It seems like everybody loves looking at beautiful sunsets, which is probably why sunset photography is such a competitive niche. Let’s look at some simple techniques that will help you to photograph truly stunning sunset images, the kind that stand out from the crowd.
Sunset Photography Rule #1: Protect your Eyes and Camera
It is dangerous to your eyes and to your camera’s image sensor to point your camera directly at a bright yellow sun. Using an optical zoom or long lens will magnify the sun’s damaging effects. If you want to get a better picture (and play it safe), wait until the sun has fallen below the horizon or is a dark red color.
Sunset Photography Rule #2: Capture the Intense Colors
Ever run out the door to photograph a brilliant sunset but then after uploading to your computer wonder what happened to those saturated, bright hues? Usually the culprit is the camera’s automatic white balance. While your human eyes appreciate those brilliant sunset yellows, oranges, magentas and blues, the camera’s automatic white balance tries to correct them, to dull them down so that they appear “normal.”.Here is what you can do to capture the true color:
- If you have manual settings, turn off the auto white balance, and then set the white balance to the warm side.
- If your camera has a color lens setting or you are shooting with an SLR or DSLR, try some shots with the red filter selected or attached.
- Using a compact that doesn’t offer these manual settings? The easiest solution is to set your camera to sunset mode. This works for sunrises too. Sunset mode automatically sets the white balance to keep its color balance warm. Sunset mode also helps the camera to automatically use the best focus and exposure (no flash) for this type of picture.
- None of these apply to your camera? Use Landscape mode or automatic, and then use a photo editor to adjust the white balance to reflect the brilliant colors you know were there.
- You may also want to play around with different exposure settings on your camera or you can use a photo editor to lighten or darken the tones. Be sure to make changes on copies, not the original!
- Often a slower shutter speed will better capture the sunset; in this case, a tripod may be needed to steady your camera.
Sunset Photography Rule #3: Capture the Best Compositions
- Use basic landscape photography techniques and patience to create stunning sunset pictures.
- Not all sunsets make great photos. To get a remarkable sunset picture, you need an amazing sunset. Clouds almost always make for more dramatic sunsets. These are often found with sunsets over large bodies of water.
- Allow yourself time to watch the sunset and wait for the really beautiful shots.
- Take your sunset photos in areas where you’re free from clutter or distractions like power lines and buildings (unless you intend to have the building as part of your photo).
- Provide context and scale by composing your shots with something in the foreground such as silhouetted palms, a lone pine, a boat, a person. The sunset will almost always create the silhouettes, thus adding more drama to your sunset photography.
- If the sky is the most dramatic part of the sunset, compose your picture so that two thirds of it is filled with sky. If the water’s reflection or silhouettes is the most interesting part of the picture, give this 2/3 of the picture’s frame.
- Go to the beach where you will find some of the best opportunities for sunset photos. Here you can see the sun setting over the horizon, and your pictures will also get the benefits of the colorful reflections off the water. Other good places include the desert and prairie where you also often can see the horizon and where the additional dust in the air adds to the color.
And once you take a sunset picture you love, make sure to display it a picture frame on your wall. Many sunset photos have stunning vistas that can look great framed in a panoramic picture frame or displayed in a picture frame and mat.
This is all you need for succeeding at sunset photography so start using these tips and you’ll be happily surprised at the beautiful sunset pictures you’ll capture.
Tags: how to photograph sunsets, sunrise photography, sunset photography, sunset photos