Alpha Universe May 2016

MAY 2016
LOFTY AMBITIONS
Cutting-edge photo gear
takes Dennis Biela’s aviation
photography to new heights
Sony Artisan Brian Smith heads to the
Big Easy with Sony's new G Master Lenses
CULTURAL ODYSSEY
Ira Block explores the
world with his Sony
lenses and cameras

Tomorrow’s lenses
today, from Sony.
INTRODUCING G MASTER LENSES
Advances in camera performance and soaring creative ideals
demand a new approach to lens technology. Lenses must
evolve to remain ahead of the curve.
With a clear vision of cameras of the future,
Sony now redefines the lens.
Groundbreaking resolution and beautiful bokeh together at
last, from the leader in imaging innovation.
© 2016 Sony Electronics Inc. Sony and the Sony logo are trademarks of Sony Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.
Feature photography © tktktktk, Sony Artisan of Imagery
02 Universe

Feature photography © tktktktk, Sony Artisan of Imagery
FE 85mm F1.4 GM (SEL85F14GM), 7R II, 1/125 sec., F4, ISO100
@sonyalpha alphauniverse.com/lenses
May 2016 03

04 EDITOR’S NOTE
Sony Artisans rely on the latest photographic
technology to meet today’s creative challenges.
06 MAXIMUM
RESOLUTION
Sony Artisan Brian Smith hits the Big Easy to
give us a sneak peek at Sony’s new G Master
lenses.
10 LOFTY AMBITIONS
Creative ambition and cutting-edge photo
technology, including 4K remote video footage,
send Dennis Biela’s aviation photography to new
heights.
14 CULTURAL ODYSSEY
See the world through the eyes of Sony Artisan
Ira Block and his favorite Sony lenses.
18 MORE PERFECT UNIONS
How Sony Artisan Zabrina Deng is redefining
the state of the art in wedding photography.
22 MOST LIKELY
TO SUCCEED
Why Sony Artisan Joe Brady converted his
high-school photography business to Sony
gear.
24 THE ESSENTIALS
Sony Artisan Brian Smith loads his kit with
Sony G Master lenses.
ON THE COVER
Sony Artisan Brian Smith’s cover image captured
the quintessential New Orleans with his shot of jazz
trumpeter Benny Jones Sr. of the Tremé Brass Band.
Shot with the 7R II and FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
lens. Exposure: 1 sec. at f/8, ISO 100. At right: Smith
captured a black and white portrait of James Southern
on his porch in Houma, Louisiana, with the 7R II and
FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens. Exposure: 1/160 sec. at
f/7.1, ISO 100. Top right: Ira Block’s 7S long exposure
shows the the Milky Way over a Mongolian yurt.
Exposure: 30 sec. at f/2.8, ISO 3200. Below right: Fast
moving action—human or wildlife—is no challenge for
the Sony 6300’s blazing autofocus.
2 Universe

May 2016
Sony Artisans of Imagery: © Brian Smith, © Ira Block
May 2016 3

Editor’s Note
Meeting the Creative Challenge
Earlier this year, Vogue
magazine decreed
that brides should
break with several
stale wedding traditions, including
rings, first dances, and
hiring professional wedding
photographers. We doubt that
couples will soon be relying on
wedding guests with smartphones
to document their big
days. If anything, weddings
have become ever-more elaborate,
while wedding photography
has become ever-more
creative.
A case in point is the work
of Zabrina Deng, a Sony Artisan
of Imagery who specializes
in destination weddings
and the lavish pre-wedding
photo sessions that have
become popular throughout
Asia. Deng’s work has taken
her around the globe, from
Prague and Tokyo to Paris
and Vietnam.
As you’ll see on page 18,
Deng uses an array of Sony
mirrorless cameras to create
what she calls “perfectly imperfect”
wedding photos. Her
kit includes a state-of-the-art
compact, the 42.4-megapixel
Sony RX1R II.
Sony Artisan Ira Block also
gets around. On page 14,
we look at the lenses he
packs—along with the 42.4-
megapixel Sony 7R II, the
12-megapixel Sony 7S and
the 20.2-megapixel Sony
RX100 IV—for his National
Geographic assignments.
And on page 10 we feature
Sony Artisan Dennis Biela,
a top aviation photographer
who takes his Sony 6000s
and other gear on trips into
the wild blue yonder. In recent
years, Biela has expanded
his production to include 4K
video, using the Sony FDR-
X1000V 4K Action Cam to
create breathtaking remote
footage for pro aerobatics
pilots to share on social media.
Meanwhile, on page 22 we
spotlight Sony Artisan Joe
Brady, who knows that high
school senior portraits have
also become more creatively
challenging than in days gone
by. That’s why he converted
his thriving Warwick, New
York–based high-school photo
business to Sony gear.
It’s just those kinds of
challenges that drive Sony
innovation. On page 6, we
spotlight the new 24.2-
megapixel Sony 6300, a
mirrorless camera that boasts
the world’s fastest autofocus
speed and the world’s highest
number of autofocus points,
and Sony’s next-generation G
Master line of lenses for fullframe
cameras. These are the
most advanced optics Sony
has ever produced, designed
to take the fullest advantage
of the company’s sensor and
camera technology as the
art of photography moves
forward.
David Schonauer, Editor
ABOUT THE EDITORS:
DAVID SCHONAUER
David Schonauer is the editor-in-chief
of Pro Photo Daily, a newsletter and
website covering the art, business,
and technology of photography, and
Motion Arts Pro, a newsletter for
filmmakers and photographers transitioning
into video. He is a contributor
to the Huffington Post and has written
about photography, art, and other topics for Smithsonian magazine,
The New York Times, The Atlantic, and People magazine. He
is a former editor-in-chief of American Photo magazine.
THEANO NIKITAS
Theano Nikitas, a full-time freelance
journalist and photographer,
has been writing about photography
for more than 18 years. A
regular contributor to major photo
magazines and websites, including
Popular Photography, her coverage
ranges from tutorials and reviews
to feature articles. She's written several books, and although
she loves digital, Nikitas still has a darkroom and a fridge
filled with film, thanks to her longtime passion for alternative
processes and toy cameras.
© Zabrina Deng, Sony Artisan of Imagery
4 Universe

The moment mirrorless photography
matches your aspiration.
The new Batis lenses from ZEISS.
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α series
// NEW PRO ERA
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Be part of a new era of professional photography – with the ZEISS Batis lenses for mirrorless fullframe
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image quality and innovative design but also thanks to its OLED display for ideally adjusting the
depth of field. Capture unique moments – no matter if manually focused or with auto focus.
Learn more about the lenses and the new era on
www.zeiss.com/batis
October 2015 5

6 Universe

Maximum
Resolution
Mardi Gras is the perfect time to visit New Orleans, and that’s exactly what Sony Artisan Brian Smith did
to test out two of the new Sony G Master lenses. BY THEANO NIKITAS PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN SMITH
orrowing a line from Seinfeld,
portrait photographer and Sony
Artisan Brian Smith’s first reaction
to Sony’s new flagship line
of G Master lenses was succinct
but powerful: “They are real and
they are spectacular!”
Smith is equally as enthusiastic about Sony’s
new 6300, deeming it “flat-out the best
camera on the planet under $1,000!” Don’t let
the 6300’s compact size fool you—it’s packed
with features and performance that will leave
comparably-priced DSLRs in the dust.
As a Sony Artisan, Smith had early access
to two of the three recently announced fullframe
G Master lenses: the FE 24-70mm F2.8
GM and the FE 85mm F1.4 GM (pictured here
on an 6300). Smith paired these advanced
optics with the Sony 7R II, and put them
through their paces on a road trip to New
Orleans during Mardi Gras.
Left: For one of Smith’s favorite images from his New Orleans road trip, the photographer used the 7R II and the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
lens to photograph a model against the backdrop of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. Smith notes that, “This is exactly the type of shoot that I want
this lens for”—a loose, full body shot with “a lot of environment.” Exposure: 1/160 sec. at f/11, ISO 100. Above: The Sony 6300 with the FE
85mm F1.4 GM.
May 2016 7

The images that Smith captured are the
best testament to the quality of the G Master’s
optical design. However, it’s important to
understand the technology behind why these
lenses deserve superlatives such as “They [GM
lenses] are sharper and more beautiful than
anything I’ve ever shot with” from a professional
photographer like Smith.
Sony recognized the need for lenses with
increased resolving power to realize the full
potential of higher resolution sensors, for
current cameras like the Sony 7R II and
future models with even more advanced
sensor capabilities. In order to achieve this,
Sony developed XA (extreme aspherical) lens
elements. This allowed Sony to develop lenses
with such precision that they deliver exceptional
sharpness with their 50 lines per mm
(the best in the industry) resolving power.
Polishing the surfaces of the lens elements
to a surface tolerance of 0.01 microns, the G
Master lenses also deliver more realistic bokeh
with a smoother transition from sharp to defocused
areas. As Smith explains, “Typically in
the past there have been lenses that are very
sharp or had beautiful bokeh, but never both.”
Because of this new development process,
Smith adds, “These lenses are extremely sharp,
but the out-of-focus highlights have a beautiful
look that you would only see with a vintage
lens that couldn’t provide the same level of
sharpness. These lenses provide the best of
both worlds.”
At the same time, the innovative molding
process allowed Sony to develop lens elements
in unique shapes, culminating in lens
designs that are smaller and lighter than
equally fast (large aperture) counterparts. “It’s
significant to note,” says Smith, “That it was
technology that was never available before
to produce this type of lens. Users have been
requesting F2.8 zooms since the release of
these cameras. This has been in the works for
a while but it took time to come up with the
Below: From the tiniest
of raindrops to the headlamps’
hatched lines, the
FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
lens’ exceptional resolving
power reproduced
the finest of details on
this vintage automobile.
Exposure: 0.4 sec. at f/8,
ISO 100.
8 Universe

technology to create high-quality F2.8 lenses”
as well as the “85mm F1.4 with these beautiful
transitions—and not jagged steps—as the
image falls out of focus.”
Additionally, Smith notes that because of
mirrorless camera design, “Engineers were
able to achieve an optical lens design not
possible with DSLRs that have a large mirror
box.” And, he points out, the lenses are very
well-balanced, even for larger lenses.
With more G Master lenses to follow in the
future, Sony chose to launch the three most
popular focal lengths used by pro photographers.
For Smith, the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
“is such a good, all around lens that I could
shoot 90% of what I shoot with that lens. It’s
such a useful focal length—I can shoot with a
loose, full body composition with a lot of environment
and tight, intimate portraits when
zoomed into 70mm. It’s the one lens that handles
the range that is most used by portrait,
fashion, wedding and street photographers.”
He goes on to say that, “Add in the FE
85mm F1.4 GM, and that takes care of 95% of
what I shoot, so this is a great combination to
launch this premium series of lenses with.”
The G Master lenses are, Smith says, “What
you’d expect from a pro series of lenses.
They’re solid and built for optimum optical
performance.” Even more importantly, he
concludes, “They’re both (FE 24-70mm F2.8
GM, FE 85mm F1.4 GM) best in class against
anything else on the market.”
Best in class carries over to the 6300. In
addition to 11fps continuous shooting speed,
the 6300 is equipped with a record-breaking
425 phase detection autofocus points and
is Sony’s first non-full-frame interchangeable
lens camera with internal 4K video capture.
The latter uses oversampled 6K files for
exquisite video quality. And those are just the
highlights of this little camera’s innovations
and advanced capabilities.
Learn more at briansmith.com and
alphauniverse.com.
Above left: This beautifully
textured portrait
of Houma, Louisiana
resident James Southern
was captured with the
7R II and FE 24-70mm
F2.8 lens. Exposure:
1/160 sec. at f/8, ISO
100. Above right: To
show off the FE 85mm
F1.4’s beautiful bokeh,
Smith shot this image
wide open with the
7R II. Exposure: 1/160
sec. at f/1.4, ISO 400.
May 2016 9

Combining the latest photographic technology with his own imagination, Sony Artisan Dennis Biela
takes aviation photography to new heights. BY DAVID SCHONAUER PHOTOGRAPHS BY DENNIS BIELA
10 Universe

owing up in Downers Grove, Illinois,
a suburb of Chicago, Dennis Biela developed
a love of airplanes—an interest
his father stoked when he agreed
to pay for his son’s flying lessons.
“We made a deal when I was 15—I
wouldn’t drive a car until I was out of high school,
and he would pay for the lessons,” says Biela. “It
worked out, because I would take my friends flying
if they would drive me to the airport.”
It worked out in another way as well. Biela had
also become interested in photography—his uncle
fueled that hobby when he gave him an old Ansco
camera—and the teenager would often shoot
views of the Illinois countryside through the open
window of the Citabria single-engine plane he
flew. More important, Biela went on to become
one of the country’s top aviation photographers,
published in several aviation magazines including
Sport Aviation and Smithsonian’s Air & Space, as
well as a Sony Artisan of Imagery.
Biela’s personal photography and his commercial
work—his clients include Cessna, Goodyear,
the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum,
and noted aerobatic pilots like Sean Tucker, Matt
Chapman, and Gene McNealy—both reflect his unending
enthusiasm for flying machines. He delights
in shooting dazzling modern airplanes and older
craft imbued with the romance of flight, while his
images often capture thrilling perspectives and a
visceral sense of speed. To create photos like that,
he combines the latest photographic technology
with his own sense of imagination.
“Everything is about problem solving,” he says.
“You’re using equipment in ways no one has
thought of.”
Until 2012, Biela shot with Canon gear. But
while covering the final days of NASA’s Space
Above left: Aerobatics
pilot Dave Baldwin flies
his 1943 Waco UPF-7
biplane over southern
Florida. Biela shot with
a remote Sony 6000
and 8mm fisheye lens.
Exposure: 1/800 sec.
at f/8, ISO 400. Above
right: The Aeroshell Aerobatic
Team, shot with
a Sony 77 II and Sony
70-200mm f/2.8 G lens
set at 200mm. Exposure:
1/320 sec. at f/2.8, ISO
3200.
May 2016 11

Shuttle program for the Smithsonian National Air
& Space Museum, he decided to move in a new
direction. “With a historic event like that, which
presents so many visual possibilities, you just want
to do more creatively, and after experimenting
I felt the gear that Sony was innovating was the
right answer,” he says. Typically, he used the Sony
gear inventively, capturing the final launch of the
Space Shuttle Atlantis, for instance, with 24 Sony
55 cameras.
Today, Biela’s primary camera is the
42.4-megapixel Sony 7R II. He also uses the
a 24.3-megapixel Sony 77 II for action shots
because of the blazing speed offered by its 79
phase-detection autofocus points and 12-framesper-second
continuous shooting capability.
“At air shows, I’ll pair the 77 II with the
Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 lens,” Biela says. “I get
more zoom range because it’s an APS-C camera,
so I don’t have to carry as much heavy glass as I
used to,” he says.
Biela uses a Sony 6000 for high-quality remote
shots, mounting the 24.3-megapixel camera
to wings and other places on airplanes. He has
also been using the Sony FDR-X1000V 4K Action
Cam to capture remote video footage. “More and
more of my clients, including airshow performers,
want video clips they can put up on YouTube,”
Biela says. “I’m happy, because that’s another
service I can provide.”
His arsenal includes a variety of Sony accessories
that enhance his still and video work. “I put
the Sony ECM-GZ1M Zoom Microphone on my
cameras to capture ambient noise from wind and
airplane props,” he says. “I’ll record short clips of
video with sound, then strip out the audio to use
with slide-show presentations.”
To create time-lapse clips, Biela depends on
128-gigabyte Sony SD memory cards. “I’ll put
the 128-gig card in a remote camera, and when
the pilot brings the plane back it will have 5,000
images of his performance on it.” He also uses the
Time-Lapse App for the Sony 6000 and 7
series for shooting remote time-lapse footage.
Meanwhile, Sony’s Smart Remote Control App via
Wi-Fi connection lets Biela frame remote photos
with his smartphone.
While shooting with remote cameras has added
to Biela’s creative options, a more traditional
approach—shooting one aircraft while flying in
another—is still a basic of his business, and the part
that requires the most care and planning. Speaking
at last year’s PhotoPlus Expo show in New York
City, Biela explained to listeners how he got into
aviation photography, and how he has stayed alive
doing it.
“Lots of people think you just jump into an
airplane and you go fly. That’s not true,” he says.
“The most dangerous things in aviation are photo
shoots, because everyone involved becomes so
focused on the picture-taking that they forget that
they’re headed toward a mountain or that they’ve
got other airplanes nearby. It takes a lot of experience
to learn what’s safe and who you should fly
with.”
Learn more at dbiela.com.
Above: Biela created this panoramic portrait of the
experimental Space Ship One aircraft with a Sony
7R and 15mm fisheye lens. Far right: Biela shot a
performance by pilot Greg Koontz with a remote Sony
5000 and 8mm fisheye lens. Exposure: 1/4000 sec.
at f/5.6, ISO 200. Right: Pilot Sean Tucker in his Oracle
Extra 300, along with the Navy Blue Angels at the
Chicago Air & Water Show. Biela got the photo with
a Sony 7R and 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS FE lens set at
64mm. Exposure: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3, ISO 200.
12 Universe

May 2016 13

14 Universe

Cultural
Odyssey
Sony Artisan Ira Block focuses his Sony lenses on cultural traditions
around the world. BY THEANO NIKITAS PHOTOGRAPHS BY IRA BLOCK
An exotic market in Marrakech,
monks in Bhutan, and baseball
players in Cuba are only
a few of the subjects that Ira
Block captures when traveling.
However, the multifaceted
craftsman—who got his start as a newspaper
photographer and has produced more than
30 stories for National Geographic publications—doesn’t
approach his work as a traditional
travel photographer. “I do more cultural
photography,” he clarifies, focusing his lens on
traditions that may someday be lost.
His outgoing personality and genuine
interest in people are important traits for his
work, Block explains. “I like people and like to
interact with them, and photography is a great
excuse to get out there and be with people.”
Because of these experiences, he says, “I have
a very rich life. Traveling the world, meeting
people and photographing other cultures is the
best educational experience you can have.”
Whether he’s trekking up a cliff to photograph
a Buddhist monastery, traversing a
Moroccan desert, or capturing portraits in a
marketplace, Block appreciates the compact
size and light weight of Sony’s 7-series cameras
and lenses, and currently shoots with 7S
and the 7R II, as well as the tiny RX100 IV.
Lens choice, of course, varies according
to the situation. One of his go-to pieces is
the FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS, which he
often uses for portraits. Block states, “I have
the 90mm with me all the time now. I don’t
think of it as a macro lens; I just think of it as
a great medium focal-length lens, and it gives
me that nice, selective depth-of-field and bokeh.”
He’ll often shoot with the lens at f/2.8
noting that, “the sharpness of that lens wide
open just amazes me.”
Top: An impromptu baseball game in Cuba photographed with the Sony 7 II and the FE 24-70mm F4 ZA
OSS lens. Exposure: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6, ISO 250. Bottom left: The Sony 7S and the FE 55mm F1.8 ZA
lens were paired to capture this candlelit desert scene. Exposure: 1/60 sec. at f/2.0, ISO 40,000. Bottom
right: A monastery in Bhutan shot with the Sony 7R and FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS lens. Exposure: 1/500
sec. at f/5.6, ISO 400.
May 2016 15

Block says the FE 55mm F1.8 ZA is “probably
the sharpest lens I had until the 90mm came
out. This, along with FE 28mm F2, are great
complements to the 7S when shooting in low
light.” “I used to have to stop shooting when the
sun went down,” Block recalls. But with the
7S’s “unbelievable” low light capabilities—
even at ISO 50,000—and these fast lenses,
Block can easily shoot at night with nothing but
dim candlelight. He doesn’t shy away from using
the 7R II in low light conditions because,
Block says, “Its high ISO range is almost as good
as the 7S, so I’m comfortable shooting at ISO
10,000 and I know it’s going to look good.”
Block likes to shoot with primes and prefers
the 28mm F2 for its small size when he’s
“trying to be discreet” or when he wants to
get a little closer to his subject and “have the
background spread out more” for environmental
portraits. However, zooms such as the
Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4, the Vario-
Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS, and the FE
70-200mm F4 G OSS lenses are better suited
for more challenging environments where
changing lenses might result in dust settling on
the back of the lens or reaching the camera’s
sensor. The 16-35mm lens is ideal for wide
shots such as the Aurora Borealis in Iceland or,
at the wide end, in tight spaces “when my back
is physically against the wall.” But, he adds, he
prefers the 25-35mm range for environmental
portraits since there’s less distortion.
The 24-70mm F4 has great ergonomics
and is a good alternative when the 90mm is
Above: Block shot this
New York City sunset
with his constant
companion—the
tiny, Wi-Fi-equipped
Sony RX100 IV—and
immediately shared the
beautiful scene with his
Instagram followers.
Exposure: 1/50 sec. at
f/3.2, ISO 640.
16 Universe

too long, but he’ll occasionally use the faster
A-mount Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm F2.8 ZA
SSM II with the LEA3 adapter, as he did in
Mongolia to photograph a dimly lit tent against
the Milky Way.
“I’m not usually a long-lens photographer,”
says Block, who likes to be “closer to people”
when photographing them. But, he explains, “If
I’m shooting things where I can’t get to where I
need to be, I’ll use the FE 70-200mm lens.” It’s
also a great lens for getting a “stacked telephoto
look or for certain types of landscapes—to
stack the foreground and background and have
a layering perspective to it.”
The flexibility of interchangeable lens cameras
is a crucial resource for Block’s photography.
But this native New Yorker embraces
Top: Razor sharp images
and beautiful bokeh
make the FE 90mm
F2.8 Macro G OSS the
perfect portrait lens.
Shot with the Sony
7R II. Exposure:
1/320 sec. at f/2.8, ISO
4000. Bottom: The fast
FE 55mm F1.8 ZA is the
perfect complement to
the 7S for low light
shots. Exposure: 1/60
sec. at f/2.5, ISO 6400.
the notion that it’s important to always have a
camera with you, and when he’s out and about
in NYC he carries the diminutive Sony RX100 IV.
“You become desensitized to where you live, but
the RX100 IV is so small, there’s no excuse not
to carry it,” Block explains. And, because he has a
camera with him, he’s more visually aware, even in
his home city. Block makes good use of social media,
such as Instagram, and loves the Wi-Fi feature
on all the Sony cameras. “I never thought I’d use
the Wi-Fi, but I can shoot, transfer an image to my
cellphone, and put it up on Instagram right away.
That’s amazing for me.” The camera is small, “the
lens is fast and sharp, and the ISO can easily be
pushed to 1000 or 1600—the quality of the images
is incredible for a camera that small.” As Block
knows, no matter where you are, there are always
interesting visual opportunities. We just need to
be ready to capture them.
Learn more at irablock.com.
May 2016 17

More Perfect
Unions
How Sony Artisan Zabrina Deng is redefining
the state of the art in wedding photography.
BY DAVID SCHONAUER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZABRINA DENG
18 Universe

he perfect wedding photograph,
says Sony Artisan Zabrina Deng, is
one that is not perfect.
“In wedding photos, I think it can be more
beautiful to have some imperfection—for instance,
if the bride’s hair is being blown slightly
by the wind, or if her gown is moving a bit,”
Deng says. “That’s a more genuine moment
emotionally. I call it ‘imperfectly perfect.’”
Above: Zabrina Deng
captured this stylish
image with a Sony
7R II and FE 35mm
f/1.4 ZA lens. Exposure:
1/160 sec. at f/6.3, ISO
200.
In capturing such moments, Deng has created
a more perfect kind of wedding photography,
redefining the art with her own vision and
some state-of-the-art technology.
Deng and her partner, Jeremy Chan, are the
creative team behind JeZa Photography, a wedding
and portrait photography business based
in the San Francisco Bay Area that has won
wide acclaim. With Chan doing post-production
work, Deng travels the globe specializing in
high-end destination-wedding shoots and the
pre-wedding photo sessions that have become
popular with couples in China and elsewhere in
Asia. “These are really elaborate productions involving
fashion and far-off locations—we have
shot them everywhere from Prague and Tokyo
to Paris and Vietnam,” Deng says.
Deng’s path to wedding photography
started in the Silicon Valley, where she once
worked as a programmer at a large company.
“I didn’t like my job—the high point in my day
was lunch hour, which I spent taking pictures
for fun,” she says. In 2008, she stumbled
across the blog of photographer Scott Robert
Lim (another Sony Artisan), who was looking
for an assistant to help him organize a photo
workshop in Beijing. Deng, who is from
Guangzhou, China, got the job and, with Chan,
attended the workshop.
“Scott was teaching wedding and portrait
photography, and it changed our perception of
what photographers could do,” Deng says.
Several years later, she and Chan began
changing the perception of how wedding
photographers work when they began using
Sony mirrorless camera systems. When Deng
launched her pro career, she shot with Nikon
gear. But in 2011 an acquaintance showed her
a Sony NEX-5, and she immediately thought
the 14.2-megapixel interchangeable-lens compact
would make a great travel companion.
She later added the 24.3-megapixel Sony 99
DSLR and the Sony RX1 full-frame compact to
her kit.
“The RX1 was the defining moment—that
was when we decided to go completely to
Sony gear,” she says.
Today Deng shoots weddings with an array
of Sony cameras, including the RX1R II, which
features a 42.4-megapixel sensor, a ZEISS
Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 lens, and the world’s first
May 2016 19

variable optical low-pass filter that can be set
to “off,” “standard,” or “high.” She also uses the
42.4-megapixel full-fame mirrorless 7R II
and the 12.2-megapixel 7S, which, with
its ability to shoot at up to ISO 409,600, is
an exceptional tool for working in low-light
scenes in churches and wedding receptions.
For capturing details—wedding rings, necklaces,
accessories—she uses the 24.3 Sony
6000 paired with a Sony SEL30M35 30mm
f/3.5 Macro Lens.
For travel, Deng’s camera of choice now
is the Sony RX100 IV, which features a
20.1-megapixel 1-inch stacked Exmor RS
CMOS sensor, coupled with a DRAM memory
chip for fast image readout. “With its super-fast
focusing, I pretty much catch all kinds
of action. And I love the built-in ND filter for
taking dramatic landscape photos,” she says.
One feature on Sony’s mirrorless cameras
that Deng praises in particular is dynamic
range optimization, which works to improve
images featuring backlit subjects or scenes
with high contrast. “It helps get light into
shadow areas and in general makes the image
more vivid,” she says.
The small size and light weight of the Sony
cameras are crucial factors for Deng, who
works from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.—and sometimes
later—on wedding days. “I’m relatively petite,
and the Sony gear is much easier on my back
and hands,” she says.
The big, heavy DSLRs she used to shoot
with are still handy, however—in an ironic
way. Deng says that some wedding guests
have a hard time believing she is a professional
photographer when they see her small
cameras. “So sometimes we actually hire an
assistant to walk around with a DSLR, not to
take pictures, but to act as a kind of decoy,”
she says. “That way, people feel comfortable
that there is pro on the job, while I can go
around unnoticed and capture the moments
that are so special.”
Learn more at jezaphoto.com.
On this page, three scenes captured with the Sony
RX1 and its fixed 35mm f/2 lens. At right: The
exposure here was 1/400 sec. at f/4, ISO 100. Far
right, top: The exposure for this portrait was 1/250
sec. at f/2.8, ISO 800. Far right, bottom: The exposure
for this shot was 1/800 sec. at f/4, ISO 250.
20 Universe

May 2016 21

Most Likely
to Succeed
After launching a thriving high-school photography business, Sony Artisan
of Imagery Joe Brady went looking for a new camera system. Sony stood at
the top of the class. BY DAVID SCHONAUER PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOE BRADY
The high-school senior portrait
has come a long way.
“Today, they’re practically
full-blown fashion shoots in
the studio, and in some cases
outside on location,” says Sony
Artisan of Imagery Joe Brady. With his wife,
Diane Bollen, Brady has run a successful
portrait photography studio in Warwick,
New York, for the past 25 years. During that
time, he has also become well known for his
instructional videos on portrait photography—which,
he notes, have received some
2.5 million views on YouTube—and for his
series of popular landscape photography
workshops.
It was three years ago that he and Bollen
expanded their business into the nowthriving
high-school photography business.
The school superintendent in his town had
become dissatisfied with the mass-market
photo service that had been doing the job,
and he wanted to hire a local photographer
who could offer better-quality images. “We
started off doing a couple of schools, and
now we work with about 15,” Brady says.
Just as the static senior portrait of old has
evolved into something far more sophisticated,
Brady’s business evolved along with the
gear he uses.
“I wasn’t happy with the camera system I
had,” he says. “I was looking for something
more versatile. I’m a big fan of the live-view
feature on mirrorless cameras. That’s an
important feature for school photography,
because you don’t have to sit with your face
hidden behind the camera—we find that
there’s a much better connection with the
kids that way. You can talk to them, and you
get that instant response.”
Brady found what he was looking for when
he tried out two Sony cameras, the 77 and
99. “I was amazed at their performance—
they produced DSLR-quality images but
had mirrorless capabilities,” he says. “From
there we’ve gone on to the current crop of
full-frame Sony mirrorless cameras: First the
7, then the 7R, and now the 7R II,
which we use for all the senior portraits. The
dynamic range of that camera is unmatched,
and the low-light focusing is so impressive.
The color it produces is the best we’ve seen
from any camera on the market.”
Brady’s entire business has now been
converted to Sony gear. For other types of
high-school work—including photographing
700 kids in a day—he and his team use the
20-megapixel Sony 58. “It’s a fast and easy
camera to use, and we get consistently great
images,” he says. “We’ve compared files from
the 58 to files from the Canon 7D, and
they blew them away,” he says.
Learn more at joebradyphotography.com.
High-school senior
portraits have practically
become full-blown fashion
shoots, says Sony Artisan
Joe Brady. Top: A seaside
portrait shot with the Sony
7R II and FE 24-70mm
f/4 ZA OSS lens set at
50mm. Exposure: 1/500
sec. at f/8, ISO 250.
Bottom, far right: Another
of Brady’s senior portraits
shot on location. Bottom
right: A classic portrait
shot with the Sony 7
and FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA
OSS lens set at 42mm.
Exposure: 1/125 sec. at
f/8, ISO 125.
22 Universe

May 2016 23

The Essentials
Masterful Packing for
Mardi Gras
Artisan
of Imagery Brian Smith now loads his kit
with Sony G Master lenses. BY DAVID SCHONAUER
3
6
7
1
2
4
5
11
10
9
SHOOT WOW-WORTHY PORTRAITS
Snapshots of loved ones laughing, impressive studio headshots, fun yet tasteful
selfies, and lightning-fast captures of athletes doing the thing they love—the world of
portrait photography is as rich and varied as people themselves.
Join Popular Photography magazine in a crash course on taking fantastic photos of
the individuals around you. With chapters on how to flatter your subjects with poses
and angles, light them just right, and retouch your photos in post-production, you’ll
soon be crafting portraits that make your subjects look their very best.
8
are sharper and
more beautiful than
anything I’ve ever
“They
shot with,” says Sony
Artisan of Imagery
Brian Smith, speaking of Sony’s new
flagship G Master lens line. Sony
rolled out the G Master line to take
full advantage of the higherresolution
sensors in cameras like
the 42.4-megapixel 7R II, as well
as in future models with even more
advanced sensor technology. Besides
exceptional sharpness, the G Master
lenses also produce smooth transitions
from one area of an image to
another. “The out-of-focus highlights
have a beautiful look that you would
only see with a vintage lens,” Smith
says in our story on page 6.
Smith tested the G Master lenses
last February in New Orleans,
where he photographed Mardi
Gras. He also packed some other
essentials for the outing.
1. Sony MDR10R Hi-Res
Headphones
2. Giotto Rocket Air Blaster
3. Sony 7R II
4. Sony FE 85mm f/1.4
G Master Lens
5. Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8
G Master Lens
6. Sony RM-VPR1 Remote Control
with Multi-Terminal Cable
7. U.S. Passport for upcoming
trip to Dubai
8. Transcend Military Drop Tested 2
TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drives
9. Pelican 0915 SD Memory Card
Case with Sony 64GB High
Performance Class 10 UHS-1/U3
SDXC Cards
10. Sony NP-FW50 Lithium-Ion
Rechargeable Batteries
11. Sony BC-TRW W Series Battery
Chargers
US $29.00 CAN $32.00
ISBN 13: 978-1-68188-019-8
ISBN 10: 1-68188-019-9
© Brian Smith, Sony Artisan of Imagery
24 Universe

GET THAT
SHOT
THE COMPLETE
MANUAL
200+
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& TECHNIQUES
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PHOTOS OF
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WITH SUBJECTS
www.popphoto.com/bookstore
October 2015 25

THE POWER OF
THE MOMENT.
The Future of Digital Imaging.
And A World Beyond DSLR.
With autofocus so amazingly smart and fast, resolution
so razor-sharp and 4K movie recording performance
so professionally proficient, the 6300 redefines the
standards of today’s imaging market.
sony.com/alpha
@sonyalpha
– World’s fastest autofocus.*
*Among interchangeable-lens digital cameras as of February 2016, based on Sony research. Measured using CIPA-compliant guidelines, and internal
measurement method with an E PZ 16-50 mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens mounted, Pre-AF off and viewfinder in use.
©2016 Sony Electronics Inc. The Sony logo is a trademark of Sony Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written
permission is prohibited. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.
26 Universe
Feature photography © tktktktk, Sony Artisan of Imagery