Musings: June 1, 2025
Santorini. Absolutely gorgeous.
FULL BLOG POSTS RETURNING NEXT WEEK
I’m currently in Santorini on a little vacation and despite my best efforts, it’s hard to juggle personal fun with full blog posts. So in favor of my sanity, I’ve decided to do more of a mini post for this week’s post with full posts to return next Friday.
Ok, ramble over. Here are some musings to hold you over!
FINESSING THE IMAGE
Model: Rebirth of the Bird @rebirthofthebird
Studio: L’Atelier & Beyond @latelierandbeyond_studio
Location: Paris, France
ALL IMAGES SHOT ON THE SONY A7RV + SONY FE 28-70MM F/2 GM AND SONY FE 85MM F/1.4 GM II
Rebirth of The Bird on my last trip to Paris. © 2025
A term I’ve coined recently is “finessing the image” which applies to how we manipulate and process an image during postproduction. I’m always experimenting with different techniques be it in Capture One or in Photoshop just for fun to see what sort of interesting results I may get. For this most recent shoot with the amazing @rebirthofthebird, I played around with adjusting the red and yellow channels in my black-and-white process. I think it produces a bolder black-and-white, similar to the tones I would see by great artists such as Albert Watson or Herb Ritts.
Digital isn’t film, but it offers us so much leeway in terms of how we wish to manipulate the final image. I love the flexibility and the more I train my eye for both capturing photographs as well as postproduction to achieve “my look” the more I appreciate having so much room to explore.
I’ll post more images from this shoot in mid-June. We just shot these on the 27th and in the midst of my travel schedule, I won’t get around to selecting and working on this session for a bit. Stay tuned!
GEAR TALK
Not Loving the Sony A7CR
Sony A7CR in Santorini? Should be fun? Absolutely not.
As much as I’ve tried to love this little camera, I just can’t. The Sony A7CR has too many odd design quirks that just get in the way of shooting. Additionally, the lack of a joystick rears its ugly head every time I use it. It really should be so easy to maneuver a focus point where you want it, but with the lack of a joystick, it can be a pain in the ass to do quickly and accurately. And, by the time you do, the moment is gone. It just doesn’t feel as fluid and easy to use as the A7RV. Although the A7RV isn’t a large camera, the weight and size difference between the two feels substantial. However, in terms of usability, they’re in completely different universes. The A7CR gets in the way with its lack of smooth functionality and customizable buttons. The A7RV can easily cater to a variety of shooting styles. Mine in particular.
I can’t be too hard on myself. This is the third time I’ve owned the A7CR and despite my best efforts to love it, I just don’t. I knew many of the quirks going back to it, but figured the size and weight benefits would make up for its shortcomings in terms of ergonomics. Alas, that wasn’t the case.
I took my A7RV out for a test run as my everyday carry, paired with the Sony 24-50 f/2.8G lens and it just felt right. Snapping shots as I walked around Thira was fun and I didn’t feel like I was fighting with the camera.
My stance now is that, unless a camera has an amazing touch interface(sort of how Canon does it), I won’t buy an expensive camera that lacks a joystick. For me, it’s an essential component of good camera ergonomics. There are other shortcomings, but this one was the most nagging of all, so I can’t justify keeping it. Ah well, we tried.
Sony Announces the FX…2?
The Sony FX2. Why tho?!
I really like the EVF, but think it would be even better if removable a la the GFX 100 II.
Sony announced the FX2, which in my opinion is more of a proof of concept camera for them. I think this will be the direction for the upcoming successor to the beloved FX3. The added EVF with tilt functionality will be appreciated by some filmmakers. I imagine when they announce an FX3 II, and if it includes the EVF, it will be much more higher-res. In line with the A7RV’s or similar. Or even removable? Could you imagine?!
Specs wise, it’s an A7IV in an FX3 body. If you’re serious about video, I still think the FX3 is the better buy despite its almost $1000 price difference. I would wait out some deals and save up a bit if I had to choose between the two. The low light performance of the FX3 alone makes it a contender all these years later.
STREAMLINING WORKFLOWS
Can’t wait to work on this set of images. When I have time…
If this recent trip has taught me anything, it’s the importance of streamlining your workflow.
Ideally, a photographer would seek to create images and get them out for the public to see in the quickest way possible. But still at a standard they’re pleased with. It can be a struggle when you shoot thousands of images per shoot and have to sort through them all, compare options, make selections, retouch them, then output them for use online.
Personally, I don’t like to rush my work. I like to sit with images for a bit, ruminate over them, ponder how good/bad they are, then begin my process of selecting the ones that will make the final cut. I also understand the importance of haste and quick turnarounds so I try not to sit on them forever. However, the busier I get, the harder it can be to maintain deadlines and have the same production output. Doing 5-6 shoots a week is much more difficult than one a week or a few every couple of weeks. Imagine going through images from 6 different shoots where you’ve taken 1000+ photos. You need to pair them down to, say 10 images, retouch them then have them out for your website, social media, etc. Hard to do all of that in a week especially if you have other priorities (family, work, etc.). Yeah, not an easy ask.
With that said, I’m working on a process of further refining and streamlining my workflow. So from capture to output, everything is faster and much more seamless. I take a lot of notes in the “Notes” app on my phone and I’ve been brainstorming diferent methods which I’ll start actively playing around with once I’m home this week. Once I hit on something solid I’ll share it here on the blog.
Maybe it’ll help other artists who struggle with their own output.
I NEED YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY QUESTIONS
As I’ve mentioned branching out into YouTube and having my own workshop eventually, I’m looking for questions from photographers regarding portrait photography. What are some of the things you would like to learn or know more about? Leave a comment below or shoot me a message on Instagram. I want to compile a fairly comprehensive list as I build the curriculum for the workshop and come up with topics for tutorial posts. Your contributions will be much appreciated!
Hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below!
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