A beautiful sunset is a breathtaking experience. We've all been someplace and were so impressed with the sunset that we whipped out a camera and took a picture to try and share it with others. Unfortunately those photos often end up disappointing and don't represent what we saw very well. So how do you capture that amazing show in the sky?
 |
| Capturing that perfect sunset in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN |
Expose your photo properly:
Automatic point and shoot cameras meter the light based on what the camera is pointed at (what you can see in the viewfinder/on the screen). For normal everyday photos this means you end up with a photo where you can see the foreground and peoples faces; for sunset photos this means way too much light resulting in the washout of that beautiful orange glow you are trying to capture.
 |
| Just Right |
 |
| Too Much Light! |
Many point and shoot cameras have a sunset setting that will expose your photos just right so you end up with beautiful sunset photos. If you have this setting just select it and go.
 |
| Enjoying the show in King Range National Conservation Area, CA |
If you don't have this option on your camera (or you are using a phone) you can adjust the lighting manually.
- changing the exposure (decreasing the light to -1 or -2 will do wonders for your sunset photo) exposure selections often look like this -> [-2...-1...0...+1...+2]
- touching a brighter area on the screen of your phone to focus/decrease the exposure
- touching a darker area on the screen of your phone to focus/increase the exposure
- If the sunset is too bright in your viewfinder: point the camera slightly upward so that more sky is in the viewfinder and then push the shutter button halfway down to focus/meter and hold. When the lighting/focus is ready move the camera back to frame the photo you want & shoot.
- If the sunset is too dark in your viewfinder: point the camera slightly downward so that more ground is in the viewfinder and then push the shutter button halfway down to focus/meter and hold. When the lighting/focus is ready move the camera back to frame the photo you want & shoot.
Zoom in:
Many photos taken of sunsets without any zoom include a lot of dark/uninteresting space. Zoom in toward the main event and make sure that the sunset fills your frame.
 |
| Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN |
Try different things:
In this day of digital photography you don't have to pay more to take more photos. Use this to your advantage by trying different settings on your camera, different focal lengths, and different exposures to get the perfect shot. It's easy to delete the ones that didn't turn out so well at a later time when you can actually see the pictures on a bigger screen.
Happy Shooting!
 |
| Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN |
 |
| Admiralty Island, AK |
 |
| Big Bend National Park, TX |
 |
| John Muir Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, CA |
 |
| Bighorn Crags, Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, ID |
 |
| Mojave National Preserve, CA |
 |
| Gila Wilderness, Gila National Forest, NM |
 |
| Limahuli National Tropical Botanical Garden, HI |
No comments:
Post a Comment