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Photography Culture

Love the Sony 85mm f1.8? Be Inspired by These Great Photographers

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 09/16/2025
11/05/2025
2 Mins read
Close-up of a person holding a Sony camera with a large lens, desk and clutter visible in the background.
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The Sony 85mm f1.8 is a very affordable, lightweight, fast-autofocusing, and useful lens. It’s arguably Sony’s best 85mm lens in many different ways. For years, photographers have chosen not to go for the higher-end 85mm f1.4 G Master but instead opt for the more affordable and smaller option. But in addition to that, they all produce really incredible work with this lens. So I dove into the site’s archives to find three photographers who absolutely love this lens. If you’re into portraiture, these folks will hopefully inspire you.

All images used with permission in our interviews with the photographers. If you’ve been considering the Sony 85mm f1.8, it’s at a price that’s really hard to beat. Click here to see.

Chris Van Riel

A dog jumps high in the air to catch a red frisbee with its mouth, with a blurred green background.
Shot by Chris Van Reil

Photographer Chris Van Reil is an excellent one in so many different ways. But he’s really well known for his photographs of dogs flying in the air. When we talked to him in 2022, he was using the Sony a9 to get these air-defying shots. There’s a great reason why he’s called the Ninja Dog Photographer. Surely, he’s got some skill and knows how to predict what’s going to happen. On top of that the Sony 85mm f1.8 is also really fast and can help him get the photos he’s looking for.

You should check out the interview we did for even more.

Maria Raymers

Photo by Maria Raymers

Photographer Maria Raymers does some really wonderful conceptual photography that we’d never expect AI to be able to replicate or understand. Specifically, she ties her inspiration to human experience and emotion. I mean, isn’t it wonderful when your favorite musician channels sadness into a song that you relate to so much? Well, that’s what Maria is doing, but with photographs!

If you’re in love with light and bokeh, you should check out our interview.

Desiree De Sade

Image by Desiree De Sade

Photographer Desiree De Sade is based in NYC and has a very whimsical, fun, and playful approach to her work. She’s all about adding anything and everything she can to her scenes, building her own props, etc. to achieve her creative vision. It also helps that her background as a burlesque dancer means that she’s extra creative with what she makes. As a lifelong Sony shooter (Minolta before then) she uses projectors, strobes, prisms and more to get the photos she wants. And of course, her 85mm f1.8 is always there to help.

See more of her work in our interview.

Bokeh chris van riel desiree de sade Dogs Maria Raymers portraits sony Sony 85mm sony 85mm f1.8
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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