Sunset Photography

[K77 CTR]

I'm off to Turkey in a couple of weeks and have booked to have dinner on the edge of a mountain watching the sun set over the sea. I am taking my canon 650d and want some advice on how to try and get the best shots. Would I benefit from any filters? I am still learning but don't want to ruin this opportunity.

Any advice welcomed

[Gemm]

Don't just take pictures of the sun. They are usually never interesting however beautiful it may be (to me, anyway). You need a good focal point(s). It can be anything, e.g. a boat, tree, rock, person/people..... etc. Be creative with composition. For the best results, I'd personally take at least 2 shots, one exposed for the sky and one for the foreground. A bit of underexposure for the sky brings our lots of details in the clouds (if there are any) and colours. Good luck!

[Colin RedGriff]

You'll need something to hold camera steady; either a tripod or somewhere you can rest the camera so you can avoid camera shake

[GetCarter]

I do this a lot (because of where I live), and many of the best shots are obtained well after the sun has set... this the latest:



some others:

Edited by GetCarter on Friday 29th August 11:59

[Morbid]

Stunning pictures as usual Steve.

[K77 CTR]

Thank you for the advice, I'm taking it all in. My favourite photos are sunsets so am hoping to get one that is good enough for my wall and maybe a black and white too. Those pics are stunning getcarter.

Would a neutral density filter help?

[GetCarter]

K77 CTR said:

Thank you for the advice, I'm taking it all in. My favourite photos are sunsets so am hoping to get one that is good enough for my wall and maybe a black and white too. Those pics are stunning getcarter.

Would a neutral density filter help?

Right place, right time is all you really need. ND filter may help, but only as it stops down. ND Grad helps as it will dull the sky a bit.

It's where and when, not what kit.

[Geordie MGmike]

K77 CTR said:

I'm off to Turkey in a couple of weeks and have booked to have dinner on the edge of a mountain watching the sun set over the sea. I am taking my canon 650d and want some advice on how to try and get the best shots. Would I benefit from any filters? I am still learning but don't want to ruin this opportunity.

Any advice welcomed

Don't use AWB setting. Try daylight and cloudy to see how the results differ or shoot RAW and adjust later.

This was heavily adjusted (possibly too much )
[url]

This one less so but you'll get the idea
|http://thumbsnap.com/woWbemzG[/url]

Don't forget to enjoy the dinner or pay due attention to whoever you are with

I should add... Not up to Steve's standards but I don't get to practice as much as he does

[Colin RedGriff]

Here's a page with some useful tips

http://landscapephotographyguide.net/sunset-photog...

[Tycho]

Managed to get a couple of nice sunsets on holiday last week with just the 18-55 kit lens.

[offspringy]

I often wish i could go out later in the afternoon because the sun just makes everything look amazing as its going down.

[K77 CTR]

So I'm back and the photos aren't quiet as I had hoped, any suggestions on free software to help me mess about with the photos, I have them saved as RAW so hopefully can get something slightly better

[Geordie MGmike]

what's wrong with them?
stick an example up and let us see.

DPP is free for Canon, use that for starters.
You should be able to adjust most things in that eg WB, saturation, hue, sharpness etc

Best of....
MGmike

Edited by Geordie MGmike on Friday 26th September 20:27

[Gemm]

K77 CTR said:

So I'm back and the photos aren't quiet as I had hoped, any suggestions on free software to help me mess about with the photos, I have them saved as RAW so hopefully can get something slightly better

From my experience, if you are not happy with them in the first place, they'll never be good whatever you do. You really shouldn't rely on post processing. What was that famous photography expression??

[GetCarter]

Gemm said:

What was that famous photography expression??

I dropped the fking lens?

[2slo]

GetCarter said:

Gemm said:

What was that famous photography expression??

I dropped the fking lens?

Or even, What's that bd dog chewing now?

Sunset on the Detroit river by 2slo7, on Flickr

Sunset over lake Erie by 2slo7, on Flickr

[K77 CTR]

Gemm said:

From my experience, if you are not happy with them in the first place, they'll never be good whatever you do. You really shouldn't rely on post processing. What was that famous photography expression??

I think you're right, just don't think the colours were there in the first place how do I make the photos smaller to post?

[Berz]

K77 CTR said:

I think you're right, just don't think the colours were there in the first place how do I make the photos smaller to post?

Depends on the software you're exporting from. Lightroom lets you limit the file size when you export it. Photoshop shows you the file size in the save box and using the quality slider will change it.

If in doubt take a screenshot (snipping tool, print screen, etc.) and save that as a jpg, it's almost guaranteed to be smaller than the 2MB upload limit on thumbsnap.

[Morbid]

If you have a Flickr account upload the original file to that. There is a "share" icon (rectangle with and arrow). Click on this and grab the BB code for a large file. Copy and paste into your post and job done.

[K77 CTR]