30 minutes with Joe Cornish: five landscape lenses put to the test!

Sigma UK talks to Joe Cornish, one of the UK's greatest landscape photographers. A few months ago we asked Joe to pick out five Sigma lenses and create some images with each. In this 30-minute interview he talks though his shooting process and gives his insight on how to achieve more eye-catching results.

[@johnkawooya8421]

Very thoughtfu, Joe--as always!!!!!!👍👍👍

[@pleatedskirt18]

Undoubtedly one of the greatest living landscape photographers. Looking at this has reminded me of just how good the 35mm lens is - no appreciable stretching of the foreground as you get with the 24mm or wider, and no real compression as you get with anything over 50mm. A slight WA is possibly the best length for a near-natural perspective. If you have a 24-70, as many of us do, instead of just using 24mm and rarely venturing beyond that, set it to 35mm and try it. Then, try 70mm and, if you do have one, a zoom or fixed 200mm for trying separation of the composition.

[@paulatterby7507]

Always interesting listening to Joe Cornish. A very inspirational photographer whose pictures I never tire off.

[@iaincphotography6051]

Another great chat with Mr Cornish, always good to listen to and his gallery is a worthwhile visit indeed.

[@pasty1969]

Absolutely fantastic that Joe is using Sigma products and is a brand ambassodor for Sigma :-)

[@p0sher]

I enjoyed watching this video, very informative. I don't have any Sigma lenses but that did not detract from the quality of the discussion. So thanks!

[@colinmclean2523]

Fascinating - Joe Cornish as articulate as ever.

[@seanb6259]

What an inspiration! Joe is clearly at the top of his game and is so knowledgeable and eloquent with regards to his art. Could listen to him all day! Insightful and interesting.

[@MaxPhotoGraphic]

Thanks, I've lived in UK for roundabout a year, I also love the landscapes troughout seasons, Bravo Mate :)

[@TheMoodChasingPhotographer]

30 minutes of pure joy!

[@larryjohnson1451]

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation with Joe. I've followed him from his large format days, and feel that he played a part in my finding the way I see and think about landscape photography. He articulates his thoughts and objectives quite effectively, making this video instructional as well as inspirational.

[@redrazor9996]

Really enjoyed this video. Love Sigma Lenses, Joe is such a chilled and knowledgable gentleman. An artist, an inspiration, he, amongst others should be a first port of call for new and aspiring photographers to learn so much about composition and the photographers’ emotional connection to the capture.

[@sigmauk]

Thanks very much! Yeah Joe is such a nice guy and always willing to share his knowledge. A real master of his craft!

[@johngrahamcurry1641]

Super interview!

[@sigmauk]

Thank you John!

[@thomastuorto9929]

Always love these conversations with J.C. One bit of kit to add would be a pack horse or sherpa! NO LENS LEFT BEHIND !!!

[@Clownsareus]

J C is a master of his craft, unlike most of the you tube young ptedenders wafing on and on about not very much .

[@rogersteele9890]

Such a good video, had to watch twice.

[@paulcomptonpdphotography]

Very interesting watch

[@markbray3038]

Very interesting thanks

[@fellowcitizen]

Excellent, highly informative - thanks!

[@sigmauk]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@alangauld6079]

I totally agree about ultra-wide lenses. I do have one, and carry it, but it is my least-used lens by far (in fact I use my fisheye more!). But the vast majority of my landscapes are with my 24-90(FFE) lens followed by either of my 150-600(FFE) or 80-300(FFE).

[@billytetlow]

Great video, I also with that there had been more information re the cameras settings, f stop, shutter speed, and ISO. I have a selection of Sigma lenses for my F mount Nikons, I just wish that they were available for my Z6.

[@robbieallcock]

Really fascinating to listen to 👍

[@sigmauk]

Thanks for watching Robbie!

[@stefanogelliphotography]

I love Sigma lenses, I'm waiting for a 70-200 from Sony. Perhaps f4? That would be nice! Great video and great Joe.

[@johnclarke1319]

Fabulous photos, but all of dying plants, rain in the tropics can be good too, a tropical rainforest is great too. ( and less likely to catch pneumonia) the Sigma DX lenses are in my bag, they outperform Nikon , would love to see a programme with the crop sensor choices

[@johnclarke1319]

nothing beats a perfect deep blue cloudless sky ,~ after a British 9 month winter! why do photographers only seem to photograph dying trees dead grass and frost. (beautiful work - inspiring)

[@Stop-All-War]

Great to hear from Joe. Sigma, as your aware _'metadata'_ is helpful, as technical specification & performance info in such videos.. We as Photography folks do like to know how things are achieved & quality of performance. Each Photo could easily have had shooting info overlayed. Nice video Sigma, shame you guys don't have a weekly KZbin upload of Photographers using your equipment in Landscape, Street & Portrait..your viewing numbers would soar to the Sky. Food for thought.

[@robertspeicher5047]

24-70 lens....Really wow shot

[@Jwitherow1964]

Thanks for the video

[@PieRo13524]

That´s a photographer! for me it´s awesome how he lowers his voice when he says that he moves the clarity and contrast just a little bit, almost like hes doing a mea culpa. Now days when its common to have some dude telling us he put this and that and errase all that and over satured the photograph in post, as if it were an achievement

[@sigmauk]

👏 exactly! Well said!

[@ashvarma2486]

Great interview. Would have been very helpful to know which f-stops Joe shot the images at and also which camera body did he use? Thanks for sharing.

[@sigmauk]

Hi Ash, Joe used a Sony a7RIV for all of these images, and he said tends to shoot at mid-range apertures where the lens performs best (F5.6, F8, etc) unless he particularly wants a very shallow or very wide depth-of-field. Thanks for watching!

[@ashvarma2486]

@@sigmauk That's very helpful indeed. Many thanks for the feedback.

[@huwalban]

Excellent video. Really enjoyed that one Sigma UK. Is it me, or is Joe inherently more interesting to listen to than Lord Waite? ☺ I am also a landscaper, and have the Sigma 100-400 in my standard kit for exactly the same reasons as Joe. It is an excellent lens, and yes, sometimes the extra reach is incredibly handy to have to hand. Don't lose Joe as an ambassador Sigma UK - in fact get an fpL into his hands; I'd be really interested to hear what he makes of the camera.

[@sigmauk]

Thanks Huw! We'll pass on your feedback! Yes Joe is such a good speaker - a very interesting guy.

[@paulhuntington8027]

Great video, great lenses, but what cameras did Joe use?

[@sigmauk]

Thanks Paul! Joe uses various cameras including medium format, but these were all shot on Sony a7R IV 👍

[@kbruff2010]

Good discussion ❤

[@Patto2276]

I realize this is about the specific lenses, but I'm more interested in the focal lengths.

[@andrewgaffney4881]

Glen Coe image not a crowd pleaser? It’s amazing.

[@petrub27]

He confused Schneider lenses with sigma. What is going on?

[@danielling792]

Given that joe only shoots landscapes and his choice of lens have very low f stops , i wonder if he really need such a low f stop lens when he shoots with tripod and inevitable f8 or higher for depth of field for landscape photography?

[@terrygunderson5681]

In my experience, the reason for the wide aperture of 1.4 or 2.8 is lenses often are sharpest a few stops from its widest... so an 85mm 1.4 is very sharp at 2.8.. but a 85mm 2.8 is sharper at f4 or f5.6. At least that is what I have learned.

[@WizardOfCheese]

these do not look like the focal lengths they claim to have been shot with, they look cropped in.

[@ericerickson6537]

If using a tripod why not just take the 24-70. My tripod turns every lens I own really sharp.

[@copisetic1104]

I use 20mm, 35, 50, 85. I don’t shoot any zoom they aren’t good enough for my prints. I make 36x24 and up. If you want to shoot big, bad lenses and camera movement will humble you real fast. Get ready to pay for very good glass to match high mp sensor’s.

[@AlergicToSnow]

F2? Isn’t DoF more important? You’re shooting on a tripod so wider aperture for more light isn’t all that relevant? What am I missing?

[@linjicakonikon7666]

Joe is entitled to his opinions, of which he has many. I draw more inspiration from photographers who have less saccharine and cliched imagery. David Muench is the Grand Master of this genre with Joe being a Muenchkin. Good stuff but clearly derivative.

[@firpofutbol]

These images could've just as well be taken by an amateur. Not incredibly inspiring.

[@ddolde]

I doubt this guy would use Sigma lenses unless they gave them time him for promotion

[@iaincphotography6051]

He could use a Holga and he would still get great shots and to be fair he does get great shots with his smartphone.

[@sigmauk]

Hey Doug! One of things we've loved about working with Joe is that he's a really genuine guy and completely honest with his opinions. Everything he says in the video is totally in his own words - hope that gives you at least some reassurance! On another note, I had a look at your work of the American West and you have some really nice imagery. Particularly like the Zion series - what a place! Tim@Sigma

[@kronkite1530]

I’d be interested to hear - which isn’t answered in Sigma’s response - how often he uses a Sony camera and Sigma lenses for his professional work, rather than shooting images with them as part of the process of making this “advertorial”. As I understood it he had moved from film with view cameras to digital using MF backs (on a Linhof) to Phase One technical camera(s). It sounds odd to say that the subtlety of the advertising bothers me when it’s presented by a guy from Sigma with a Sigma shirt(!) but the chat and print reveal almost subliminally suggests he (mostly?) uses FF and Sigma lenses. I have no problem with the lenses and have owned the 50mm F1.4 and 85mm Art lenses + the 100-600mm zoom; great lenses, just that this felt a bit disingenuous IF most of his professional work is on other systems.

[@kronkite1530]

@@djstuc Fair enough. Thanks, good to know it isn’t just as-speak.