I’ve been taking pictures professionally for 17 years, so I’ve had a long time to develop my own personal style and signature look for my photography. Throughout my entire photography career I’ve explored lots of photo gear, but the one constant has always been my love for SIGMA lenses.
SIGMA lenses have allowed me to bring my unique vision to life. I will go so far as to say that they have shaped my entire photography style. Whenever I plan a shoot, lens choice is one of the first and most important considerations. My SIGMA lenses create the look I want with gorgeous, vibrant, and rich colors. They are incredibly reliable with fast and accurate autofocus, which is so important to me. And I don’t have to worry about the longevity of my SIGMA lenses — they are so high quality that I feel like they’ll last forever. I’ve had some of my lenses for over 5 years and they are still as good as new. In fact, I have purchased the same lens (the SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art) for four different camera body brands because I love it so much.
Photographers gravitate towards certain ways of doing things or certain looks that we like. It’s the same with lenses or camera bodies. Gear preferences are different for everyone, and I feel like it’s one of the most personal things about photography.
That’s why lens choice is so critical every step of the way — to help a photographer learn and grow, to develop her style, and to create work that she adores and that reflects her unique vision. Thankfully, we have SIGMA lenses to help us achieve all that and more!
SIGMA lenses for Sony E-mount are everything.
In the beginning of my journey into photography, I bought a Canon Rebel XT and a little SIGMA 50mm macro lens, which was sharp and versatile. I bought that lens because it was the most affordable good lens I could find at the time. Little did I know that lens would begin to shape the entire way that I would shoot for the next 17 years.
Since the XT was a crop body, the 50mm behaved like an 85mm would on a full-frame camera. To this day, I still prefer the 85mm focal length over every other lens that I own. In fact, I went a couple of years without having one and when I picked it back up again I felt a huge sense of relief. It was like coming home. The SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art is still my favorite lens.
 Now I own five lenses and they’re all SIGMA primes. I have never found anything that I love as much as SIGMA lenses for color rendition and sharpness. My SIGMA lenses always perform, and I’ve come to depend on their reliability. When chasing toddlers or capturing a jumping dancer, quick focusing is critical.
Lens choice is a huge part of planning my styled photo shoots.
To create the art I love, my shoots are styled and planned ahead of time. Lens choice plays a huge role in my photo shoot planning process. Developing a theme and adding the finishing touches in the final edit are important, but not more than the straight-out-of-camera image. I always aim for a gorgeous SOOC shot because that’s where the magic begins.
To me, the SOOC shot is a result of three things: lighting, lens choice, and the content of your photo. I could set up the most magical location and theme for a fairy shoot, but if I shoot it with a fisheye lens, for example, it would look completely different than my typical work. So, when I’m picking a theme for a session, I make sure that the elements that I include will fit with the location and lenses that I am planning on using.
Color
When I plan a theme for a fairy session, I normally plan around one single item or element. That could be a dress, it could be the location and what flowers are blooming at the time, or it could be some other prop that I bought or that the family provided. Whatever that item is, I tend to plan around it in color and theme.
For example, if I’m planning a baby bird in a nest shoot, then I know that I need a nest and some feathery wings. Everything else has to go with that theme, so I can’t throw in random things that don’t fit or else it’ll look like a hot mess. I can’t use a bright purple floral dress and expect it to go with a brown nest and brown wings.
Color is extremely important to me. I really enjoy monochromatic color schemes, and I find myself often putting a purple dress with purple flowers and a purple headband. I like it when things just flow together. My SIGMA lenses always capture color the way I want to see it. I like a vibrant and warm look to my images and I never have trouble getting that out of any SIGMA lens.
Composition
The lenses that I pick to bring with me also factor into the theme. If I know that I’m shooting that baby bird in a nest then I know I need to bring a lens that is capable of getting the entire nest in the frame. In this case, I’d select my SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art or SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary, and probably also the SIGMA 70mm F2.8 DG Macro Art for detail shots.
Location
After that, I have to pick a location where I can do all of what I am planning without disturbing the rest of the people who are at that location. I don’t want a lens that puts me so far away that I have to scream across the gardens to my subject or people can walk in between my subject and me. I’d choose my SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG DN HSM Art or SIGMA 105mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens for this scenario.
My vision for the shoot always comes first, and I choose lenses based on which focal lengths will help me achieve my vision given the location, subject, and lighting.
See my SIGMA lenses in action (Video: 5 min.):
Watch this behind-the-scenes video of a fairy photo shoot to see how I use each of my SIGMA lenses. I’ll walk you though why I choose specific lenses for different situations, and I’ll share my final photos.
My SIGMA lenses handle sunlight perfectly.
When I’m looking around for a location or area to do styled photos sessions, first I look for the right light. You can have the prettiest location imaginable with tons of flowers, gorgeous trees, and beautiful architecture, but if you have crappy light then your photos are going to be terrible.
It’s actually been quite a struggle for me to not select locations based solely on what’s in that area and what flowers are blooming at the time. I take those factors into consideration, but light always comes first. I will always find a location that has good light in the area that I want to use, rather than just shooting and hoping for the best. When I look for light, I look for either full backlight or not quite open shade.
Backlighting
Backlight makes my heart sing. I’m very careful about picking where I want the subject to stand for backlighting. I don’t want an entire blown out ring around the whole subject, because it’s distracting. I usually pick a spot in dappled shade, and then ask my subject to stand so that a part of the sun will illuminate their hair from behind. I always look at the hair first to see if I’m achieving the look I want.
Backlight in open shade
Open shade is great to shoot in, but I actually like to shadow the top of my subject’s head so that the light is coming from in front of them and hitting them in the face instead of coming from above. If I can combine back light and open shade, that is the perfect light for me. A little touch of sunlight from behind them in the hair, then a softer more subtle light in the front to illuminate their face and body.
Having a lens that can handle backlight without flare that you don’t want is super important if you like a lot of backlighting like I do. Any SIGMA lens I’ve ever owned is amazing for backlighting, but I’d have to say the SIGMA 105mm F1.4 DG HSM Art is my favorite.
My SIGMA lens collection allows me to create any composition I want.
After I choose my location and the area with my ideal light, I position my subject and then move myself around to make sure I don’t have any trees growing out of heads and that I’m not chopping off toes and fingers.
I love to create the frame within a frame effect by surrounding my subject with elements in the photo to give a sense of privacy and containment. To me, a fairytale doesn’t usually happen in a big open area, but in a secret garden. I want the viewer to feel like they’re peeking into a storybook scene. I look for overhanging tree branches, walls, leaves, or anything that I can use to frame my subject inside my photo.
You’ll even see the frame within a frame effect in my urban photos. I like to put my dancers in doorways or under arches for exactly the same reason. I feel like it creates a visual interest and directs the eye to the subject. When I need a lens wide enough to capture the environmental elements that create a framing effect in my photos, my go-to choices are the SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens and the SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens.
Selecting the right lens for all of this is crucial. You don’t want to be right on top of your subject because it can make them nervous and uncomfortable, but you also don’t want to be all the way across the garden (or across the street!) because your lens is too long.
I actually ran across this problem many times when I was beginning with photographing dancers. Streets are narrow and I definitely had to squeeze myself into some very odd places before I got a lens wide enough (the SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art) to allow me to stand closer than across the street or wedged between a couple of trash cans. Pointe shoes hacked off or legs out of the frame are not acceptable to me.
SIGMA lenses have been with me every step of my photography journey. I am so grateful that I can rely on my lenses to help me achieve my vision. If you have any questions about SIGMA lenses that I can help answer, you can find me at www.fairyography.com, and @fairyography on Instagram.
My SIGMA lenses
SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary
And I plan to add the SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art because I miss it!
You can check out all of SIGMA’s Sony E-mount lenses here.
Photos and video by Heather Larkin
This is a sponsored post, but opinions are those of the author.
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