Gabriel Andre (@gabrielandretk) got heavily into photography and video when the vlog / cinematic ‘’b-roll’’ hype started to be all over YouTube. “It was intense and immediate,” he says. “I would watch those videos and think ‘Wow, I to want to share the beauty of the places I travel to in that kind of enhanced magical way.’" Living in Tokyo, Andre's immediate surroundings make for a great night street and cityscape photography playground and a lot of his work gravitates around that style. Andre also loves to take nature and landscape photos whenever he has time to get away from a very time demanding life in Tokyo. "I love photographing classic landmarks, and also to get creative with lighting and compositions.” We connected with him to learn more about the super simple single zoom and single prime kit he uses with a Sony Alpha 7 III to create such vivid travel and street shots..

Photographer Gabriel Andre shares the Sony Alpha camera and two Sony lenses he uses to capture magical travel moments.

Camera

Sony Alpha 7 III: I chose this camera for its versatility. It may not be the best at one particular thing, but it is up there with the best, at everything. It is packed with high quality awesome professional features, in such a small package. The 24mp sensor delivers unbelievably high dynamic range in a very manageable file size, which is good for post-processing. For me, someone who loves spending time shooting at night, I definitely wanted a camera that has great low light capabilities. The Alpha 7 III allows me to shoot in really dark environments and get usable images. I no longer have to give up on cool night scenes because my camera can’t handle the darkness. I also love how you can switch from compressed to uncompressed raw files with a couple of clicks. It is very helpful when I want to make sure I get the maximum data possible in very high contrast scenes, like sunsets for example.

Photo by Gabriel Andre. Sony α7 III. Sony 85mm f/1.8. 1/200-sec., f/2.2, ISO 2500

Video capabilities are also something that was important to me. And this camera checked all the boxes with stunning 4K, super slow motion and various picture profiles. It can be a bit of a learning curve, but I can shoot night videos with no light set up, and get very limited noise crispy footage – which still blows my mind every time. In short, it performs amazingly at ALL times and that is why I chose this camera. It never lets me down.

Lenses

Sony 16-35mm f/4: This is the one lens I would take with me if I could only have one. It is just so versatile. The wide end is perfect for cityscapes, landscapes and even a fair bit of architecture, while the long end at 35mm makes for more natural compositions and can be used for some portraits with a bit of blur in the background as well. I like that with one click on the Alpha 7 III I can switch to APS-C mode which extends the lens reach to 50mm+ for when I want to get a bit closer to a subject. At f/4, it still handles night scenes fairly well as long as there is some lighting in the surroundings. If it’s really dark, I’ll put it on a tripod. I use it at f/4 for astrophotography as well, and it works like a charm. Finally, it is SO sharp. Seriously, sometimes I do some crazy crops and it still almost looks like it is full size. It is also incredible for videos. I like that it is stabilized. It allows me to shoot handheld a lot of the time, so that I don’t have to spend a ton of time setting up before actually shooting.

Photo by Gabriel Andre. Sony α7 III. Sony 16-35mm f/4. 1-sec., f/4, ISO 50

Sony 85mm f/1.8: I like this lens for its sharpness, the creamy bokeh, the compression that can be achieved with it, and its low light capabilities. I usually use it for portraits and to get closer shots of points of interest within landscape scenes. At f/1.8 - f/2.2, I can practically shoot under the moonlight, which allows me to get creative with some single light portrait ideas. The second thing I use it for is street photography. It may seem a bit counter intuitive, but once you have an 85mm on in the streets, you start seeing compositions you don’t with your naked eye. And it quickly becomes very addictive.

Photo by Gabriel Andre. Sony α7 III. Sony 85mm f/1.8. 1/125-sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200

Accessories

In my bag, I carry a variety of accessories to use:

• The Velbon UT-3AR (a very portable tripod)
• Some ND/CPL filters
• A sensor/lens dust blower
• Microfiber cloth
• Some random LED lights (in case I want to use them in night scenes)

See more of Gabriel Andre’s work Instagram @gabrielandretk.