Author: Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti
Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti (@lorenzonightscapes) is a professional astro-landscape photographer working as a photography-tour leader for WeShoot. His photography is driven by the deep passion for all the night wonders in extreme landscapes. With his pictures he wants to connect humans with the beauty of the cosmos and with all the deep feelings the sight of a pristine dark night can arouse. But translating the limitless wonders of the night sky into a photograph takes more than just passion. "I have to be able to rely on my gear," he explains, "especially the lenses, which must be perfectly sharp, even at maximum aperture because when it comes to the stars, tiny bright dots, you immediately see the imperfections of the gear." Tenti's kit is surprising. He uses a Sony Alpha 7 IV, an older, specially-modified Sony Alpha 7S and just three Sony prime lenses.
His desire to express the art of astro-photography has brought him to teach his photography techniques and expertise as tour-guide and through workshops. Throughout his career, he has been published in several international magazines such as Forbes, NASA and National Geographic. He has also been honored in several photography competitions. Tenti has traveled through some of the darkest places of the world always carrying his essential astro-gear with him, we took a look inside his camera backpack to see what his go-to gear is and to find out why he says that "Sony is an astro-photographer’s best friend."
I have to be able to rely on my gear, especially the lenses, which must be perfectly sharp, even at maximum aperture because when it comes to the stars, tiny bright dots, you immediately see the imperfections of the gear. Luckily, Sony is an astro-photographer’s best friend.
Cameras
Sony Alpha 7 IV: Sony Alpha 7 IV is my every-situation-camera, from daylight photography, during photography tours with clients, to single-shot nightscapes with a bit of extra-resolution. I really love this camera for its versatility. It can perfectly handle high ISO noise in night photography, it has a beautiful new color performance that never misses any of the faint shades of the Milky Way dusts and an incredible dynamic range for those backlight situations such as sunrise and sunset.
Sony Alpha 7S (Modified): The Sony Alpha 7S is my overall favorite camera that I use for almost all my astro-landscapes. Its extreme performance at highest ISO makes this camera the undisputed queen of astrophotography gear...and to make it even better performing at night, I modified its sensor (removed the UV-IR filter from a qualified laboratory) in order to be able to capture all the light from interstellar dust that emits in a spectrum invisible to human eyes. For this reason, all my Milky Way pictures are crisp and rich in colors, making them even more scientifically accurate.
Lenses
Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master: This is the lightest wide angle lens that I have ever owned...and it’s even f/1.8! This incredible lens gives me the freedom to shoot in a great variety of situations, especially when it comes to immersive and captive foreground captured from extreme angles. I really love it for its fast aperture and its incredible lightweight and my back loves it too.
Sony 20mm f/1.8 G: This is another incredibly lightweight lens, suitable for any circumstance, not only for astrophotography. I leave this lens on the camera whenever I’m in nature! I use it for its specific focal length because I love how the 20mm is able to perfectly frame the Milky Way core including a bit of foreground too. Its sharpness also guarantees the best details.
Sony 35mm f/1.4 G Master: This amazing lens represents my loyal fellow, the one that I always take pictures with and the one with which I developed my personal photographic technique, the mosaic (multi rows panorama with a longer focal length). Its longer focal length, its color rendering and its amazing sharpness gives me the possibility to create huge panoramas with extreme details, great color accuracy and bigger printing resolution.
Accessories
Astro-tracker: The astro-tracker is an essential piece of gear for every professional astrophotographer. This accessory has a small engine that rotates backward relative to the direction of the Earth’s rotation. Thus, when the camera is mounted on the astro-tracker, the photographer can take very long exposure at the stars, compensating for the apparent stars motion across the sky (caused by the Earth rotation).
Tripod: the tripod is a necessary piece of gear when it comes down to long exposures. Having my camera completely still allows me to take long exposures at the Milky Way while avoiding any motion blur or stars trailing.
Head Lamp: Well...Nothing is more crucial than having a head lamp when we are completely alone in the dark searching for all the other accessories in our backpack.
Check out more of Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti’s work on his Instagram (@lorenzonightscapes) and learn from his expertise in his workshops!
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