Sony Artisan Colby Brown’s work in landscape, travel, humanitarian and wildlife photography takes him to all corners of the natural world. Recently in the Alaskan backcountry, Brown returned to an area with cell service to see that he had a number of missed calls from Sony HQ. Wondering what was going on, he returned their call to discover that he was in for a real adventure – testing the new Sony α7R IV in advance of its release.
“All of a sudden I can do that with much more detail, and much more dynamic range, and much higher resolution all at the same time without sacrificing anything. And that, to me, makes it special.” – Colby Brown on the α7R IV
Photo by Colby Brown. Sony α7R IV.
It just so happened to be at the height of the salmon run in Alaska, a prime time for wildlife photographers to snap photos of brown bears at different locations. The place Brown had in mind to go with the new α7R IV was McNeil River, an exclusive spot with a lottery system to distribute access to only 10 people in four-day time slots. After a little luck with some cancellations and a bit of a scramble, he was miraculously able to secure the proper permits to this epic location to photograph the Alaskan coastal brown bears with Sony’s newest mirrorless. See some of the photos and what he had to say about his experience with the camera.
Photo by Colby Brown. Sony α7R IV.
“When you put the α7R IV’s core elements together, the resolution, the In-Body Image Stabilization, the autofocus, the speed—all of a sudden it's opened up a lot more doors for me, where I can now resolve much higher and larger images. All of a sudden I can do that with much more detail, and much more dynamic range, and much higher resolution all at the same time without sacrificing anything. And that, to me, makes it special.”
Photo by Colby Brown. Sony α7R IV.
“The gear that I choose to use has to have a purpose, and has a reason, and if it's not making my life easier, and I'm trying to force it, that doesn't work for me, and it shouldn't work for anyone else. You should use the gear that helps lift you up as a creative, it helps make you more creative, and allows you to focus on the things that matter, rather than fixate on the gear, and the technical side of things.
Photo by Colby Brown. Sony α7R IV.
“And with the α7R IV, I have that ability. I don't have to think about resolution anymore. I don't have to worry about cropping in. I don't have to worry if my camera's going to handle fast moving subjects, or things like that. It pretty much just solves these problems for me, and allows me to focus on doing what I love.’
Photo by Colby Brown. Sony α7R IV.
