness of their sepia preset.

While I realize some of you look at presets as an amateur tool, think again and then read the post Luminary, Bob Coates, demonstrated far more extensively than I did with this one image.

Remember, this is a straight jpeg right out of the can.

The point is, technology is changing constantly and the discussion over mirrorless cameras is doing exactly what Panasonic set out to do, change photography!

There's no shortage of great gear when this group gets together!
That's Kristen Jensen, Bob Coates and Rob Knight together with a whole lot of amazing LUMIX cameras.
Image by Jon Yoshinaga

Luminary Corner is about so much more than just Panasonic's LUMIX family of cameras. It's about creativity from some of the finest artists in our industry, combined with LUMIX technology, as they change photography.

Both videos below are by my good buddy and LUMIX Luminary, William Innes. The first one is a two minute wedding video shot with the new GH4. In the second video, "Behind the Scenes," William takes you through some his new favorite features of the GH4 on a fashion shoot with a wedding theme.



Earlier this week I was with William and the other Luminaries at a special meeting in Austin, Texas. It's incredible the energy you pick up when hanging out for a day with people who represent some of the most talented artists in the world. Each Luminary has a different style and perspective on what they photograph, but the common denominator is their passion and dedication to raising the bar on how they define imaging.

Remember, when watching the videos below to adjust the quality of your YouTube channel and watch it in 4K if you have the capability. Regardless, both videos are prime examples of outstanding storytelling and represent a level of quality every photographer should be offering their clients.

Every now and then there's a program to come along you know is going to be a monster hit! Welcome to Big City Hustle, the brain child of Panasonic Luminary, Dave Surber. Big City Hustle is a new web series showcasing up and coming professionals in major cities across America.

Here's the teaser for this new series with this episode starring Cesar Macay, The Messenger. This might just be short teaser, but pay close attention to Dave's ability as a storyteller and production values as a filmmaker. Video has become a significant part of every professional photographer's skill set these days and there's a lot you're going to be able to learn from Dave with each new episode!

Added to the excitement for all us working with Panasonic's Lumix System, all footage is filmed on a Panasonic Lumix GH4 with various Lumix Lenses and is available in 4K HD.

This Monday's Luminary Corner puts Suzette Allen in the spotlight. She's an artist, educator, writer and one of the pioneers in e-hybrid solutions. Check out one of her videos below and you'll get a feel for a product line of videos every professional photographer should be offering their clients.

"A well-regarded photography educator for over 12 years, Suzette is leading the charge into the era of hybrid, guiding pro photographers into it by emphasizing its significance for business. "Many emerging pros have asked me, 'Why shoot hybrid?' We need to be open to change in our craft. Clients will eventually demand that we shoot a mix of still, motion and sound if they are not already. If you are open to change, you’ll do well. If not, you’ll most likely end up like those who refused to move from film to digital." Suzette enjoys the technology and process of combining stills, video and audio to create fresh, compelling portraits and eProducts for a variety of clients.

The most fun thing about today's post is that as you're reading this, I'm headed to a meeting with all of Panasonic's Luminaries. They're an incredibly talented group of artists and you can get to know all of them by visiting the Lumix Luminary Lounge.

by Skip Cohen

Most of you know I'm not a professional photographer, my expertise is on the management/marketing side of the business. However, I've been fortunate to work with some of the finest artists in the world, going back to my days at Hasselblad and Rangefinder/WPPI.

I'm also not a Panasonic Luminary and this is Luminary Corner, but I'm so blown away by what this camera can do and wanted to share a few images.  A month ago we hit the road for a week, spending time with family and friends in Ohio. I took my GH3 and just one lens.  I simply had the best time I've had in years with a camera in my hand.

Besides it being light and so easy to travel with, I love working with the touch screen; the viewing capability in low light; my ability to switch back and forth from still images and video; and even some of the artistic presets. In fact, Bob Coates, one of the Luminaries, did a guest post on using the Illustrative Art Setting a few months ago.

There's a car show in my home town every Friday night in the town square. I love the detail and craftsmanship of virtually every car on display, especially the work that's been done on the engines.

The hit of the show, for me, was a 1937 Packard. The owner spent eight years looking for the parts. It took four cars to build one complete piece of perfection. It then took him five years to completely rebuild it, right down to doing his own paint job.

In terms of the GH3, while I'm not a big fan of in-camera manipulation there are a couple of sweet presets. These were all shot in the "Expressive" mode which just tweaks the saturation enough to make it perfect on a subject like this.

One of the highlights of the trip was spending a day and a half at Kalahari, a water park that's definitely made for kids with energy and not out of shape grandparents! Well, meet our grand-daughter Belle. I used the in-camera soft focus feature - again, I don't usually use in-camera presets, but love these two images with Grandma.

Meet, Maddie, granddaughter number two and a priceless moment just up from her nap, complete with sleep lines still on her face.

Everything I shot was jpeg with the GH3 body and the 12-35mm zoom. Because the camera is so light and easy to travel with, it's the only lens I even bothered to take. I also love the ability to set up wi-fi. Had I been posting images at the time, everything would have been going directly to my blog.

The quality and features Panasonic has put into the LUMIX family is pretty remarkable. For the first time in years there's a camera with me almost all the time!