Outdoor Photography How To

Difficult lighting conditions often result in photographs that bear little resemblance to the magic we witnessed through the viewfinder, and such disappointment often occurs when we fail to faithfully reproduce the spectacular tones of the setting sun. Fortunately, there's an easy technique for keeping failed images out of the trash, and that's what you're about to learn how to do in the next four minutes.

Instructor Serge Ramelli is an award-winning French cityscape photographer now working in the U.S. He's also an author, educator and, post-processing expert as you'll quickly learn in this in sunset-rehabilitation episode. Prepare to jot down a few notes as his foolproof tips fly by in a hurry.

Ramelli's three "secrets" can be successfully employed by shooters of all skill levels. His sample image is a beautiful sunset over Paris, and the quick transformation is amazing. His first tip has to do with the importance of proceeding in a specific sequence, and he explains one reason like this: "Before working on White Balance you have to get a perfect exposure." He intentionally underexposed today's sample shot so that you'll understand why and how this approach is so essential.

Working on a Raw file Ramelli opens a shadow and drops highlights which initially looks sort of weird but it's all part of the plan. He first uses a keyboard shortcut to drag the black slider until all he sees on the screen are elements with a value of 100% black. Then he boosts whites until he achieves a proper exposure, or perhaps one that's ever-so-slightly underexposed.

Now, and only now, is it time to make whatever White Balance adjustments are required for a precise effect. When modifying the color temperature of sunset images Ramelli recommends choosing daylight "because we already have warm tones and this option preserves some of the blue." Conversely, taking the cloudy approach or one of the others eliminates various tones that embellish the image and are worth retaining. Maybe add a touch of magenta and the image now is a very closer representation of what you witnessed in the field.

But hang on for a moment: As good at Mohrle image now appears, there are still two secrets to learn for accentuating sunset scenes even further. He demonstrates how these work so quickly and effectively that we won't slow things down by summarizing them here. Just watch how it's done and then pull out a few photos from days gone by and see how much they can be improved.

Then pay a visit to Ramelli's popular YouTube channel where there are many more how-to videos to be found.

Now that you're on a roll be sure to watch the tutorial we posted with another accomplished pro who demonstrates how to capture spectacular landscape photographs by ignoring a useless rule and shooting into the sun.