Image Focus

A late Spring sun dips into the west, turning the river Spree into shimmering light while Berlin’s iconic Fernsehturm TV tower stands guard on the horizon. Standing on the Oberbaumbrücke bridge, Thomas Kakareko enjoys the best view in town.

“It’s one of my favourite places to photograph in the city,” the seasoned street photographer says. “There’s always a great vibe in Kreuzberg and with that being the first warm day of Spring, people were out drinking, singing and dancing on the bridge. With all the movement, sounds and voices there were opportunities everywhere.”

“I love working in this kind of soft light,” he continues, “and I think I’d have got a nice photo with just the frame of the wall and the TV tower in the sunset, but then I got lucky. A woman stopped her bike there against the light and lingered long enough for me to work her into the composition. Unplanned, unstaged, I think she was enjoying the moment just like I was. I took a few shots before she moved on and was also fortunate that another cyclist was passing in the background. Together, they have a nice balance.”

As modestly as Thomas describes his expert execution, ‘getting lucky’ is as much down to preparation and instinct as pure fortune. As ever he’d set up his Sony Alpha 7R IV to be ready for any moment which came before him.

“Working in Manual mode, I use settings that can tackle most situations,” he explains, “because I want to be ready when a moment arrives, not be stuck changing settings when life is unfolding in front of me. That said, I do ride the exposure compensation a little. For instance, here it’s -0.3EV because, with the sunset as a backlight, I wanted to push her into more of a silhouette.”

“The Alpha 7R IV’s autofocus was set to Eye AF,” he continues, “so even though her head was turned away, it found her profile. In situations like this, Sony’s subject-detection AF is incredible. And even if there are multiple people in the scene, you can easily switch it between them and get the one you want.”

“There are so many advantages to using Sony Alpha cameras for street photography,” Thomas continues, “and smaller, lighter bodies like the Alpha 7C II can do it all, too. That’s really the perfect model for the street, because people act differently around you with a camera like that.”

As for his choice of lens, “I was using the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II lens that day,” he remembers. “Wide open, it produces this beautiful bokeh out of which subjects can pop, and best of all, does it at all the focal lengths street photographers use most, so it’s definitely one of my favourites.”

“Situations like that night on Oberbaumbrücke make you feel alive,” Thomas finishes, “and you want to show that in your pictures. But once I’d got that shot, I said, ‘let’s call it a day’. I knew it wouldn’t get better!”