The Phoblographer

All images by Alessandro Corsini. Used with permission.

My name is Alessandro Corsini. I’m an Italian artist, photographer, and media professional based in Berlin (Germany) for over a decade. Despite having started with photography pretty early, the journey to fine art photography has been long. My academic, professional, and artistic background is a trajectory from a commercial to a scientific and then to an artistic approach to media. During this trajectory, I worked with different media: video, photography, interactive media, and experimental languages at their intersection.

I could classify my art photography as abstract, street, or portrait photography. But the conceptual space I inhabit is one that is eclectic, open to influences, genre-defiant, and in constant transformation. And in this liminal space, synthesis, not analysis, rules.

As an artist, I’m interested in both concept and form. But in dealing with these, I consider media and genres only means to an end.

I started learning black and white film photography, development, and printing techniques during my middle school years in Rockville (MD, USA). But being my father, a portrait photography enthusiast, photography has actually been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. During high school and university, I would occasionally skip lessons with my Minolta film camera to document historical, medieval costume parades, take portraits of my mates at the seaside, experiment with backlighting or with light-painting, in an improvised dark room, with my girlfriend as a model.

My last ten years have been enormously important in refining my visual culture, my aesthetic sensibility, and, most of all, my vision. Differently than most people think, the technique is not the most time-consuming – or hardest – aspect of photography to learn. And it’s also not what actually sets apart the wannabes from the real photographers. The “eye,” the aesthetic sensibility, the feel for photography is that decisive aspect. No books exist on how to make beautiful pictures. Books may contain a set of general rules to make a photo correct from a technical perspective, but the concept of “beautiful” is a totally subjective one. So being a professional photographer requires, in order to make the right aesthetic choices, having a concept of what is generally regarded as “beautiful” by society, by your audience, or by your customers. Being an artist instead means having a peculiar, unique vision independently from what is commonly regarded as “beautiful.”

Coming from the commercial world of advertising, my artistic vision can be considered a synthesis between these two.

Photography is another way for me to let my subconscious express itself. Most of the time, I’m not even aware of why I’m attracted by a certain photographic subject and not something else or why I like certain pictures of mine and not others. I usually only understand years later what I was expressing with a particular photo. It’s like my subconscious talking to my future self about my past self.

At the very moment of shooting, it’s all about chasing the beauty in the viewfinder in a totally intuitive, instinctive, and immersive way. Later, when selecting and editing the photos, there is more time for detachment and rationality but, at the end of the day, it’s still your aesthetic sensibility making the choices.

Whereas photographers from the first decades of the century like Man Ray and Bill Brandt are fascinating for their vanguardist and experimental strength, the photographer I probably feel aesthetically more inspired by, as a fine-art and street-photographer, is Fan Ho. His use of the human shadow as a formal element, the geometries in the composition, the tonal contrasts, his precision are simply unrivaled. I think his influence on our modern visual culture is still enormously underestimated.

Despite starting with film photography, I’m actually a digital guy (I also hold a master’s in digital media). I embraced th...

We gave Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis 5 minutes to discuss the Sony 40mm f2.5 G lens.

The Sony 40mm f2.5 G lens has to be something really fascinating. It’s the first time in a whole that we’ve seen a 40mm lens. The last really good one to come out was from Zeiss. And otherwise, there’s the Voigtlander that doesn’t have autofocus. We finished our review a while back, so we sat down with Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis to see what she thought.

You also may be wondering why Sony chose a 40mm lens. Well, there are several reasons. First off, back in the film days, 43mm was truly normal. It’s arguably the same thing here. The 40mm lens brings us very close to that. In terms of workability, it brings us between the 35mm and 50mm focal length. That’s fun for candids, portraiture, and everyday photography.

For what it’s worth, it’s a focal length that’s never really been romanticized. The 50mm lens and 35mm lens get a lot more of that. The reason is that they’ve traditionally been the most popular. Bresson and others always used them. The lenses also just because the most common ones until zooms came along. But we genuinely think that the industry needed more of them.

5 Minute Review: Sony 40mm f2.5 G (Check it Out Below)

For the Sony system, there is indeed a few 40mm lenses. There’s the Voigtlander option. Then there’s also the Zeiss Batis option. Further from that, we have this Sony option. Voigtlander is made of metal but has no weather sealing. Zeiss has weather sealing, is expensive, and also an f2. For what it’s worth, I really liked that lens despite a few problems.

This new 40mm f2.5 G lens from Sony is smaller than the Zeiss. It’s got a bit of weather sealing, and it’s far more affordable. Of course, it’s the most interesting option of the bunch simply because of what it is. It’s an untraditional focal length in the eyes of some.

If you really want to get technical, there’s also the Sigma 40mm f1.4 Art lens. It’s a beautiful lens, but wow, is it big and heavy.

Fun fact: The Leica Minolta 40mm f2 lens was probably still one of the sharpest lenses ever made. Put it on a camera in front of some Kodak Tri-X, and you’ll be pleased.

Here’s a too long, didn’t read quote from our full review.

“The Sony FE 40mm f2.5 G looks almost exactly like the 50mm f2.5 G and even captures similar images. But, the lens is a bit more flexible with a closer autofocus range. That, plus the slightly shorter focal length, makes the affordable, compact lens a good option for working in tight spaces.”

In our conclusion of the review, we state:

“If the Sony FE 40mm f2.5 G was a $1,200 lens, I would walk away. But as a $600, six-ounce lens, this 40mm definitely has some merit. Sharpness is top-notch — though maybe a little too sharp — and the colors are great. The autofocus is excellent and even a little better than the sister 50mm lens. The smaller aperture also allows the lens to seriously slim down. You could easily shoot with this lens all day without being weighed down.”

“While the 40mm is a solid lens, it uses a narrower aperture than most primes. The bokeh also isn’t quite as idealistic as some of Sony’s higher-end optics. Chromatic aberration is also occasionally a problem.”

You can get the Sony 40mm f4.5 G lens for just under $600.

85mm primes are an essential tool for portrait photographers.

Portrait photographers need a lot from the lenses they use. Lenses have to be sharp, reliable, produce great bokeh and beautiful natural skin tones. Another quality they need to have is great build quality. Like many other things in life, not all 85mm primes are created equal. However, we’re sure that you’ll love the 85mm primes we have listed after the break. If you’re in the market for a new go-to portrait lens, the five we have listed after the break will offer you everything a modern portrait photographer needs.

Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM

“The Canon RF 85mm f1.2 L USM produces truly beautiful bokeh, excellent sharpness, plenty of micro-contrast, and overall exceptional image quality. Its performance is quite snappy as well, and it’s capable of focusing and tracking fast-moving subjects quickly and accurately. True to Canon’s heritage, this lens is built like a tank and features some of the best weather sealing we’ve seen.”

Buy now: $2,699

Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master

“This lens has fantastic sharpness, class leading bokeh, good construction, weather sealing, fast autofocus performance, and lots to offer the high end Sony shooter. You couldn’t honestly ask for anything more.”

Buy now: $1,798

Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 (85mm Equivalent)

“Fujifilm’s 56mm f1.2 is the sharpest mirrorless camera lens that we’ve tested. Not only that, but it exhibits beautiful bokeh, pretty good color rendition, almost no distortion, focuses quickly, and is built well.”

Buy now: $999

These 85mm primes will certainly help you create fantastic images, but having great gear is only half the story. If you truly want to create a gorgeous portrait, you need to know the secrets of posing. Try this: have your subject relax, and ask them to just be themselves. Give them a basic pose to build upon. If you control every aspect of their pose, you’ll end up with an unnatural-looking image. Communicate your idea, and have your subject play around with it. You’ll find that you’ll get much more natural, organic captures this way.

Nikon Z 85mm F1.8

“There isn’t a single bad thing to be said about the Nikon Z 85mm f1.8. It has exceptional image quality, build quality, it’s priced right, and it’s portable. This is everything that mirrorless is supposed to be.”

Buy now: $796.95

Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AF FE

In our review, we said:

Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief

“The Rokinon 85mm f1.4 AF FE really excels in terms of image quality. Where Sony has very saturated looks to their lenses, the Rokinon 85mm f1.4 AF FE somehow or another is muted but still gorgeous. It’s an odd one for Rokinon to me; their lenses have always provided what I’d describe as crunchy and saturated images. But this time around, the images are nice and muted. Combine this with the versatility of the Sony RAW files, and you’ve got yourself a winner.”

Buy now Sony E: $599

In the last episode of Pro Camera Reviews, we talked about why the Megapixel wars just need to be over now.

We’d like to thank everyone for tuning in to Pro Camera Reviews. It’s been a fun time through the pandemic. But we’re calling it quits. And in our last episode, we discussed why the Megapixel wars just needed to stop.

Everything has changed when it comes to cameras, yet everything remains the same. Cameras have come on in leaps and bounds when it comes to technologies like autofocus and AI. Still, the one thing that camera manufacturers keep on trying to cram down our throats is Megapixels. Every week, we see speculation about brands pushing to release 100 Megapixel cameras, but why? At what point do we say enough is enough? In this segment, we’ll talk about the megapixel wars. Why it’s honestly a war that’s not worth fighting, and the implications it will have on you. We’ll also talk about what camera manufacturers should be focusing on instead.

In our last Pro Camera Reviews Episode, we spent some time talking about the L mount, and how it’s finally matured.

The L mount system has always been a bit behind the others. They’re properly the second full frame autofocus camera system around. They’ve got tons of lens selection. And there are three manufacturers: Sigma, Panasonic and Leica. All of them make cameras and lenses. They’re all pretty darned good too. So we’re talking about why we’re getting into the system now!

The L Mount System is Finally a Fully Functional Camera Platform: Both Chris and Brett recently bought into the L mount system. They’ve been testing gear for a very long time and they thought it was finally time. The system consists of Leica, Panasonic and Sigma. Chris and Brett will go through what they like about the camera system vs others. And they’ll also tell you where they really need to improve. Could the second mirrorless full frame camera system really be your next purchase?

PS: We’d like to thank everyone who was part of the Pro Camera Reviews Show. It means a lot to us that you tuned it.

For many of us, we find the insatiable urge to make images because it is fun.

Someone eventually tells you that you need a “style”. You feverishly Google “ Photographic Style” until you get lost in the spiraling tangle of information. This often sweeps away the initial joy that you started with and you feel lost! Don’t worry though! It is possible to find your way back to that joy. I am going to share several tips on how to find your Photographic Style and why sometimes no style is the best.

Do You Need a Photography Style in 2021?

In 2021, there is a niche for every type of photography imaginable. If you think something has not been done before, Google it! There is room out there for all of us!

Photographic Styles often develop after many years of photographing by chance instead of intention. They are more useful for business and marketing purposes than the act of making a photograph itself. Learning who you are, and why you photograph is one of the most important ways to find your style. When you are excited to shoot something that you genuinely like, your work becomes more consistent.

You can look high and low for your Photographic Style, but it is often spending time with your camera that is best. Setting weekly goals or adventures can be helpful to put in the hours to learn and develop your work. Learn to make mistakes and listen to valuable feedback. Learn to create experiments for yourself just to see what the world looks like in images. Don’t get disappointed when an image does not come out the way you had hoped. Even the best photographers miss the shot sometimes!

Finding the Why

In 2021, it is a slippery slope more than it ever has been to lose the importance of the why. With social media involved it becomes even harder to ignore the noise. With all of the noise that tries to influence us, we get lost like a ship in the sea with a broken anchor in opinions if our photographs are good or bad.

Think back to when you first picked up a camera. Consider the following:

What did it feel like in your hands?

What was the first photo that you made?

Do you remember how you felt when you saw the image for the first time?

These moments often define us as photographers. We seek out that positive feeling that we get when we create images like someone requires air to breathe.

Opinions do not make our photographs – we do! Learning to let go of outside influence, and to reflect on who you are at your core is the first part of finding your photographic style. Think about:

What brings you the same joy that you found when you made your first image?

What value do you place on photography for yourself?

How do you find that joy and value every time that you shoot?

If you know who you are and who you are not, you will be closer to finding your style.

Forcing a Photographic Style Often Leads to Failure

Some photographers actively try to label themselves as one thing too early. The truth – just like life, labels and photography are both messy! Finding your photographic style takes much experimentation to learn what you like and dislike. Forcing a style often leads to failure.

Some photographers make the mistake of shooting certain ways because someone told them that they should. Others get lost in chasing popularity and trends. But if your gut and heart don’t feel it, why do it?

The recipe to find your style often involves trying as many different kinds of photography as you can. If you don’t like something, don’t shoot it! If you do find that you enjoy a particular kind of photography, dig deep to find out why. A lot of times you will learn how your work relates to experiences and moments in your life.

The secret is to keep going through time to become consistent!

Don’t Get Disappointed

One of the biggest things that held me back personally in photography was the fear of disappointment. What if I get it wrong? What if people don’t like it? Well, if you don’t try, you will never succeed!

Photography is also a very personal art form. Who and...

When photography is your passion, it comes with a host of benefits. But when it’s your job, it’s a whole different ball game.

Often, people first pick up a camera out of passion. “I’d love to make nice photographs,” says the newbie. After some time, they invest in some gear, and they enjoy the infatuation stage of their new hobby. Later down the line, they start making good photographs. Friends and family may even say, “you should do this as a job.” Enthusiastically, they reply, “wow, a job as a photographer. That would be a dream come true!” Or would it?

Photography Passion

When you do something for passion, it’s often an escape from the struggles of life. When I first started making photographs and writing, I’d do it on weekends. It was my way of feeling in control and forgetting about the day-to-day struggles of ordinary life. I loved it.

In my opinion, having a form of escapism that is both healthy and rewarding, is important. And photography has so many mental health benefits. In my experience, and for many photographers I know, making images helps reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. It’s a wonderful thing when doing something simple like picking up a camera offers so many rewards.

A passion for photography has many social benefits too. You can join walking clubs that go on regular photo walks, meeting like-minded people at the same time. You can do experimental TPF shoots with aspiring models, with no pressure and just some creative fun. There is, of course, a huge online community to access. Photographers worldwide can come together, share photos, offer feedback and talk about what they love.

All in all, photography is a wonderful hobby – that’s why so many people practice it. But what happens when you make the transition from hobbyist to working in the photo industry?

Photography Profession

First of all, working in the photo industry is awesome. I’ve been in this game for around five years, and I’ve loved every second. But it’s a totally different experience.

When I used to blog, I did it in my own time, worked with who I wanted, and didn’t take it too seriously. But there was no money involved. When you start working, and cash is on the line, you can’t afford to be so “I’ll do it tomorrow” about it.

Now I have to work with photographers, PR reps, camera companies, and many more. I have to manage deadlines, people ignoring me, people lying to me, and sometimes, rudeness. When I used to shoot events, I’d have to deal with needy clients, poor logistics, and untimely payments.

Online I’ve been bombarded by internet trolls. People wanted to humiliate me, threaten me, and try and bring me down. In the beginning, I couldn’t handle it. Honestly, it would keep me awake at night. Now, thankfully, it’s water off a ducks back.

I know many photographers that went from loving the craft to “oh, great, this again.” Like a person clocking in, they just wanted to get through it and get home. That’s a far cry from “working in photography is a dream come true.”

The point I’m making is, working in the industry means photography can stop being a form of escapism. Instead, it can become the thing you want to escape from!

Understand What’s Best For You

Again, I love working in the photo industry. Photography has afforded me some of the best experiences of my life. But I’m trying to show you how the dynamic changes when it moves from passion to profession.

So if you’re at a level where you’re thinking of making the switch, ask yourself: “Can I handle it?”

Can you deal with:

A lot of paperwork

Unhappy clients

Rude clients

Chasing up payments

Worrying about getting new gigs to pay rent

People wanting to break your spirits

Long periods away from home

People not respecting your time

Constant pressure on your mental health

Honestly, the list goes on.

If you can’t handle all that, then the transition isn’t for you. And guess what, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re good at something, and you love it, it’s totally okay to keep it as a...

There are some truly gorgeous 50mm primes on the market.

Thousands of photographers around the globe absolutely love 50mm primes, and for good reasons. These primes are incredibly versatile and great for many photography genres, including street, portraiture, documentary photography, and more. While you can get your hands on relatively inexpensive 50mm primes with decently fast apertures, the ones we’re looking at here today at the pick of the crop. After the break, we’re going to take a quick look at five ultra-fast 50mm primes that will allow you to work magic in low light situations and that will create beautiful bokeh.

Panasonic 50mm f1.4 Lumix S Pro

“The Panasonic 50mm f1.4 Lumix S Pro is a truly exceptional lens. It really delivers where it counts with image quality. This lens is not only very sharp but also delivers beautiful bokeh. Portrait photographers will appreciate the colors, as will wedding photographers and photojournalists.”

Buy now: $2,097.99

Leica Noctilux 50mm F1.2

Hillary Grigonis

“This lens is dripping with character, from the soft bokeh to the rich tones. That character is about as versatile as Eddie Murphy’s characters in The Nutty Professor. You can shoot wide open for a strong effect or step down to reduce vignetting and add sharpness.”

Buy now: $7,895

Canon RF 50mm f1.2 L USM

“This lens exhibits beautiful bokeh, sharp images, micro-contrast, a medium format look, weather sealing, fast focusing, etc. In many ways, this is perhaps Canon’s most perfect prime lens within a standard workable focal length that they’ve put out in years.”

Buy now: $2,299

Pro Tip: No matter what lenses you use, you’ll need to keep them clean to get the most out of them. Take your lenses out and inspect them before every shoot and give them the once over. Remove any excess dirt, grease, fingerprints, or dust that you can. This will prolong the life of your lenses and will save you time during post. You don’t need an expensive cleaning kit either? This one has everything you need.

Fujifilm 50mm F1 R WR

Brett Day – Gear Editor

“Wide-open at f1, you’re going to get some of the best bokeh you’ll ever see on the APS-C platform. It’s a must-have for portrait photographers. Sharpness at f1 is great in the center of the frame, but stop it down a hair, and you’ll get edge-to-edge goodness. Portrait photographers will love the way the lens renders colors too.”

Buy now: $1,499

Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master

In our review, we said:

Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief

“The Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master is a fantastic lens overall, objectively speaking. The autofocus performance is quick and accurate in lots of cases. It will serve street photographers, portrait photographers, and any other professional or passionate photographer well. As we saw, it’s going to also stand up to the elements pretty well. Within the FE lens lineup, it’s the fastest aperture lens. It also has incredibly smooth bokeh, sharp optics, and decent color.”

Buy now: $1,999.99

Stuck and hot pixels will be a thing of the past with self-healing sensors.

Oh, Samsung. What could have been if you had stayed in the traditional camera market. Still, the South Korean giants have done alright for themselves since their last Mirrorless camera. They are making huge waves in the smartphone space with their camera tech. We’ve reported on several new sensors and other pieces of technology they’re working on in the past. Now, we have word of a new AI-based self-healing sensor, which could solve some issues currently plaguing all sensors if it works as intended. Head on past the break to find out more.

A report on Image Sensors World talks about a new type of sensor that Samsung is developing. In fact, it’s more of a sensor technology rather than a sensor itself. As you can imagine, it’s once again artificial intelligence that will be the star of the show here. By using neural learning networks, Samsung has created sensor tech that can detect and fix bad pixels automatically.

Self-Healing Sensors – How They Work

We’ve all seen bad pixels before, either in our images or even in a display. Sometimes pixels can become stuck, and they show up as either white or black dots. You can even get hot pixels, which appear red. Hot pixels still plague camera sensors today. They like to show themselves when you create long exposures and are particularly bothersome for astrophotographers.

The new self-healing sensors analyze images taken by the cameras, and they will be able to detect the bad pixels and fix them. The AI will map the whole sensor to look for anomalies. After applying demosaicing, the AI will then go back to look for any pixels that it may have missed. Once the bad or stuck pixels are identified, they are taken care of. So far, studies have shown that the AI only misses 0.045% of bad pixels. That’s seriously impressive.

Artificial Intelligence Is the Way Forward

Panasonic Lumix S5

Some of you will already be familiar with technology in traditional cameras that can handle bad pixels. Both Panasonic and Olympus (now OM Digital Solutions) have Pixel Mapping (Olympus) or Pixel Refresh (Panasonic) features in their menus. Pixel Mapping/Refresh essentially does the same thing as the self-healing sensor, only it’s not automatic. You still have to see the bad pixels yourself, and you have to initiate the pixel mapping sequence and hope that it solves the problem.

Having technology implemented into traditional cameras that will take care of pixel mapping for us would be fantastic. If you’ve ever shot in low light, or as mentioned above, have done astrophotography, you know how annoying bad pixel issues can be. If AI can help us worry about one less thing, that would be wonderful. People poke fun at smartphone cameras and their technologies, but mobile photography tech is outdoing some technology found in traditional cameras. The sooner traditional camera makers wake up and actually look at what’s going on in the mobile space, the better. Hopefully, one day, we will see more AI technology work its way into our traditional cameras. We’ll be better off with it.

35mm primes have a special place in our hearts, and these will stay there for quite some time.

There aren’t many lenses that are more versatile than 35mm primes. These classic lenses are great for portraits, weddings, events, food photography, photojournalism, documentary projects, landscapes, and so much more. While most 35mm prime lenses hit the mark, some go above and beyond and will simply amaze you. In this roundup, we’ll take a look at five 35mm primes that will not leave your camera once you attach them. They’re well built, have incredible optics, and produce gorgeous colors and lovely bokeh. Check them out after the break.

Leica APO Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH

Brett Day – Gear Editor

“The Leica APO Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH takes shooting with a 35mm lens to another level. You feel connected to it thanks to it being manual focus only. The images have fantastic qualities to them. Using the lens is a joy, thanks to how it feels in hand. The images it renders are so good straight from the camera that you don’t even have to edit them.”

Buy now: $8,195

Sony 35mm f1.4 GM

Hillary Grigonis – Reviews Editor

“The Sony FE 35mm f1.4 GM is a joy to use, and the photos a joy to look at. I found little to complain about. The lightweight design is excellent: the de-click aperture ring a pleasure to spin. The weather-sealing handled some light snow. I love both the colors and sharpness of this lens, while distortions and flare are kept to a minimum.”

Buy now: $1,399.99

Pro Tip: No matter what lenses you use, you’ll need to keep them clean to get the most out of them. Take your lenses out and inspect them before every shoot and give them the once over. Remove any excess dirt, grease, fingerprints, or dust that you can. This will prolong the life of your lenses and will save you time during post. You don’t need an expensive cleaning kit either? This one has everything you need.

Leica 35mm f2 Summicron SL APO

“The bokeh is positively gorgeous. Can you go wrong? I think that portrait photographers and event photographers will surely adore the bokeh that this lens creates.”

Buy now: $5,189

Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN

“The Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN indeed renders very sharp images wide open and stopped down. When stopped down, we don’t see much improvement beyond f4. It’s very sharp overall but not like Zeiss Milvus or Otus-sharp. This is a tool that is designed to be shot in low light and to deliver a look. I think that Sigma is succeeding.”

Buy now L Mount: $1,499

Buy now Sony: $1,499

Fujifilm GF 45mm f2.8 R WR (36mm f2.2 Equivalent)

In our review, we said:

Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief

“It’s weather-sealed, comes in at a fairly affordable price point, can deliver good colors, and with flash, it can really make scenes pop. Combine this with knowledge of how to get the most from the GFX, and you’ll have great images.”

Buy now: $1,699