“There are many ways that we can take pictures to the next level,” begins pro photographer, Mathias Kniepeiss, “but one of the best is to take on ever more challenging projects and expand the ways in which we work as photographers. And ‘The Art of Camouflage’ was exactly that kind of project for me. It was a shoot that pushed me forward creatively, so having kit I trusted was crucial. For me, that came from my Sony Alpha 7R IV.”

The project, a commercial shoot for a therapeutic device company called Tyromotion, saw Mathias working with award-winning fine-art body painter, Johannes Stoetter, the media production company boxquadrat and several models to make these amazing animal sculptures.

For such intricate shots, planning the shoot in detail was key for Mathias. “I’ve shot many times with body painters, but never on such a big project as this, and not in a studio,” he explains, “so it was definitely a challenge. I planned for maybe one and a half months, so we could put two shoots together in one day. It was a 14-hour day in all: three hours for the chameleon, which used two people, and five hours for the jaguar, which was made up of four people – but totally worth it.”

Another challenge for Mathias came in a big change to his usual shooting style.

Lighting was also an interesting challenge: “In the studio against a white background,” Mathias explains, “we needed a lot of light for the background on its own, and then to work with it on the subjects to get the shadows just right. We used a large softbox as a top light to just add a little bit of shadow between the bodies so you get depth where it’s needed, and two more softboxes from the side. We couldn’t add too much shadow because then the colours change and the form of the new animal won’t make sense. Then in some places, we needed to concentrate the shadow a bit more, for example, on the tail.”

As an image that would be used for everything from business cards to billboards, Mathias knew that resolution and sharpness was vital, so he naturally opted to shoot with the Sony Alpha 7R IV and an FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens.

“The amount of detail you get, the dynamic range, and the options that a Raw file from the Alpha 7R IV gives you for post-production are really amazing,” he smiles, “and with the 24-70mm GM, I had a lens that’s versatile, but with incredible sharpness right across the frame. We didn’t want to lose any part of what Johannes had created, and so everything had to be crystal clear and perfectly focused.”

With the 24-70mm GM at 65mm and the aperture at f/7.1, Mathias knew he’d get perfect front-to-back sharpness, making the most of every detail – knowledge that’s both based on his trust in Sony’s G Master lenses, but also on practical experience. “Whenever I get a new lens, I always make test shots,” he explains, “which is something I’d advise all photographers to do, so that they know how to best use their tools. Nowadays, with Sony’s G Master lenses, it’s less important because the optical quality is so high, but it’s still very useful to know where your lens is at its sharpest. All these little skills and bits of knowledge add up to being more successful on a shoot.”

“It was a really great project,” Mathias sums up, “partly due to working with a great team of people and really learning from the process, but also because we were producing these shots for a company that’s doing great things. Tyromotion makes technology-based therapeutic devices with the goal of improving patients’ independence and quality of life, so in the planning stage we were keen to choose animals with particular meanings, like staying strong and changing for the better. So, whether it’s in medical or creative ways, that combination of taking on new challenges and using the right technology to make it easier and more successful, couldn’t have fitted better with this shoot.”