#SFGuide Featured Photographer: Brandon Nesbitt

Each week we select and profile a photographer from our #SFGuide community on Instagram. We believe these photographers capture the everlasting beauty of San Francisco and the Bay Area. For a chance to be featured on our Instagram feed, or here, on 49Miles.com, tag your photos with #SFGuide.

This week’s featured #SFGuide photographer is Brandon Nesbitt (@imagesbybrandon), a Bay Area transplant from New Jersey. Scroll down to view Brandon’s awe inspiring photos, and learn more about what inspires him as a creative in the Bay Area.

Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

#SFGuide Photographer Profile
Name: Brandon Nesbitt
Age: 32
Profession: IT field
Website: www.imagesbybrandon.com
Place of Birth: New Jersey
Where do you currently reside: San Francisco, CA
Something you’d like viewers to know about you: I love shooting photos and just recently starting making my photos available for sale in the form of prints.

“I really wish they would leave the beacon on more often! Really!
It looks amazing.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

What is your favorite spot to shoot in San Francisco, and why?
Being a new resident, I do not have a favorite spot yet. I am still taking it all in. I enjoyed all the different views this city has to offer.

When and why did you take up photography?
I have been taking pictures for about 15 years. My parents bought a very early point and shoot camera. A Canon Powershot a60 with a whooping 2 megapixels. This is something that just grew with time. Buying newer and newer point and shoots until I made the move to a DSLR in 2011. Then lens upgrades followed that and then another camera body. I think one of main driving forces was wanting to take pictures of cities lit up at night.

“This is always a classic shot.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

What do you love about photography?
One of the things I love is that it is all about your own eye. You can go out shooting photos with a group of people and even if you are generally standing in the same area, each final photo will be different. It can be anything from the original settings on the camera when the photo was taken, the focal length of the lens at the time or the post processing that a particular person does. I find it amazing to look at work from the same spot that you were standing and see how another caught it differently.

“Now living on the West Coast, it is much easier to get away from light pollution and to see the night sky. This is from somewhere in Davenport, CA before having the run from a wave.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

How do you decide what to shoot?
If you’re speaking about landscapes or city images, I have realized that living in San Francisco, you do not decide what to take photos of. Rather, the weather decides that for you. Last week, some of us went out to take pictures of the night sky but had a back up plan ready in case the @karlthefog decided to tell us no. Luckily, it worked out but we were ready for a plan change.

What’s your favorite part about going out to shoot?
If I am going out by myself, my favorite part is making the shot happen. If I am going out in a group, getting the photo is still the focus but in addition is the fun had between friends.

Which location did you have the most difficulty getting to, and how did you do it?
I would have to vote pretty much any hill in this city because coming from the east coast, I am not used to this. How did I do it? …. Took many breaks.

“A low fog event from Fort Baker.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

What is your dream shot? (Where, what time of day, what’s in it / the subject?)
My dream shot is from a helicopter over San Francisco as some thick low fog rolls under both bridges at sunrise. That would be amazing.

What is your favorite app to use for photo editing on the go, and what are your top 3 favorite filters?
I edit photos on a computer and I prefer to use Adobe Lightroom. I do not use filters but instead edit each photo organically.

“One of the other Bay area bridges that does not get anywhere near as much love that big red one.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.

How does Instagram and the #SFGuide community inspire you?
The Instagram and #SFGuide community show off all the great views of the city. It shows you what is possible.

What are your favorite San Francisco-based Instagram accounts to follow?
@serenity_and_surrender, @ryan.g.415, @sh00tr74, and @andreweggers

What type of camera do you use? And what is your dream camera?
N/A

What are your favorite settings in your ideal shot?
The lens and the settings will always change depending on what I am shooting and how I want my photo to look. The only thing that will remain a constant is shooting the photo in raw.

What advice would you give to new or rising photographers that you wish you had received when you first started?
First and foremost, I would urge people who are starting out to not go out and spend a bunch of money on an expensive full frame camera. If you are using the camera’s full auto mode, you are wasting your money because you do the same thing with a crop sensor camera. I would advise that a person starting out learns how to work the camera in manual control modes and get a full grasp of editing photos before investing heavily into gear.

What do you love about living in the San Francisco Bay Area?
I love the dramatic landscape the most. From the insane hills on the streets to forest and mountains right outside the city. I am now able to incorporate different types of landscape in portraits in a very short distance.

“This photo is from Mt Tam on a wonderful morning as I watched the fog roll over a Bay area bridge.” Photo: Brandon Nesbitt, @imagesbybrandon, #SFGuide Featured Photographer.