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Quick Tips
Shooting Spectacular Sunsets
By Rick Sammon • June, 2000
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Papua
New Guinea. Tight cropping added to the impact of this
picture. (Canon EOS 1N, Canon 70-200mm zoom at 200mm,
Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color 100.)
Photos © Rick Sammon, 2000
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Have you ever been disappointed
with your sunset photos? Do they lack color, drama, and impact? If so,
here are my quick tips for turning sunset snapshots into great shots!
Timing. You’ll get the most spectacular colors just when
the sun kisses the horizon and after it has finished its kiss. That’s
not to say that you can’t get great shots before and after those
magic moments. Therefore, be prepared--with plenty of film and lots
of time--to capture the ever-changing colors in the sky, which can change
from second to second.
Composition. Ye old saying: “Dead center is deadly.”
In photo terms, this means: Don’t put the sun in the dead center
of the frame! Rather, place it off-center. This technique, effective
for most subjects, draws the viewer into the scene by forcing him or
her to look around the frame.
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Okavango Delta, Botswana. Foreground elements place the
viewer in the scene. (Canon EOS 1N, Canon 17-35mm zoom at
35mm, Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color 100.) |
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And speaking
of deadly, don’t place the horizon in the dead center of the frame.
Place it low in the frame when the sky has lots of color, and high in
the frame when the foreground is interesting, as is often the case when
photographing sunsets over water.
Foreground Elements. A
sky filled with spectacular colors is a great photographic subject. But
place a dramatic foreground element in the scene, and you have a knockout
photo. Trees and buildings are great sunset foreground elements, so are
people and animals.
Lenses. Photograph a
sunset with a 24mm or 35mm lens and the sun will look like a pea in your
picture. That may be okay, if the sky and foreground are interesting.
Use a telephoto lens in the 300-600mm range and the sun will look like
a huge ball in your picture. A dramatic effect, indeed.
Accessories. A tripod
will come in handy after the sun has set--when you want to get those low-light
shots of a pastel-colored sky--pictures that required shooting at slow
shutter speeds.
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Savute, Botswana. Timing plays an important role in sunset
photography. So does luck. (Canon EOS 3, Canon 100-400mm
zoom at 400mm, Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color 100.) |
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Red, yellow, and orange filters
can help with dull sunsets, but I don’t recommend them for naturally
great sunsets. These filters tend to make the scene look too artificial.
Gradual filters can help improve
sunset photos. These filters are dark on the top and clear on the bottom
(held in one position) and smooth out the contrast range between a bright
sky and dark foreground. These filters are available in several different
densities, allowing you to match the bright and dark areas of a scene
for picture-perfect results.
Film. I photograph sunsets
with two films: Kodak Extra Color 100 for before the sun has officially
set, and Kodak Elite Chrome 200 for those twilight shots. And I take more
film than I think I need, several rolls of each. With ISO 100 and 200
films, I’m prepared to take pictures of the entire sunset sequence,
only one of which, I’ve learned from years of experience, is the
one I really like.
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Miami Beach, Florida. Dramatic cloud formations help to
create dramatic sunset photos. (Canon EOS 1N, Canon 24mm
lens, Kodak Kodachrome.) |
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Exposure. I shoot slides.
To ensure a good exposure, I take a reading of the brightest area of the
scene and shoot at that setting. Then I take exposures at one-half stop
and one stop under that setting (for a total of three exposures). The
underexposed pictures have more saturated colors, and I sometimes prefer
these shots over the “correctly” exposed ones.
If you shoot negatives, I recommend
setting your camera on automatic. Take your shot. Then set your ISO dial
to twice the ISO setting (ISO 100>200, for example) and shoot again.
If your pictures are too dark or too light, or lack brilliant colors,
take ’em back to your photofinisher and ask for a redo. Because
negatives have a wide exposure latitude, you should be able to get a print
you like.
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Fiji. No color? No problem! Use a foreground element for
a dramatic silhouette. (Canon EOS 1N, Canon 24mm lens, Kodak
Elite Chrome 100.) |
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Have Fun. Please don’t
get too caught up in the technical aspects of sunset shooting. After all,
you’re there to have fun! So enjoy the moment. And if your shot
does not turn out the way you saw it in your “mind’s eye,”
remember that you can use Photoshop or other imaging programs to enhance
the colors, contrast, and exposure of your scene.
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