Cayo Santa Maria is by far my favorite place in Cuba. This location is famous for having the longest natural beach in Cuba, reaching 12 km along the north coast of the island.
Loc: 22.6628, -79.0018
When we started to travel to Cayo Santa Maria a few years back it was not very developed, with only two smaller resorts there. Sometimes we could spend an entire day exploring the area and not see another person.
In the featured photo, we are walking back to our resort at the end of the day, dead-tired but satisfied.
Besides the beautiful beaches the main attraction of Cayo Santa Maria its remoteness, and as a result, its untouched nature. The place is a dream as a tropical travel photography destination.
Deconstructing Featured Photo
- Camera: Canon 60D
- Lens: Sigma 17-70mm
- Focal Length: 33mm
- ISO: 100
- Aperture: F8
- Bracketing: 3 shots ( -1, 0, +1 )
- Tripod: Handheld
Processing: HDR Processed in Photoshop HDR Pro
Lightroom: import, tagging, export to Photoshop HDR Pro
Photoshop: 3 exposures ( -1, 0, +1) were used to tone map image, 32-bit tiff image was saved to Lightroom (check my free guide “Natural Looking HDR Workflow“)
Lightroom: straightening, perspective correction, export as PSD image
Photoshop: cleaning
Photoshop Plugins:
- Topaz DeNoise was used to reduce digital noise (sky, water).
- Topaz Detail was used to enhance details
