The lens that empowers my passion to environmental portraits

I have always loved taking photos of everything since I had a smartphone in my hand. It was something I did for fun. Capturing moments and dabbling in photo editing with mobile apps since my teenage years has definitely helped me develop my vision over time. It's only when I was a student in IT school and doing my internship that I saved up enough money to buy my first entry-level DSLR. I used it to capture mostly landscape photos during my first travels; I found the experience very enjoyable. The second year of my studies I spent 3 months in the UK for intensive English language training; it was mandatory for my diploma as my French class was scattered all around the campus and I lived in a flat with 11 other native English students.

Before traveling to the UK, I packed my DSLR camera to capture memories of my time there. I met Kai, one of my roommates, and he was studying photography and cinema. It was Kai who introduced me to photography basics with his class books. I remember when he urged me, "Hey mate, check out the chapter about golden hour." I was fascinated by all this new knowledge. After learning some theories, I quickly decided to go out in the field and practice. I had enough free time to experiment capturing different subjects like landscapes and portraits with my new English friends going on photo walks on the weekends. I quickly found out that my favorite subject matter was people. I loved taking portraits of my friends and of strangers in a street photography setting.

This amazing time abroad came to an end quickly, and I went back to Paris and brought my newly-discovered passion for photography with me.

* The images without photograph data have been created
with other lenses other than SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art.

After returning to Paris, I saw it very differently (as every photographer will tell you). My perspective changed and suddenly I looked at life through a new "lens".

What was for me "just a city" in which I had been living all my life, suddenly became my favorite playground to take photos.

I started going on photo walks by myself taking photos of the architecture, the people, the life this city offers . I even started asking tourists and strangers to pose for portraits to build my portfolio.

At this moment I started my Instagram account and finally started sharing my photos. I began taking photography more seriously when professional models started reaching out to shoot with me. I quickly made the decision to buy a new camera and became more consistent with photography. I would do 3-4 shoots a week in my free time, and after work or classes. After a few months, I decided to create my company and went on to become a full-time photographer after getting my computer science degree. It was risky but I did not want to regret anything later. I knew it was what I wanted to do.

SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art, Sony α7 III, ISO 100, F1.4, 1/500s

I loved incorporating locations into my portraits. This helped me do a series of photos where I could do more storytelling; it gave a sense of nostalgia to my photos. We could say I became what, we call, an environmental portrait photographer.

Using wider focal lengths, I could create more cinematographic shots as they afforded me more depth and story to my portraits.

Even though my lens of choice was the SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art since the beginning, going wider with a 24mm lens was something I wanted to try now that I was a full-time photographer. All my recent work with various brands required that I explore wider angles because the style and look they requested could only be achieved with a wide-angle lens. In addition, the photos needed to be more editorial and fashion style.

SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art, Sony α7 III, ISO 200, F1.4, 1/640s

The SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art is perfect for my varied needs. When I'm shooting for brands and agencies, I often find myself shooting indoors with natural light so having a 24mm prime lens and opening up the aperture to F1.4 really helps achieve the images I want without too much struggle.

When shooting in the field and on a schedule, it helps to have all the features built into the lens directly like the manual focus lock or the aperture ring. These features really speed up my workflow. I can be more efficient and can skip going through all the menus of my camera over and over. Used right, this lens quickly becomes an extension of me and my camera, and feels very natural.

Being a minimalist and packing with the goal of taking the least gear with me in the field for professional assignments, personal work, or traveling, I can definitely say this SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art fits the "go-to lens" for my workflow and for the style of photos I capture. The fact that it's lightweight and not at all cumbersome makes this wide-angle lens essential particularly when traveling and on long hikes.