sunrise/sunset photos

[jerry_milroy]

<p>I am going to try my hand at some sunrise and sunset photos. So that i can get a few good ones when i

am on vacation. I am not sure where to start settings wise on my camera. I have a Nikon D300 with a 17-50

f2.8 lens and a 70-200 f2.8 and 28-300 f3.5-6.3. I am planning on taking the 17 and 28 lens with me on vacation

the 70 is to heavy to carry all day. I also have circular polarizers for the lens. Please let me know your thoughts

Thank You.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>Practice before you go on your ordinary sunsets and sunrises at home. and bring a tripod.</p>

<p>Each one is different, do some test exposures before the "magic moment" to get it right. DSLRs make this easy.</p>

<p>You can never predict when they are going to look great and when ordinary and the really great colors often last only a few seconds. And sometimes they go away... and then come back again for a moment... kinda cool...</p>

<p>I've had some success with different exposures for the ground and the sky, like HDR, but I keep it "not so obnoxious".</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Frankly, sunrises and sunsets are not that difficult. Light levels are decent, so a tripod is wise, but not necessarily necessary in many parts of the world. Matrix metering typically works fine and can be trusted enough.<br>

Otherwise, any mode on your camera will be OK. Light allowing, go to f/8 or f/11 to not worry about focus. The rest is follow the meter, and when you do not fully trust that, shoot bracketed shots. Or use RAW (though again, automatic white balance usually also works out fine). So, most of all: do not worry.</p>

<p>On a D300, you will want the 17-28 part, though; if the skies cooperate with nice clouds wide-angles just work well. Longer than 50mm can be a cool effect if you want the sun to fill most of the frame.</p>

[CoryAmmerman]

<p>If you want shots of both the sunset and the foreground with detail (which is not always necessary), you need to get a grad ND filter. The sky at sunset is much brighter than the anything in the foreground and has to be darkened in order for the camera to be able to accurately record the whole frame. I would suggest a 2 or 3 stop hard edged one by either Cokin or Lee. These are the ones that require a filter holder that screws onto the front of your lens. You can get adapters so that you can use the holder on lenses with different filter sizes. Also, a tripod is a good idea because the shutter speeds can get a little long for hand holding. If you use a wide angle lens, you can use a larger aperture since wide angle lenses inherently have gobs of depth of field. With a longer lens, you have to stop down more to keep everything in focus, but remember that the sky is generally the main focus in a sunset shot, so it's not imperative that everything be absolutely razor sharp.</p>

<p>If you don't use a grad ND, you'll get a lot of shots like this one.</p><div></div>

[CoryAmmerman]

<p>I forgot to add that I usually use -1/3 exposure compensation for sunsets because it generally gives slightly more vibrant colors. Also, the reason for the 1/4000 shutter speed in the shot I posted was due to accidentally leaving the ISO at 400 from the previous shot. The lowest ISO you have is usually acceptable, especially if using a tripod.</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>Sunrise/sunset shots are the most challenging images to make effectively. Graduated ND filters rob image quality. HDR, from my little experience, is difficult and produces unnatural results. Using Photoshop to balance foreground/background exposure is not my idea of fun. I continue to toil with all of these methods to achieve the results that I am looking for. </p>

<p>If you are incredibly lucky you will find an appropriate foreground object/shape that you can underexpose into a silhouette against your well exposed sunrise/sunset sky. However, in my experience the most effective compositions include a "readable" foreground that is exposed enough to become part of the story of the image. </p>

<p>Lots of experimentation and bracketing required. Do not trust your camera's light meter at all. You must use a tripod!</p>

<p>I know I am being very negative but when you do get it right you will be extremely pleased so push yourself forward no matter what!</p>

<p>With respect to your particular lenses the big slow zoom does not have the best glass for this sort of thing, but I understand your weight concern, just stop it down 1 or 2 stops to try and help out. A tripod can help you stop it down even more. The more you stop it down the more control you get over lens flare and chromatic aberation.</p>

<p>I prefer extremely good glass, like your 70-200, to using polarizers. Again polarizers rob image quality and in my experience tend to muddy both under and over exposed areas. Give it a shot, but don't use it for every image. Compare results after and make your own judgements. Since you will be shooting directly into the sun I do not think they will have much effect on sunrise/sunset shots anyway.</p>

<p>While you are shooting sunset/sunrises be sure to look all around you because the lovely light created can create some awfully nice results right behind or beside you. Have fun!</p>

<p>Oh, be patient! Often the best results occur with the sun right near, at, or just below the horizon. At sunrise be sure to be observing carefully before the sun actually comes up and at sunset continue watching until it is completely gone! </p>

[kris-bochenek]

<p>First thing you need to do is to wake up way before sunrise so that you have plenty of time to get to the location and set up your gear. I use tripod all the time. When the sun starts peeking over the horizon I meter just sligthly to one side of the sun disk and set my shutter and accordingly. I like to shoot I like to shoot at about f/11 lowest ISO possible or native ISO for your camera D300 is 200.<br>

you have a window of about 5-10 min before sun is too bright and nice red orange colors are gone.<br>

I shoot in RAW and ajust in post but you can shoot JEPEG and set the WB to shade to get that red rich color.<br>

Same goes for sunsets but you dont need to get up that early. Best sunset shots are to have after the sun is just below the horizon and the clouds are lit by it's orange glow.<br>

good luck<br>

here is one of my sunrise shots</p><div></div>

[justthings]

<p>A tripod and cable or remote release is essential if you want to get some foreground detail in your images - even just touching the shutter release can introduce vibrations and camera motion, especially if you want to do hdr or 'blending' of images in post. Remember that if you're going to be vacationing in a popular area, you may have competition for those good vantages. so scout the places you want to shoot during the day and get there long enough before hand to get set up take, some test frames, etc. Be willing to hike to someplace off the beaten path to get a vantage point that is 'different' from the other 99% of shots that people get. You can capture super colors before the sun is actually up over the horizon or after its dipped below. And most importantly, when you get back.. share your pictures!</p><div></div>

[jim_momary]

<p>Early to rise ... for the dawn, I scout it out prior for sun angles and what's what. I rely on Google Earth to do pretrip planning. May spend one day on the ground doing my reconoiter. LOL<br>

For sunsets ... same as above, plus ... don't forget to linger around after the sun sets, the sky gets amazing with longer exposures at twilight time.<br>

(All this drives the spouse nuts.)<br>

Below shot 37 minutes after local sundown, Nikon D200, 35mm1.4 AiS @ F8 for 6 sec.</p>

<p>Jim</p><div></div>

[joseph_smith3]

<p>The best colors in the sky, clouds, and on reflected water usually occur 34-45 minutes before sunrise or after sunset. If you are metering on anything, meter on the sky, and open up at least one stop and then bracket your exposures. I turn off AF and VR focus manuallyand use a f stop of about f 8-11 for max sharpness. To minimize any ghosting of the sun in the exposure, I remove any filter on the lens. If you want a star burst effect, then you might need f 22. A tripod and a cable release are musts. Joe Smith</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>OK, so apparently I am the only one to think it is easy and can be done hand-held.. :-)<br>

I have an album here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=949424. All sunsets, all hand-held without ND grads (though, indeed those can come in handy for sure).</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Wouter, you're not the only one. The photo that I posted in the recent "sunrise" thread was definitely hand held, and it's certainly sharp enough: http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00W/00WjdQ-254107584.jpg. </p>

<p>With VR, it's becoming a lot easier to hand hold many shots. However, if it's really dark or if you are going to fire off an HDR sequence, I would have the camera on a tripod.</p>

<p>Also, the comment about ND grads robbing image quality would be news to decades of photographers who have published books of sunrise / sunset images using the ND grad technique. Use a decent quality filter and don't let like leak in between the filter and camera and you will be fine.</p>

<p>Tom M.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Everybody has their own favorite white balance formula. Here's mine.</p>

<p>First 30 and last 45 minutes of daylight: Daylight WB</p>

<p>Post-sunset (pre-sunrise) sky that contains gold color: Daylight WB</p>

<p>Dusk and pre-dawn (bluish light): Auto WB</p>

<p>(NOTE: Some people prefer the Shade or Cloudy presets, but to my eyes they add an artificial yellow look to the image. Mother nature will give you a beautiful rainbow of rich colors if you know when to shoot and how to expose properly. Why paste yellow make-up all over her face?)</p>

<p>I shoot all of the above in RAW with the Landscape Preset. Use a tripod and shoot at the lowest practical ISO setting. You might have to boost ISO to 400 or 800 if you want to freeze the motion of something in the frame, but try to shoot at 100 or 200 if you want to maximize image quality.</p>

<p>Exposure tip: Bracket your exposures. As your surroundings get darker, the LCD might seem brighter to your eyes and fool you into under-exposing your shots. Some cameras have a sensor that adjusts the screen level depending on the level of ambient light, but other camera don't. Let trial and error be your guide.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Why I never use Shade or Cloudy white balance for sunsets.</p><div></div>

[eric_arnold]

<p>"If you want a star burst effect, then you might need f 22."</p>

<p>not necessarily. you can get a starburst with a long exposure at f/8-f/11. f/22 is beyond the diffraction limit for DX cameras so i try to avoid it.</p><div></div>