Sunset Photographs by Edward M. Fielding – http://edward-fielding.pixels.com/art/sunset
Sunrise or sun up is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning.The term can also refer to the entire process of the Sun crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Exposure tips for Sunset or Sunrise photos:
- Use a tripod to better compose your shot and to allow for a variety of camera settings or to blur the water.
- Shoot at a variety of exposures – get out of automatic mode and take control of your camera by using manual mode. Take a reading of the light and then try various exposures. You have plenty of time to capture a multitude of exposure settings. There is no right or wrong exposure on a sunset to experiment!
- Bracketing – Another technique to try to get the right exposure is ‘bracketing’ where you look at what the camera suggests you take the picture at and then take a few shots at both under and over that mark. ie if your camera says to shoot at 1/60th of a second at f/8 you would shoot off a shot at 1/60 at f/5.6 and then at f/11. In doing so you end up with a series of shots at different exposures which will all give you slightly different results and colors. Most DSLR’s and some point and shoot digital cameras have a built in bracketing feature so you don’t need to do this manually – learn how to use it!
- Auto Exposure Lock – Another exposure trick, if you don’t have a bracketing mode or don’t feel confident in using it is if your camera has ‘auto exposure lock’ which allows you to point your camera at a darker place and lock in exposure for that spot (ie you could point it at the ground in front of you and lock in that exposure) and then reframe the picture looking at the sunset. This will mean you get a more over exposed shot.
- Put the camera in “Daylight” white balance. Auto White Balance will remove the warm tones of the sunset. You can also try shooting in ‘cloudy’ or ‘shade’ which are usually used in cooler lights and tell your camera to warm things up a little. Also shoot in RAW format so you can change the white balance settings in post processing.
To get a silhouette, expose for the sky and not the object. You might have to push the blacks in post processing to get totally black subjects against a sunset sky.
Sun flares or lens flare can create an interesting look and can be enhanced in post processing.
Locations north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle experience no sunset or sunrise on at least one day of the year, when the polar day or the polar night persists continuously for 24 hours.
Sunset creates unique atmospheric conditions such as the often intense orange and red colors of the Sun and the surrounding sky.
Sunset or sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the western horizon as a result of Earth’s rotation.
The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the trailing edge of the Sun’s disk disappears below the horizon. Near to the horizon, atmospheric refraction causes the ray path of light from the Sun to be distorted to such an extent that geometrically the Sun’s disk is already about one diameter below the horizon when sunset is observed.
The spinning Earth lit by the Sun as seen from far above the North Pole. All along the terminator, the rays from the sun hit Earth horizontally, neglecting any atmospheric effects and Earth’s orbital motion.
Sunset is distinct from dusk, which is the time when the sky becomes completely dark (apart from artificial light). This occurs when the Sun is about 18 degrees below the horizon. The period between sunset and dusk is called twilight.