It's been a record breaking week, as far as heat, here in Arizona but that hasn't stopped us from getting out to shoot. Our group outings are typically shorter during the summer and take place at sunset or later. This week we gathered at Papago Park in PhoenixTempe, AZ. This park has it all; water, palm trees, birds, and some awesome views if your willing to take an easy stroll up to Hole in the Rock or drive up to the white pyramid. For more images we have taken at Papago Park click here.
We hope these tips will inspire you as you are out exploring sunsets with your camera.
1. Shoot in RAW. This allows you the most flexibility in post-processing. Sunset photography allows for so much creativity in white balance, exposure and colors, so do yourself a favor and shoot in RAW. While post-processing have fun with the white balance and see how the different white balance settings affect your image. If you are short on memory cards or prefer not to do much post processing it is suggested that you choose the Landscape color mode/style if your camera has that option to bring out the vibrant colors.
2. Underexpose your pictures to bring out the most vibrant colors in your sunset. A simple way to set your camera for sunset photography is to use Aperture Priority mode. You choose your ISO and your aperture, and the camera will choose the correct shutter speed. Find your exposure compensation and dial it down to -1 or even -2. You will be left with your foreground subject(s) as a silhouette with a colorful sky. See our examples below (going left to right the exposure compensation was set from -2, 0, +1). Notice as the exposure compensation goes up we loose the color in the sky and start seeing details in the foreground.
3. Do not place your horizon directly in the middle of the frame. As the photographer, it is your job to tell the viewer what the focus of your image is with composition. One way to achieve this is by filling the majority of your frame with what you want your viewer to see.
4. Experiment with up close images. We often associate sunset images with sweeping landscape images. Take your time and look around for a more unique capture.
5. When possible try to plan sunset photography when clouds are present. It never fails that when we plan a group outing it always falls on a cloudless evening. The nights with amazing clouds and colors are the times we are usually caught without our cameras. However, if you see awesome cloud formations floating around a late afternoon, you may want to change your plans for the evening, adjust your schedule and get our with your camera.
6. Use flash on your subject to avoid a silhouette and retain the beautiful colors of the sunset. As we showed above in tip 1, if you expose for your subject it will blow out the dramatic colors in the sky, leaving you with a boring sky. We recommend an off camera flash to add direction to your lighting, however, if you are in a pinch you can use your pop up flash to add light to your subject.
We hope you find these tips helpful as you get out and explore! Keep adventuring and feel free to share your sunset images on our FB community: Exploretography-A Photographer Community for Active Photographers!
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