Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Shooting Sunrises And Sunsets

By Alice Becker


Sunrises/sunsets are two of my favorite shooting subjects. Anywhere I journey, I make sure I'm in position to shoot at both times in a day. This means scouting locales beforehand so I'm in the spot when the two times happen.

Putting something in the foreground presents a sense of scale. Due to the fact that your subject is a silhouette in sunset snapshots, it's got to be identified on shape alone. Mountains and their unique, triangular shape are my favorite. Other usable forms are trees, lakes, buildings, lighthouses, ships, boats, cityscapes and regular folks. For a touch of romance, a hand-holding couple will do the trick.

Sunrises

To shoot a perfect sunrise, do not take a meter reading through your TTL (Through The Lens) meter with the sun in the viewfinder. Take your meter reading just to the left or right of the sun. Use at least a 200 mm lens or larger to make the sun look large.

Sunrises produce warm colors, rich textures and defined shadows. A few sparse clouds add drama to a sunrise or sunset along with color. Clouds impart pink and blue colors during these two incredible times of day. A great photo opportunity is to shoot the sun rising on a mountain with the mountain reflected in a pond or lake. Usually, ponds and lakes are quiet at sunrise and they make excellent reflection shots. If the water has a small ripple in it, this will create an impressionistic type shot. This is another great effect.

If you're shooting prior to sunrise, utilize a white balance setting of cloudy if you hate a bluish-type cast on any digital pictures. At times, you're going to have to communicate the mood as it was in the moment.

Sunsets

Much of the silhouetting/metering suggestions are consistent. Still, here are a few sunset-only photo suggestions. Sunset light's richer in color & more orange when compared to sunrise light. If shooting right after the sun's gone down, meter just off the sky for an afterglow. If an afterglow appears, you're going to have to motor since it won't last for long.

Post-sunset is the nicest time for shooting cityscapes because buildings' lights have only come on. The west is going to still have a bit of light left. The building lights/mauve backgrounds provide a swell digital picture. Meter right off the sky. With a sensor reading of ISO one-hundred, any meter readings ought to be near 1/30 at f4.

When shooting sunrise/sunsets, depend on the aforementioned digital-photography advice for spectacular pictures. Sunrises/sunsets require little effort to snap, and the pictures can be amazing. It also prompts you to relish the dramatic presentation that nature puts on two times per day.




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