International wedding and portrait photographer Kesha Lambert knows how to create images that make a statement. She recently captured these bold portraits for a fashion editorial project using some of Sony’s newest gear – the Sony Alpha 7 IV camera and Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II lens. In combination with the gear, the shoot’s colorful concept and Lambert’s storytelling approach to posing created a series of stunning results. We connected with the Sony Artisan to learn more about the shoot and how she creates portraits that tell a story and stand out from the rest.

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1250

Monochromatic masterpieces – see the bold portraits photographer Kesha Lambert created with some of Sony’s newest gear.

The Scene

Solidifying the concept of a fashion shoot often involves the proper meeting of theme, clothing and location. “This was a collaborative fashion editorial project,” she explains,” and I knew going into the shoot that I wanted to do something bold and colorful for the concept because the clothing that we were working with was very bold. So we were in search of a location that would go with those bold colors and we found this all monochrome set that was the perfect place to bring the concept to life. I believe there were seven different shots, all monochromatic in different colors and it was a really cool place to shoot.”

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/160-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1600

The Gear

Shooting with the new Sony Alpha 7 IV, Lambert reiterated what many reviewers have said about the camera – that the auto focus system is next level. “I’m always looking at the renderings out of the camera and the Alpha 7 IV did not disappoint in terms of image quality,” explains Lambert. “Because I incorporate a lot of movement into my photography, I need a camera with an autofocus system that can keep up and focus tracking is a staple in my photography. The autofocus system of the Alpha 7 IV has the fast, reliable and accurate performance that I need and have come to expect from Sony. We had our model doing a lot of large and small movements. Even my posed work involves a degree of movement so I can get that natural body language. The versatility of the LCD screen is also incredible. The rotating LCD screen makes it so much easier to push my perspective.”

For the shoot she also had the new Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II lens. “In terms of portrait work, this lens has really great compression and the image quality is excellent. The lens performs really well in low light and there’s minimal hunting which is what I need. From more of a wedding photographer’s perspective, I love using the 70-200mm focal point for moments because it allows me to not be close to the moment and still get unexpectedly intimate portraits of the moment.”

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1000

Preparing For The Shot

Lambert says she usually starts with a warm-up test shot to make sure she has everything the way she wants it. After that, she’s off to the races. “I’ve really fallen into a rhythm with my gear so I’m not actually caught up in thinking about the settings during a shoot. It’s almost like I’m at the point where I naturally know what I need in the moment and one of the things that I liked about using the Alpha 7 IV is that it didn’t break me from that rhythm. The familiarity of it was really nice. Once you set your functions on your camera the way you want them, you’re not really thinking about it and can instead focus on getting the shot.”

“For this shoot, there were several sets. Yellow is my favorite color so I wanted to do something fully monochromatic with yellow on yellow on yellow, so we started there. With that layering of color, I added an off-camera strobe to pull up the skin tones and bring out the contrast of my model.”

A Storytelling Approach To Posing

When it comes to art direction, Lambert says she very much takes a storytelling approach to posing. “I want the portrait to center around the subject doing something. I want the portrait to center around telling us something about the subject that I’m photographing. Art direction will often include giving guidance and coaching out a certain expression or a certain way a person is walking, or I might give them direction to complete a series of actions. ‘Pick up this glass, walk over there and set it down. Thumb through the pages of this book.’ I give them some instruction or a series of things to do because that’s where the movement comes in. I want not only the natural body language but also to tell us something about the subject.”

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/125-sec., f/2.8, ISO 100

The Edit

In the post-processing portion of Lambert’s workflow, she typically tries to achieve really natural or true-to-life skin tones, but because of this monochromatic concept she did something a little differently this time. “Going for this monochromatic look, I wanted to even the tones and the skin to fit in with each set. So I put the photos in Photoshop and used Selective Color in Photoshop for each of the different sets.”

See more of Kesha Lambert's work on her Alpha Universe Profile and on Instagram @keshalambert.