With Summer approaching many of us now get home from work before the sun sets. This is the perfect time of year to catch great sunsets and produce stunning photo’s…the sky changes from blue to pink to orange and red and if your willing to stick it out then these changes will reward you with a stunning series of photo’s.
First off, don’t wait until the sun starts to set before venturing out with your camera, get there with enough time to find the best spot and set up your camera. Also make sure you know where the sun is going to set so that you set off in the right direction!
I like to take sunset photos where I also have water in the foreground, this usually adds the extra dimension of reflections to the photo.
Take a tripod as once the sun starts to disappear the darkness will creep in and so keeping the camera steady is very important. A tripod will also enable you to make sure that the horizon is straight!
If you have one, use a remote release, this will stop any camera shake (you could also use the self timer).
2 types of filter that are definitely worth adding to your kit bag are Neutral Density ( a set if possible including a graduated ND filter) and a Polarizer.
As you are inevitability shooting towards the sun you can use the ND graduated filters (where the filter changes from the ‘grey’ through to clear) as a pair of sunglasses for your lens. This allows you to balance the contrast between the sky and the land.
If you don’t have a graduated ND filter then you could take 2 shots, one exposed for the sky and a separate one for the land and then combine them in post processing.
A Polarizer filter eliminates glare from non metallic surfaces (water and any wet objects). This in turn means that you capture the contrast and detail of these objects that normally would just be captured as glare or a reflection. Colours captured will appear sharper and with more of a ‘punch’.
Once you are happy with your photos you can choose to change the overall effect in post processing by adding photo filters (Photoshop). Adding reds usually warms the photo while blues cool them. This is really for you to experiment with until you reach you perfect colour for the photo!
One Response
Some stunning images and great advice here. Something I’d add is that the weather and pollution play an important part in the type of sunset you get (if at all!). I have more details on my recent posting http://cameratrails.com/blog/24-discover-how-to-take-stunning-sunset-shots