Click on any of the buttons above to see an example of how I take a photo from each category, with camera settings, equipment, post-processing, and considerations.

Click on any of the buttons above to see an example of how I take a photo from each category, with camera settings, equipment, post-processing, and considerations.

Fun Fact:

I was actually photographing a comet at the same time. I just thought it was a good view and I could get light streaks. It is overlooking San Francisco on the horizon.

See this Picture!

Street Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 1250
  • Shutter Speed: 4.0 sec
  • Aperture: f /18

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

For nightscape and street lights, wait until it is dark and find a busy street. Set up and stabilize your camera with a tripod. Select a longer shutter speed for longer light lines and brighter lights. Reduce ISO to not overexpose, finding a balance. Street photography can be anything human made, but I do not consider someone else’s art my own! This is a good topic for discussion. 

Post Processing:

Slightly desaturate the setting to bring out the light lines. Dehaze the image with lightroom and increase contrast. Align the image so the horizon is level. 

Street Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 1250
  • Shutter Speed: 4.0 sec
  • Aperture: f /18

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

For nightscape and street lights, wait until it is dark and find a busy street. Set up and stabilize your camera with a tripod. Select a longer shutter speed for longer light lines and brighter lights. Reduce ISO to not overexpose, finding a balance. Street photography can be anything human made, but I do not consider someone else’s art my own! This is a good topic for discussion. 

Post Processing:

Slightly desaturate the setting to bring out the light lines. Dehaze the image with lightroom and increase contrast. Align the image so the horizon is level. 

Fun Fact:

I was actually photographing a comet at the same time. I just thought it was a good view and I could get light streaks. It is overlooking San Francisco on the horizon.

See this Picture!

Landscape Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 500
  • Shutter Speed: 30 sec
  • Aperture: f /7.1

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

Landscapes involve the land, sky, and sea. In this picture, the sky connects with the land (literally). I used a tripod to stabilize my camera and I took a 30 second picture, although I could have gone lower. There was sparse lightning so I wanted a long shutter speed to capture it. This would have looked more incredible if there was more lightning (that would have filled this picture)! Having the one illuminated house in the middle juxtaposed with the lightning made for a calm yet daunting photo. 

Post Processing:

Cropping the picture to remove excessive foreground, and leveling the horizon helped frame the image. Framing is so important for landscapes. Dehazing and increasing exposure really emphasized the sky. Good thing the ISO was so low because it was a 30 second exposure! It would have been very noisy. 

Fun Fact:

I love seeing the power of nature in a breathtaking way. Here I was in south Utah right next to Monument Valley. I was outside for about 1 hour. 

See the Picture!

Landscape Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 500
  • Shutter Speed: 30 sec
  • Aperture: f /7.1

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

Landscapes involve the land, sky, and sea. In this picture, the sky connects with the land (literally). I used a tripod to stabilize my camera and I took a 30 second picture, although I could have gone lower. There was sparse lightning so I wanted a long shutter speed to capture it. This would have looked more incredible if there was more lightning (that would have filled this picture)! Having the one illuminated house in the middle juxtaposed with the lightning made for a calm yet daunting photo. 

Post Processing:

Cropping the picture to remove excessive foreground, and leveling the horizon helped frame the image. Framing is so important for landscapes. Dehazing and increasing exposure really emphasized the sky. Good thing the ISO was so low because it was a 30 second exposure! It would have been very noisy. 

Fun Fact:

I love seeing the power of nature in a breathtaking way. Here I was in south Utah right next to Monument Valley. I was outside for about 1 hour. 

See the Picture!

Fun Fact:

This one was fun. I took this picture in Costa Rica in a small preservation (along with poisonous frogs!). The frog looks so unbothered and one with the leaf and rain. I envy its state of existence sometimes. 

See the Picture!

Nature Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 5000
  • Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
  • Aperture: f /9.0

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: none

Considerations:

First consider your subject which is paramount in nature photography. Could it fly off, is it translucent, will it stay still? In this case, the shutter speed was not super fast because the frog was not moving but also because it was such a dark area. You may need a tripod to conceal yourself to not startle or intimidate some subjects. A telephoto lens is strongly recommended to get detailed pictures of your subject from far away. 

Post Processing:

I added a dark vignette in this image to focus more on the frog on the leaf versus the environment itself. The slightly longer shutter speed emphasized the rain in the photo. I turned down the highlights to reduce the brightness of the reflections. I had to reduce the noise because the ISO was rather high. 

Nature Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 5000
  • Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
  • Aperture: f /9.0

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
  • Accessories: none

Considerations:

First consider your subject which is paramount in nature photography. Could it fly off, is it translucent, will it stay still? In this case, the shutter speed was not super fast because the frog was not moving but also because it was such a dark area. You may need a tripod to conceal yourself to not startle or intimidate some subjects. A telephoto lens is strongly recommended to get detailed pictures of your subject from far away. 

Post Processing:

I added a dark vignette in this image to focus more on the frog on the leaf versus the environment itself. The slightly longer shutter speed emphasized the rain in the photo. I turned down the highlights to reduce the brightness of the reflections. I had to reduce the noise because the ISO was rather high. 

Fun Fact:

This one was fun. I took this picture in Costa Rica in a small preservation (along with poisonous frogs!). The frog looks so unbothered and one with the leaf and rain. I envy its state of existence sometimes. 

See the Picture!

Look forward to a Masterclass

PhotoEssence Photography is working on creating a Masterclass to show you how I take some of these stunning photos. Learn about photography techniques and planning. 

Interested in building a business? I am working on that to. 

See what else is in development!

Macro Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 1000
  • Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
  • Aperture: f /5

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: EF100mm f2.8 Macro USM
  • Accessories: Mini Tripod

Considerations:

Macro photography can be tricky. With my current lens, the depth of field in focus is extremely narrow. Only a part of plane axis can be in focus at a time. For this picture, I stabilized the subject (controlled environment) and I took about 6 pictures each focused on a different part of the plant. I could have increased the shutter speed (faster) and increased (more closed) the aperture to have even better focus. Since my camera was stabilized with a mini tripod in an illuminated enclosure the shutter speed was less important! Importantly, I did not move my camera so that the frame is always the same. I only adjusted the manual focus. 

Post Processing:

Importantly I focused stacked the images using Photoshop. I first aligned them and then stacked them for the entire subject to be in focus! Added vignetting and increased vibrancy to enhance the leaves and flowers. 

Fun Fact:

This picture was not taken outside or in nature. Taking this in nature would have been even tougher to get all of these photos without movement. I added some water mist for the water droplets to add complexity in the photo.

See the Picture!

Macro Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 1000
  • Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
  • Aperture: f /5

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: EF100mm f2.8 Macro USM
  • Accessories: Mini Tripod

Considerations:

Macro photography can be tricky. With my current lens, the depth of field in focus is extremely narrow. Only a part of plane axis can be in focus at a time. For this picture, I stabilized the subject (controlled environment) and I took about 6 pictures each focused on a different part of the plant. I could have increased the shutter speed (faster) and increased (more closed) the aperture to have even better focus. Since my camera was stabilized with a mini tripod in an illuminated enclosure the shutter speed was less important! Importantly, I did not move my camera so that the frame is always the same. I only adjusted the manual focus. 

Post Processing:

Importantly I focused stacked the images using Photoshop. I first aligned them and then stacked them for the entire subject to be in focus! Added vignetting and increased vibrancy to enhance the leaves and flowers. 

Fun Fact:

This picture was not taken outside or in nature. Taking this in nature would have been even tougher to get all of these photos without movement. I added some water mist for the water droplets to add complexity in the photo.

See the Picture!

Fun Fact:

This category is my least experienced. Like for many photos, I need to travel to a destination, but this one is underwater. This takes its own equipment investment like every category. The ocean has much to explore. During this ocean adventure, I got to meet a seal underwater. He was better at controlling his buoyancy than I. 😥

See the Picture!

Underwater Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 609
  • Shutter Speed: 1/240 sec
  • Aperture: f /2.5

Equipment

  • Camera: GoPro Hero10 Black with protection
  • Lens: none
  • Accessories: Scuba gear

Considerations:

Underwater photography has a lot to consider, such as your depth underwater. The deeper you dive, the less natural (sun) color penetrates the water. Blue visible wavelength penetrate the water better and that is why things look “cooler.” There is also uncontrollable motion/currently underwater that feel stronger than wind. Stabilizing is very difficult. 

Post Processing:

I capture all of my photos in RAW even with GoPro. I adjust the temperature in these photos to a neutral coloring. I added linear vignetting and some highlights to the kelp. There was enough natural light to make this an excellent photo. 

Underwater Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 609
  • Shutter Speed: 1/240 sec
  • Aperture: f /2.5

Equipment

  • Camera: GoPro Hero10 Black with protection
  • Lens: none
  • Accessories: Scuba gear

Considerations:

Underwater photography has a lot to consider, such as your depth underwater. The deeper you dive, the less natural (sun) color penetrates the water. Blue visible wavelength penetrate the water better and that is why things look “cooler.” There is also uncontrollable motion/currently underwater that feel stronger than wind. Stabilizing is very difficult. 

Post Processing:

I capture all of my photos in RAW even with GoPro. I adjust the temperature in these photos to a neutral coloring. I added linear vignetting and some highlights to the kelp. There was enough natural light to make this an excellent photo. 

Fun Fact:

This category is my least experienced. Like for many photos, I need to travel to a destination, but this one is underwater. This takes its own equipment investment like every category. The ocean has much to explore. During this ocean adventure, I got to meet a seal underwater. He was better at controlling his buoyancy than I. 😥

See the Picture!

Astro Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 400
  • Shutter Speed: 2430 sec
  • Aperture: f /2.8

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF16mm F2.8 STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

For star trail images, its about time. This picture is made of 80 pictures! Each picture was a 30 second exposure. The picture represents about 40 minutes. The longer you take images, the long the star trails. It would help to have more automation with this! The aperture needs to be at its most open for Astro photography! 2.8 for this, but some lenses go lower. Because the aperature is open for 30 seconds, we need to lower the ISO, or else there will be lots of noise. For Milky way pictures, you use a high ISO with shorter (5-10 second) image burses. Then you stack those images.

Post Processing:

For this I used an easy to use and free software called Sequitur to stack the images. This time its not for focus, but to stack a bunch of micro star trails. All 80 of those pictures into 1. I increased both saturation and vibrance of these. If you want, you can illuminate the foreground (the plants) and add that single image for a different look here. 

Fun Fact:

I was sitting in my tent taking these for over an hour. These are some of my first star trail images! I bet, you can tell where in the world I am based on these star trails or at least which direction I was facing. I would guess this because the star trails have a pattern here; some are shorter, some are longer. 

See the Picture!

Astro Photography

Camera Settings

  • ISO: 400
  • Shutter Speed: 2430 sec
  • Aperture: f /2.8

Equipment

  • Camera: Canon R7
  • Lens: RF16mm F2.8 STM
  • Accessories: Tripod

Considerations:

For star trail images, its about time. This picture is made of 80 pictures! Each picture was a 30 second exposure. The picture represents about 40 minutes. The longer you take images, the long the star trails. It would help to have more automation with this! The aperture needs to be at its most open for Astro photography! 2.8 for this, but some lenses go lower. Because the aperature is open for 30 seconds, we need to lower the ISO, or else there will be lots of noise. For Milky way pictures, you use a high ISO with shorter (5-10 second) image burses. Then you stack those images.

Post Processing:

For this I used an easy to use and free software called Sequitur to stack the images. This time its not for focus, but to stack a bunch of micro star trails. All 80 of those pictures into 1. I increased both saturation and vibrance of these. If you want, you can illuminate the foreground (the plants) and add that single image for a different look here. 

Fun Fact:

I was sitting in my tent taking these for over an hour. These are some of my first star trail images! I bet, you can tell where in the world I am based on these star trails or at least which direction I was facing. I would guess this because the star trails have a pattern here; some are shorter, some are longer. 

See the Picture!

I hope you enjoy, PhotoEssence Photography.

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