alpha-jessica-a

January 24

We're happy to have you here in the forums! Can't wait to see more of your work.

January 19

Thanks to all who shared their images in the Black and White Photo Challenge! We loved seeing your stunning images. Sony Brand Ambassador @CarolineJensen shared this stunning image.

We chatted with Caroline to learn some of her black and white photography tips. Caroline spent a number of years photographing in only black and white and she has some great insight into successful B&W photography. Caroline also shared that black and white photography can be a great way to help you understand color more deeply, “I think that shooting in black and white made me understand color so much better.”

Shoot B&W in RAW + Jpeg: That way you’ll have a black and white jpeg shot out of camera but you’ll still have the colorful RAW image, if you’d like to go back while editing. With that being said, Caroline does suggest switching your camera to just jpeg occasionally and only shooting in B&W, as a creative exercise.
Study the “B&W Mix” or “HSL Panel” in your editing software: This will help you understand how colors change when shooting in black and white. For example, when we see red in color, it’s bold and bright but when it’s converted to black and white, it becomes quite a dull gray. “So learning how to amp up that contrast with the underlying color is very important and people do better to understand color and in the HSL panel.”

Study shapes and composition: “With black and white, you spend a lot more time looking at shapes. With color images we've got so much information that you can get overwhelmed but in black and white we can really concern ourselves with the shape of the negative space, the shape of outlines, the shape of profiles, the shape of everything. I think that if you want to get better at composition black and white is a really good place to start because the cues of composition, of tension or comfort or peace or whatever emotion you're going for in your composition is heightened in just black and white.” The image below is a great example, Caroline used black and white to show the texture and detail of the leaf!

Don’t be afraid of ISO: “You can really crank your ISO in black and white. And Sony noise is pretty easy on the eyes, and you can also cover it or kind of mix it in with grain from your editing program to be very nice looking. I go much higher on my ISO when I’m shooting black and white than when I’m shooting color.”
Lean into the drama: “When you work with backlighting or very moody lighting or really dramatic lighting with black and white, it becomes artistic. Again, you're focusing on shapes and shadows and negative space versus the subject, framing, all of that. There's a lot more ‘Fine Art’ feel sometimes to black and white because it is so much more structural. Colors is its own language and stripping that away forces different things to the forefront.”
Play with texture: “Don't be afraid in post processing to add a lot of clarity or Texture one of the things with black and white images is that they can feel kind of flat and boring; but cranking up the clarity and the texture is making up for that missing color. You're replacing texture where color would normally be.”
Mind your dust spots: Caroline says she’s learned the hard way that black and white is totally unforgiving when it comes to dust spots, so she recommends being super aware of that when out shooting.

Thanks to Caroline for sharing these helpful tips! Share some more of your favorite black and white images below! 👇

January 17

To change your profile picture, you'll need to update your profile on Alpha Universe.

Click on My Alpha Universe at the top right of the page, then select log in and you can change your profile picture for your public profile on that page. That profile picture will then come through here to the forums.

January 17

Hannah Rheaume (@Hannah) is a Washington based landscape and travel photographer who is deeply passionate about community and education. It’s our pleasure to announce that Hannah will be participating in a text based AMA here on the forums on February 21st from 2-4pm PT!!

If you’d like to ask a question ahead of the event, post it in this thread and our forum moderators will make sure that they’re posted for Hannah to answer during the event.

If you can’t make it to the live AMA, never fear! The event will become a forum topic once it is finished, so you’ll be able to read all the questions and answers afterwards.

We hope to see you there!

January 11

Congratulations to @Katrina Thompson for winning the Blue Hour Photo Challenge! Her blue hour images were stunning.

Katrina Thompson successfully manages to pursue her passion for photography while balancing caring for her two children under three years of age. Her photographic interests include macro, landscape, and wildlife photography, which enable her to remain present and focused on her surroundings. Growing up in a rural town, Katrina has always harbored a deep appreciation for nature and wildlife. She feels fortunate to reside in Nova Scotia, where she can capture the unspoiled beauty of wildlife and nature through the lens of her camera. With over a decade of experience in photography, her work has been showcased in Carrousel Du Louvre, Canadian Geographic, and Sony Alpha Universe. Katrina's ultimate aspiration is to become a full-time photographer and adventurer.

We connected with her to learn more about how she made this shot.

The Scene
This photograph was taken during the blue hour on a December morning. As an individual who has developed a penchant for rising before the sun, I have come to appreciate this magical time of day. The blue hour, during which the world awakens and becomes active, has become an important part of my day, as it often provides breathtaking views. One such view is that of a group of crows that visit my yard every morning, calling out to each other. To capture this morning ritual, I used my camera gear and tripod to take shots from various angles before the crows flew off toward the ocean.

Capturing a Fleeting Moment
Capturing beautiful and memorable moments is a breeze with the exceptional Sony Alpha 7III camera, which boasts impressive features and unwavering reliability. To further enhance my photography game, I use the Manfrotto Element Traveler Small 5-section Aluminum Tripod with Ball Head. It's highly dependable and portable, making it perfect for photographers who are always on the go.

Capturing the perfect silhouette of a crow mid-crowing has been a long-standing goal of mine. To achieve this, I had to consider the angle and settings required to produce an action shot of the bird calling while still obtaining its distinct outline. In this regard, set my camera to: 1/200, F6.3, and ISO 100 to capture the crow's silhouette mid-call. The primary objective of this photograph was to capture the crow's calling out while producing an outline of its figure.

Editing the Images
I utilize Adobe Lightroom on my MacBook Pro and prefer to shoot in raw format. To begin the editing process, I cropped the image to achieve my desired composition. Subsequently, I increased the blue hue in Luminance and adjusted the tones slightly to brighten the photo. To further enhance the image's background, I made minor adjustments to the shadows, blacks, whites, and highlights to accentuate the crow's silhouette.

We'd love to hear what your photography goals are for the year in our latest Photography Challenge!

January 8

In case you missed the AMA, you can catch up on all the questions and answers from Niah here:

January 8

The live AMA is happening in this thread! Please join in and ask any questions you have for Niah!

January 8

We are excited to have Niah Aldrich in the community for this month’s live AMA. This is a great time to learn and connect with Niah on her work. Please be patient, as Niah will be typing responses out as questions come in.

January 8

Niah Aldrich is a creative portrait photographer who pushes colors to the max and provides a luxurious portrait experience. You can check out some of Niah’s work on her Instagram.

January 5

Welcome! We're thrilled to have you here in the community. Can't wait to see you share more of your work!

December 29, 2023

Niah Aldrich (@niahrosephoto) is a full time portrait photographer based in Kansas City, Missouri. She enjoys pushing colors to the max, and traveling to meet new creatives in other cities. Her work consists of off camera flash, and natural light depending on the location. Aldrich primarily shoots her clients in her studio, but gets outside any chance she gets, especially in the spring when the flowers are in bloom. We were smitten with Aldrich’s colorful and emotive portraits and sat down with her to learn about her process and the gear that helps her make her images!

I switched to Sony in 2020 after being born and raised on Nikon. Switching to Sony was the best decision I ever made, and I wish I would have done it sooner. Before Sony, I was overshooting and taking the same image multiple times because I couldn’t trust my gear to nail the focus. Now with Sony I trust my gear, and can count on Sony’s amazing eye auto focus to nail the shot. As a portrait photographer, I love the ability to interact with my subjects without having to always hold the camera to my eye.

I started my Sony journey with the A7III, Sony FE 35mm f/1.8, Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA, Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 Lens, but have recently upgraded all my gear to G master lenses and the new A7IV. You can call me a gear hoarder, but I believe there’s a lens for every situation. As the classic Pokemon song so beautifully states, “I Gotta Catch ‘Em All.”

Cameras
Sony Alpha 7 IV (2): I chose two Sony Alpha 7 IV’s to take advantage of the improved autofocus, dynamic range, updated color profiles, larger sensor, and better LCD screens. The IV has not disappointed as a portrait photographer and I love showing my subjects previews of the photos to get them excited and boost their confidence. I have seen a big difference in colors and vividness on the LCD and on the computer compared to my A7iii. The focusing has also been faster in low light, and since I mostly shoot in studio this has been tremendously helpful. The slightly larger file sizes allow me to retain more detail in the image for retouching, and cropping. My average clients don't need their photos blown up to billboard sizes, so this sensor size is perfect for my typical high school senior, maternity, birthday, headshot, model portfolio, and other portrait work.

Lenses
I have quite the collection of lenses! Here’s the list:
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II
Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master
Sony 135mm
Sony 24mm
Sony 35mm
Sony 50mm
Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G

And here are some thoughts on a few of my favorites:

Sony 24mm: The 24 is a very specific focal length that I have to be careful with portraits. Too close and the face becomes super thin, and distorted, but used correctly it can be a powerful tool. Using the wide to my advantage I’m able to capture more of my environment and emphasize certain features that give a memorable look. I will often use this lens for fashion, models, and creative shoots.

Sony 35mm: I have grown to love this lens. For someone who loves environmental portraits I find myself always gravitating toward this focal length. It is perfect for indoor low light situations, and outdoors. It is light, fast, sharp, and like all the GM lenses, it is built like a tank. It is definitely one of my most used, and loved lenses.

Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G: This is the sharpest most detailed lens I own! It is my go to for beauty shots, and studio portraits. The ability to macro focus on the eye, nails, and lips makes this lens essential for branding shoots.

Lighting Accessories
Lindsey Adler Optical Spot by Westcott: I can attach this spotlight onto my flash, and LED lights. This spotlight allows me to create lighting effects, patterns, with shapes of light on the background, and subject. Using the leaves to slice the light into rectangles, squares, triangles, and the circle gobos shapes I’m able to creatively control the light to give my image some dimension. I love using colored gels with this tool for some extra colorful fun!

Gobo & Inserts: These gobos “go-betweens” are inserted in the optical spotlight creating even more patterns and shapes you can choose from. They have hearts, windows, circles, blinds, stars, palm leafs, and really anything you can think of to add extra creativity to my images.

AD300: I use these in the studio to light the background, side light the subject, and light the hair from above. These are also wonderful on location or in shady areas when I need to pop my subject with flash and don’t have enough light to use a reflector.

AD400: I will often use this as the key or main light in the studio. I will take this light outside when I want a more powerful controlled light on sunnier days.

V1: I use these speed lights on and off camera at events, and weddings. I will often have one on my camera, and 3 or 4 around the room depending on the venue, and location.

R2 Pro Trigger: This controls all off camera flashes, and speed lights. With this trigger I’m able to wireless control the brightness of each flash.

Rogue 2-in-1 Super Soft Silver 32” Reflector: If I’m shooting on location you can bet I have this with me. The Rogue soft silver is my favorite reflector. It’s a mix between the normal silver most used, and a white. It creates a soft but beautiful bounce back into my subjects when I need more detail in the shadows.

Diffuser 32”: The diffuser is a must to cut the harsh sunlight while creating super soft light for my portraits. You’ll often see me shooting at high noon using both of these reflectors to cut light and pop back that light.

Seamless Paper Rolls: I love using paper to create beautiful studio portraits. I have over 30 rolls to choose from that I use to make my subject pop while keeping color theory in mind for the perfect backdrop color.

Niah will be participating in an AMA right here in the forums on January 8th at 10am PST. We'd love to have you join us live, but if you can't be there, you can post questions for Niah ahead of time in this thread.

December 8, 2023

For this month's Forum Feature we are thrilled to highlight Justin Niu (@TrekRover). Justin is a great member of our Forum community and a fantastic photographer. Justin is a passionate travel photographer who unknowingly started his life-long journey into photography when he bought his first camera for his first international trip. Since then, he has traveled through 7 continents and over 40 countries and continues to pursue his passion for travel and photography.

He strives to capture the essence of being in-the-moment through his photographic vision and convey the stories and experiences in his imagery. Justin is continually adding to and refining his kit. He has also added wildlife photography to his passions. Here’s a list of Justin’s current kit:
Sony Alpha 1
Sony Alpha 7RIV (Recently traded in for Sony Alpha 7RV)
Sony Alpha 7RV
Sony 12-24mm f2.8 GM II
Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM II
Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GM II
Sony 600mm f4 GM
Sony 2x Teleconverter

Take a look at some of Juston’s stunning images! And be sure to give him kudos on your favorite shot in this thread!

December 8, 2023

Welcome! Can't wait to see what you share with us here!

December 5, 2023

Niah Aldrich (@niahrosephoto) is a portrait photographer who enjoys pushing colors to the max. She is a creative photographer who gives a luxurious experience that allows people to laugh and have fun in their session.

It's our pleasure to announce that Niah will be participating in an AMA right here on the forums on January 8th from 10 AM PST - 12 PM PST. We will be talking about photography, vibrant colors, and ways to interact with clients.

If you'd like to ask Niah questions ahead of time, post in this thread and our forum moderators will make sure they get posted during the live event for Niah to answer!

November 22, 2023

Aisha Akif (@Stories by Aisha) is a professional food and product photographer and a content writer and creator. “2020, the year of the pandemic, ignited the spark to try photography as a hobby…and it turned into a profession within a span of 10 months! Having taken my baby steps with a borrowed Canon DSLR, my shift to Sony happened on Jan 31, 2022 on my husband’s birthday. Honestly speaking, this has been the major game changer or blitzscaling as I would call it, in my career and my timeline as a professional photographer.” We caught up with Aisha to learn more about how she uses her ultrasimple Sony kit for her creative food photography – keep reading as she gives us a look at what’s in her bag.

See the full Instagram Reel for Stories by Aisha here.

Camera
Sony Alpha 7 IV: When contemplating on getting a camera of my own to amp up my food photography career, I had zeroed in on Sony full frame camera as the clear choice. While I have a list of reasons why I chose Sony, the ones that tops my list are lightweight, hybrid, and the amazing resolution! Trust me, watching the first shot I took literally brought tears to my eyes. The colors were simply magic! I have never felt so confident taking photographs!

Lens
Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G: Soon after buying my camera, I got my 90mm macro and boy, oh boy, my life changed overnight! I’m a hardcore storyteller when it comes to styling my frame and the poise with which the lens allows me to visually capture the vision in my head is unchallengeable! The texture of the food, the highlights, the shadows, the shimmer of the drinks, full marks to the macro for elevating the HERO. I would call it my “magic wand.” My clients and potential clients are always in awe of the final deliverables and this defines the perfect moment of truth for me.

See the full Instagram Reel here

Accessories
Tripod: I currently use Vanguard Alta Pro 2 263 AB100 Tripod for all of my home shoots and commercial restaurant shoots. It's a sturdy tripod, pretty supportive of my current needs. I am planning to upgrade to an option that would provide a better wavelength when it comes to shooting flatlays.

Mouth Freshener, Notepad, Colored Pencils: I’m an old school person when it comes to planning. I literally write down everything I plan to do on a shoot in my personal note (or my phone notes) and color the frame if in mood. Colored pencils make me happy and feed my imagination and the urge to create all the time.

See more of Aisha Akif’s work on Instagram @storiesby_Aisha and share your food photos in our current Community Forum Photo challenge!

November 21, 2023

Congratulations to @Naty for winning our Street Photography Photo Challenge! We were blown away by this distinct moment and spoke with Naty to learn more about how she made this shot.

I'm Natascia Mercurio, also known as Naty, an Italy-based storyteller. I wear multiple hats as an art director, photographer, and filmmaker. I define myself as a storyteller, aiming to convey emotion through my work. Playing with light and color is my joy, I love using complimentary colors to create simultaneous feelings of warmth and coolness in my imagery.

I studied graphic design and worked as an Art Director near Milan, handling major clients like Mercedes and Teatro alla Scala. After four years and collaborations with Sony, Billboard, and 500px, I decided to leave my full-time job to dedicate all my time to photography and filmmaking. Influenced by video games, anime, and Asian movies, my cinematic world is diverse, featuring strong characters and powerful stories. It's a journey supported by a passion that drives me to capture emotion in every frame.

My signature teal & orange palette is a classic cine-color turned into something personal and recognizable. This distinctive aesthetic allows me to navigate various genres without sacrificing consistency.

The Scene: Visualizing Your Story
This shot was taken in Navigli district, Milan. I was doing one final lap before going back home. I was crossing a bridge and as I was walking on it, I saw on the right side of the bridge this man sitting down all alone at a table for eight and I immediately knew that in order to freeze the moment I wanted to capture the busyness of the street to accentuate the sad and still moment of the man sitting down at a dining table all by himself.

Gear that helps you Achieve your Creative Vision
For this shot I used a Sony Alpha 7R III, my main camera body. I paired it with my favorite lens for street photography which is the Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8. This body plus this lens give me the best results in terms of fast shooting and high quality, especially for a night time shot like this one.

For this shot I’ve set my camera at 1/10 of a second to highlight the still figure and the moving pedestrians. I was holding my camera very still while resting it on the surface of the bridge to make it more stable since I barely carry a tripod with me, especially when I’m out and about taking street photos.

Editing to Draw the Eye
I mainly use Adobe Lightroom to edit all my photographs since I have the best control in terms of colors and masking. I highlighted the subject since it’s the focus point of the image and added a black vignetting on the edges to accentuate the importance of the main subject. I’ve also accentuated the orange façade of the restaurant on the left side of the frame to help balance the image more and to make it more pleasing to the eyes.

Join our next photo challenge HERE! We’re celebrating Thanksgiving by sharing our food photography.

November 17, 2023

On the topic of food photography, the wonderful @Suzi Pratt gave some great tips on food photography in our latest AMA!

November 15, 2023

@Suzi Pratt is a leading food and restaurant photographer and she’s also well-known for her tech reviews at Gemini Connect on YouTube. Suzi will be joining Sony Alpha Universe for a Live Ask Me Anything Event in the Community Forums on November 16, 2023 from 10AM - 12PM PST. We wanted to learn more about Suzi’s photography work and how she shoots her food scenes. Keep reading to learn how she created and captured this delicious Thanksgiving spread.

I've been a freelance restaurant and corporate event photographer ever since 2012. I brand myself as a restaurant photographer because most of my work takes place in the restaurant space itself and the photo subjects range from staged food photos, cooking and prep, interiors, lifestyle, and staff headshots – so it's a little bit of everything.

Prior to this photo shoot, we had several virtual meetings and set up a mood board for the photo shoot, plus arranged for props (the pumpkin and corn) and talent (the hands) for this photo, and many more in the series.

I used my Sony Alpha 7 IV and Sony 24-105mm f/4 G to capture this photo. The Sony 24-105mm f/4 G is a staple lens for restaurant photos because of its flexible range and relatively compact design. For food photos, especially flat lays like this one, I often shoot at least at f/4, if not f/6.3 or f/11 to get everything in focus, so I don't need bigger, more expensive fast aperture lenses. Instead, I value the flexible zoom range more.

Learn more about this setup, the lighting, and the post-processing by reading the full article HERE. And ask Suzi any questions you may have during her AMA happening this Thursday, November 16th from 10AM - 12PM PST. If you can’t make it live, feel free to submit questions ahead of time in THIS thread!

November 6, 2023

Congratulations to @My Flying Eyes for winning the inaugural Photo Challenge! His Grandscape image was stunning and we connected with him to learn more about how he made this shot.

My name is Dany Tomas, I've been working in the music industry as a songwriter and producer for over 35 years. Due to a problem on my right ear I couldn't spend 10 hours a day in the studio anymore, which moved me to start exploring visual arts. At first I started filming with drones until I discovered my new passion which is Night Photography! It's been 3 years already going out and photographing the milky way. I published a book and made a 3 month show at a fine art gallery called "The House of Borrego Springs," in Borrego Springs, California. I also published an entry level online course and sometimes I organize workshops where I share my knowledge on Night Photography and Light Painting. Those can be found on my social media and my website.

The Scene
This photo was taken at the South Tufa area in Mono Lake, California. This was my 3rd time capturing the tufas with the background of the milky way. The picture is a Milky Way panorama made out of 26 pictures stitched together applying some light painting on the big Tufa. The idea of taking a panorama just came to mind when I could see the milky way arch going over the whole scenery.

Capturing the Image (or 26 of them!)
The camera I used is my Sony Alpha 7 IV with the Sony 20mm F/1.8 lens. Which is my perfect set up for milky way photography. A wide angle lens with a fast F/1.8 aperture is able to capture a lot of light. This lens is also pretty sharp and always gives me excellent results.

To get this shot I used a tripod, a remote shutter, An Aputure AL-MC RGB On-Camera Video Light for light painting, a mini tripod to set the light and tons of patience.

First of all I have to focus on the stars. I do that with the camera in my hands pointing it to the brightest star I can find in the sky. Then I set up my camera on the tripod right in front of the Tufa, making sure that the milky way arch position goes from one side, all the way to the other side of the tufa. Then I set up the camera settings to 3200 ISO, F1.8 and shutter speed 13".

Then I set up the remote shutter so I don't touch the camera when I take the picture. I also set up a 2" delay. Then I set up the Aputure light pointing to the tufa and I set the light intensity to the lowest and also the color to warm natural. ( I control my Aputure light from an app on my phone)

Then I start taking pictures covering the whole scene from right to left overlapping each picture about 30%. When I finish taking the 1st row of pictures I move my camera upwards to capture more of the sky and scene, but making sure I overlap at least 20% of what I captured on the 1st row. Then I take pictures of the whole scene again but this time from left to right and I repeat the process on a 3rd row of pictures, making sure that I capture the entire milky way arch. Then the process is done. I ended up taking a total of 26 pictures divided in 3 rows.

Building an Image
To edit the Milky Way Panorama I start importing all the pictures in Adobe Lightroom and do a basic edit with lens correction, exposure, contrast, sharpness white balance, saturation, etc. trying to enhance the milky way. Then I copy the exact same settings to all of the pictures and I do a denoise with the Ai denoiser at 45%.

After I do that I select all the pictures and choose the option merge to panorama in Photoshop. Then Adobe Photoshop organizes and stitches all the pictures together as a panorama and I keep editing in Photoshop. First I use the Adaptive wide angle filter to correct the horizon. Then I duplicate layers and separate the sky with the rest of the picture using masks so I can edit them separately. Finally I keep editing sky and foreground separately to enhance each one and make them look beautiful.

Then I export the file to the format I choose and we have our Milky Way panorama finalized!!!

If I am going to print I might do post processing depending on the size of the print but for the internet so far that is all I do.

Thank you @My Flying Eyes for letting us know more about how you got this shot! If you'd like to have your work featured here on the forums, we'd love to see you submit some of your work to one of our photo challenges!

November 2, 2023

Welcome to the community! Can't wait to see what you share with us!

November 1, 2023

For this month's Forum Feature we are thrilled to highlight Leah McLean, also known as @thesaltedimage. Leah is a great member of our Forum community and a fantastic photographer. She is known for her floral imagery, creating stunning still life images. She told us that, “I have a love for gardening, art and creating light with off camera flash, and this niche is the perfect combo of all three subjects. I love to be inspired by the still life paintings of the Dutch masters and I use that art as a source of inspiration for arranging my florals, composition, light and color choices. I also love nature and being outside in my garden where I grow my floral subjects and love to create my own light using off-camera flash for both indoor and outdoor locations. OCF is a major part of my creative process and I use one to three lights in virtually all of my work. My bag of gear is almost exactly the same for if I am shooting inside or out in my garden.”

Take a look at some of Leah’s stunning images! To make these fantastic florals, Leah shoots on the Sony Alpha 7R III and the Sony 55mm f/1.8.

Leah also teaches her techniques, head to her website to learn more from Leah.

And check out the gear she relies on to make her imagery here. Thank you @thesaltedimage for being such an active and supportive member of the Sony community!

If you’d like to be featured in a forum spotlight, we’d love to see you share some of your work here in the forums! You can show us a grandscape image you’ve taken or create a new topic to showcase your own niche. We look forward to seeing what you share!

October 12, 2023

You can check out the AMA thread here:

October 12, 2023

Thanks so much for being here for the AMA with Ryan today! This event will be turned into a forum thread shortly after the event so you can re-read the questions and answers whenever you like. And make sure you check the forums regularly so you don't miss news about our next AMA! Thanks Ryan for your time today!

October 12, 2023

THANKS FOR MUCH RYAN! Your answers have been tremendously helpful! Thank you alpha universe as well for providing such a special opportunity!

Thanks so much for being here BKM!

October 12, 2023

Question from socials: What do you enjoy the most about shooting landscapes?

I love that, you're cementing a memory with the way you capture things.

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