From the urban jungle to the great outdoors: unleashing creative portraiture in every environment

Fashion, dance and portrait photographer Sascha Hüttenhain is renowned for getting the killer shot. His ability to merge precision with creative flair, as well as a willingness to co-create visually with his models, has brought him great commercial success, while ensuring his artistic visions are consistently realised. He's also not afraid to experiment, regularly shooting in a range of environments.

To test the capabilities of the Canon RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM lens for shooting outdoor fashion portraits, Sascha chose two dramatically contrasting locations: a stark urban landscape of pillars, steps and concrete buildings; and an atmospheric forest near his home, which he discovered while walking his dog.

"I like contrast and also settings and subjects that complement each other and harmonise together, and this was the case with both locations. Although they were different, they were appropriate for the fashion theme," he explains.

Here, Sascha discusses his motivations behind the shoots, and how the Canon RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM lens, together with the Canon EOS R5, enabled him to achieve his goals, while Mark Fensome, Canon Europe Product Marketing Specialist, explains how the lens was developed and its many technical capabilities.

The woodland setting, by comparison, was much softer and warmer, so Sascha's focus for this shoot was on depth and creating beautiful bokeh.

"Often in nature you can capture more depth because the background is further away from the subject," he says. "That's why these pictures have a slightly different feel. The conditions are also different in nature, especially in the forest where you have less light. So it's even nicer when you can shoot with an aperture of f/1.8."

The Canon RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM lens, which is an upgrade of the classic Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM lens, performs excellently in low-light conditions, thanks to this wide aperture. "The f/1.8 aperture improves both on the bokeh and low-light performance of the EF 135mm f/2L USM lens, while the optical design – now using three UD elements instead of two – and modern lens coatings [ASC and Super Spectra] provide exceptional image quality and sharpness," elaborates Mark. "The use of a new Nano USM motor enables fast, smooth and quiet drive of the autofocus system, improving responsiveness and performance."

The faster aperture combined with the longer focal length – 135mm as opposed to the more common 50mm and 85mm for portraits – enabled Sascha to separate his subject from the background and achieve further compression of the subject's features for more flattering portraits.

"The presentation and perception of a photo taken with a light telephoto lens, such as the Canon RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM, is different from that of a 35mm or 50mm, for example," says Sascha. "You have to have worked with it to recognise this. I was very enthusiastic about using this optic and working with sharpness and blur in the foreground and background. In addition, its aperture makes it very suitable for cropping subjects, but also under low-light conditions. For me, it is a great all-rounder with a very elegant bokeh."

The fixed focal length also inspired Sascha's way of shooting. "When you're used to working with zoom focal lenses, sometimes you don't think much about framing the image; you just turn the zoom ring," he explains. "With a fixed focal length, it's a different way of working, which has a positive effect on creativity."

The L-series RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM lens is Canon's first non-super-telephoto lens to feature two Lens Function buttons for customisable control, alongside a custom control ring that can be assigned to change various settings, such as shutter speed, aperture or ISO.

"The buttons can be set to one of 47 functions to quickly access a commonly used feature," says Mark. "The control ring is useful for making quick and easy adjustments without taking your eye away from the image."

Sascha found the custom control ring was useful for speeding up his process. "I put the exposure correction on this feature," he explains. "It made my workflow easier because I could quickly and easily make small changes when shooting without having to call up a menu."

For Sascha, pushing his creative boundaries with portraiture is part of him realising his own imagination and ideas. And with the best tools for the job in his kitbag, that can become a reality every time he picks up the camera.

"I've always loved working creatively," he says. "In photography, you can live this out optimally and realise your own ideas. As a photographer, I want to develop myself further. That's why I'm always thinking about new projects that often mature in my head for years until I implement them. For me, the location, model and idea have to fit together. Therefore, it can sometimes take longer until all the building blocks are found. Only when everything fits together do I realise my projects."