Sony Artisan Andy Mann is a National Geographic photographer and senior fellow and storyteller for SeaLegacy. His work takes him to some of the wildest places on the globe and puts him through some intense experiences, like traveling through rough seas and swimming with crocodiles or sharks…but he does it all for a reason. “I do it so when someone asks me, ‘What is it like in the ocean? What is it like in Antarctica?’ I can show them the most beautiful place in the world. And in most cases, an image or a short story is the only way someone is going to ever experience a place as wild as the open ocean.” In this video Mann goes deeper into his process for storytelling with Sony Alpha and Xperia. Watch as he shares how you can find your voice, style and purpose using some of Sony’s latest gear.
Sony Artisan and storyteller for SeaLegacy Andy Mann shares how you can find your voice, style and purpose using some of Sony’s latest gear.
Mann relies on his Sony Alpha 1 camera to capture clear images under intense conditions, but at times his Xperia device is the camera that makes the most sense to use. Smartphone media has not only changed the way we tell stories, it’s changed the way we view and understand the world around us. Mann says to truly understand the capabilities of the Sony Xperia devices, you have to get out and try to use them like you would a professional camera. “Because there’s a bridge that needs to be crossed between what is considered smartphone media, which is run-and-gun, behind-the-scenes stuff, and the capabilities that this thing can actually do for you.”
To test that theory, Mann went to Rocky Mountain National Park with two professional climbers to create images. “I think this was the real marriage of the power and usability of the camera. To be able to go on an adventure, go into a place where having something that’s light and fast in my hands allowed me to get images and angles that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to get with a bigger camera.”
He continues, “And to be able to think about crafting images the way I would think about crafting an image with a Sony Alpha camera, which is using the best athletes and the best location, finding the best angles and shooting in the best light. And if you think about your smartphone imagery that way, you’ll start finding that in a lot of situations those images are available all around you, all the time, and that powerful tool is always in your pocket. So you’re going to start to find yourself making professional images with your smartphone.”
The images that Mann creates with the Xperia 1 III in Rocky Mountain National Park are stunning and some of his favorites, and he thinks it’s because he slowed down a bit as he was shooting. “I started to think of the smartphone not necessarily as being a pocket camera, but how can I use the power and the technology of the smartphone to make professional images that I can be proud of?”
See more from Andy Mann on storytelling with Sony Alpha and Xperia in the full video here.
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