Shooting in Sicily with the Sony A7RIV
This summer I was lucky enough to explore the beautiful area of Sicily, Italy. Mountains of food, volcanoes towering at over 3000m high, and endless coastlines. What’s not to like?
I managed to take a little break from commercial photography but of course, had my Sony A7RIV with me for most of the trip. I was blessed with a number of spectacular sunsets, and even caught that morning sun on an odd morning that I managed to make it out of bed.
As this was technically a holiday, I didn’t want to bring my usual three-tonne rucksack of lenses and bodies. This was my light option:
Sony A7RIV
Sony GM 24 1.4
Zeiss Distagon 35 1.4
Zeiss Batis 85 1.8
Sony GM 135
For my rucksack I was using the Douchebag Hugger and an old Wandrd camera insert. This made for easy travel and enough support to have my MacBook in without any issues.
With the ability to use crop mode on the A7RIV I had the possibility to shoot from 24 all the way to 200 and still capture everything with 1.8 or wider. Not bad!
I know that many of you are used to seeing my automotive, product and clothing photography so here are a few covering a change. Predominantly on lifestyle and even some street photography! I’ll stick the settings below on a few so that you can get an idea of how I was shooting each image.
Two days in Lipari
Sunny Mornings… Lipari Island. Sony A7RIV & Sony GM 135 1.8. Shot @ 1/800 sec - ISO 80 - F8.
Sunset again on Lipari Island. Sony A7RIV & Zeiss Distagon 35 1.4. Shot @ 1/640 sec - ISO 64 - F1.4
I also shot a few portraits on the trip! Here’s Francesca shot on A7RIV. Shutter speed up to 1/500 sec as she was moving around quite a lot. Simple tip, higher shutter if your subject isn’t still.
Another special sunset in Lipari. The largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily.
Sunrise in the distance. Shot on the 135 GM 1.8.
Sunrises on Lipari, the islands in the distance just made this place magical.
As with every trip to the Mediterranean I make friends with a cat. Some things never change.
A sunrise in mount Etna
Mount Etna is the highest volcano in Europe, and one of most active of the world. Its impressive size ( more than 3327 meters high with an average basal diameter of 40 km) overlooks the whole region. Its spectacular eruptions and its fiery lava flows, have always aroused the interest of scientists along with the curiosity of visitors from all over the world.
Piana degli Albanesi
A small Sicilian town nestled in the mountains. Here, the traditions, language and culture are still retained from when Albanians founded the town five centuries ago. So today, it's one of the few towns in Italy where the first language is Albanian. The population of the town is around 6,000 and has quite the history. You can read more about it here.
I spent a couple of days in the area and found it to be one of my favourite from the trip. Beautiful old streets and vast landscapes. In places it was a little like stepping back in time. You’ll see in the photographs coming up next.
PS: I added quite a lot of grain to these last few. To try and get that film look. Adobe Lightroom settings: Amount 50 Size 40 Roughness 60
The beautiful streets of Piana degli Albanesi.
Car goals?
Last but not least, the countryside just outside Piana degli Albanesi
As mentioned previously, the town is nestled in the mountains. There are some beautiful views within a short drive which i was lucky enough to capture in just two sunsets.
A local vineyard just five minutes from the town of Piana degli Albanesi.
The light for this sunrise at Piana degli Albanesi was incredible!
Blue hour approaching.
Details shot on the 35 Distagon 1.4.
It’s me!
Thanks for reading. Any questions you know where I am. Just drop me a message on Instagram.