“Living pictures” is something I first came across with the Nikon 1. A living picture basically is not just a snapshot frozen in time depending on shutter speed. A photo captured with a 1/125th of a second freezes a 1/125th of a second. Living pictures extend the exposure by recording a bit of video prior to the shot one captures. Nokia Lumia calls it “living images,” something I actually quite like because it adds the time and space dimension to the two-dimensional. And right, there’s another way the term is used: the Lytro Illum (Amazon / eBay) calls its technology to refocus and shift perspective living pictures.

Here is a rather impressive video with the Lytro Illum showing off in Island, any nature photographer’s dream. Question is, does the Lytro light field technology offer a whole new perspective or not. Yes and no. As said, living images can certainly be an enrichment to photography by adding a layer of “life.” It’s like creating experiences people can interact with later.

The experience of photographing doesn’t finish after you take the picture. It bridges the gap between video and traditional photography. Living images might well become the next standard of publishing; short videos instead of static photographs, offering changes of perspective — and perception. Maybe it tells a story more intimately, giving the viewer a closer experience without being there.