Stening's first employment was with Fairfax and Roberts Jewellers, which he decided to stay with until retirement in his older age.

A few years later in 1894, he was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of New South Wales, then later in 1916 he became involved with the Sydney Camera Circle.

Stening also was involved with the Ashfield District Camera Club which consisted of his friends Norman Deck, Henri Mallard and Frank Hurley.

His style of photography was focused on finely detailed landscapes which he gained inspiration from off Norman Deck, with a liking more to the tones of platinum printing papers.

In an exhibition in 1907 at the Art Gallery of NSW which included Stening's work, one of the comments made by the reviewer was ‘what wonderful strides have been made in the art of the camera, when manipulated by an artist, and how closely the modern photographer is getting to pure pictorial representation’ 1920, he chose to leave all photographic societies.