How to Photograph a Sunset

Photography is not just a hobby but it has been adopted as a profitable profession by many individuals all over the world. A photographer must know how to capture every image through a camera lens, while preserving the natural beauty and texture of the objects he/she is shooting. Appropriate lighting is the vital thing required to take beautiful photographs. But what if you have to take a photograph of a light source, like sun? Pointing a camera at sun won’t yield you any clear photograph if you don’t know how to control the light while taking a shot. Photographing a sunset might be tricky but not impossible to capture in your camera. All you need to do is take account of some factors before attempting a shot.

Instructions

  • 1

    First thing first, you have to determine the spot where the sun sets and pick up a place to get a clear shot of it. Setting sun is relatively less bright and you won’t have much trouble while photographing it.

  • 2

    Reach your shooting spot at least 30 minutes before the sunset so that you can buy some time to get settled. The sky colour and the clouds at the time of sunset are a treat to watch and it is far picturesque than the actual sunset.

  • 3

    No matter your camera has an option to autofocus, you better focus it manually before it gets too dark to take a photograph. Auto-focusing option in the cameras might not work perfectly when it gets dark and you have to manually adjust the focus to infinity before taking a sunset photograph.

  • 4

    You will also need an outline object, which is quite prominent, to take the photograph. A palm tree, sailboats or a barn are the most common objects to silhouette for sunset photography at different locations.

  • 5

    Note the light reading through your camera while the sun is still out of the frame. This can be done by pointing the camera lens either right or left of the sun and lock the exposure of your camera. Modern digital cameras lock the exposure by half pressing the shutter button. You have to hold the shutter button right there and recompose your shot of the sunset. Finish off the shot by pressing the button the entire way down.

  • 6

    You can take a few more shots like this by changing the exposure compensation feature of your digital camera, which can be done by changing the control dial present on it.

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