Help with shooting sun sets on the beach using film

<p>Planning to use film to shoot sun sets on the beach. Seeking some help on things like how to meter, does 'f8 and be there' work in this situation? Any general tips on aperture setting, lighting, film etc., would be of great help. Plan to use F3HP or OM2N with standard 50mm lens. I have RiteAid 400 and Fujifilm 200 rolls. Apreciate your help.</p>

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<p>some good advice here: <a href="http://www.nyip.com/ezine/outdoors/sunsets.html">http://www.nyip.com/ezine/outdoors/sunsets.html</a></p>

<p>generally, any film will work well, but I used to love a color-saturated film like Fuji Reala for this; but even less contrasty/colorful portrait film (ie. Kodak Portra) gave me good results. The advice on bracketing exposures and use of a tripod is important. Get on location about 1 hour before the "event" because you'll need to be ready as the sun sets seemingly fast when the "light" becomes good.</p>

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<p>To start, you can meter the sky w/o the sun in the frame.<br>

BUT....my best shots are part of a VERY WIDE bracket. Because I don't know what effect I want or will get, I will bracket and underexpose in 1 stop increments down to 6 stops. <br>

Because you are shooting a BRIGHT light source, the slower the film the better. I used to shoot with Ektachrome-X AKA Ektachrome-64, ASA/ISO 64.</p>

<p>Bracket, somewhere around -1 exposure compensation is usually the best for the effect I want. </p>

<p>Most sunset shots are better with something else in the scene. Some trees, a boat, or a pier in silhouette. This is especially important if there aren't any interesting clouds.</p>

<p>Bring more lenses if you have them. At 50mm the sun is very small in the frame, at 200mm it will have some size. The best focal length for a particular scene could be anywhere between 28 and 300mm.</p>

<p>Perhaps think about bringing an ND grad [or hard edge] filter and/or a polarizer (the former to deal with the sky being brighter than the beach, the latter to control the amount of light reflecting off the water)? You might want to consider Kodak's Portra films, which allegedly have a ridiculously huge dynamic range (I've not tried them), especially if you're wanting to scan the result. If you just want pretty colours (and don't want people in the frame), Fuji Velvia is spectacular, although the dynamic range is much smaller. I'd go with f/lots if the sun's in the frame, bracket or spot meter off a bit of sky (you'll have to judge from the scene which bit you want to look mid-tone), and try not to burn the shutter/meter or your eyes by leaving it pointing at the sun too long. Good luck.</p>

<p>Thank you all very much for the pointers.<br>

I am also going through some of the websites similar to the nyip link which Michael Christensen provided above. <br>

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