Have you been the moment you rise you head, the dreamiest sunset appears and lighting the sky with the gorgeous colors? You try to capture the moment to share on social media with your phone or camera, but It never quite turns out the way you see It with your eyes. Here Is the right place to teach you master taking sunset and sunrise photo every single moment.
I know, I know, sometime the stunning moment came out without any signal. I will give those tips later on, so please be patient.
You cannot take a photo without the sun, right? Scout the location Is the best way to Increase the chances to meet the best location for sunrise and sunset. It also can help you to plan the route to the destination without any unnecessary hassle.
By using some tool will help you a lot to located time place and the precise sunrise and sunset time. Currently I personal using Sunrise Sunset Times, The Sun Ephemeris , ShotHotspot and the pay version with ton of feature The Photographer’s Ephemeris.
After you pick the location the second most important factor are the season and weather condition. In different country they have season like spring, summer, autumn and winter (Unfortunately my country Malaysia only have raining season, feel sad…). Those seasons will affect the sunrise and sunset time, so must be aware.
About the weather condition, rain or snow can add a dramatic layer on you phone. However, those condition will also affect your equipment and gear need to be weather sealed body and lens. With our smartphone most of it won’t affect to much if you have rating IPX7 or IPX8 water resistant. In fact, you only need a rating of IPx2 to use your smartphone in certain rain conditions. If you don’t know what is IP mean for please check out this awesome article [Will Taking Photos In The Rain Damage Your Phone?] by Gav from The Smartphone Photographer.
The sunrise and sunset are end up quick than you expect. You should at the location at least 30 minutes before the moment is coming. Do we really need such a long time to prepare? The answer is Yes for sure! We need to setup our camera setting and equipment like tripod or UV filer if you wish to snap the blue hour or time-lapse. You also got enough time to figure out the composition and perspective that you would like to capture.
I also recommend you prepare some dry food and drinks. You will thank me later on when you feel hungry or thirsty while you are waiting.
Finally came to this part, well done! There is not much different if you are shooting with DSLR or mirrorless camera and smartphone. If you would like to capture the photo by using auto, then this lesson is done. However, if you would like to take the photo into another level, you will need to adjust the setting manually.
For any landscape photography which are including sunrises and sunsets, you need to use smaller aperture such as f/8, f11 or even higher for the maximum sharpness. Secondly turn down your ISO as low as possible such as 100 or 200 to avoid the noise in the shot. Thirdly you need to make sure your shutter speed if fast enough to avoid an unusable blurry photo. Mostly I recommended 1/125 or 1/160 if your handheld the camera.
Lastly is the color temperature, the camera white balance. This part is the quite tricky because the color temperature changes a lot a short period of time. It tends to be around 7,500 K shortly after sunrise or before sunset, around 3,500 K during "golden hour", and around 5,500 K during midday. The color temperature can also change significantly with altitude, latitude, and weather conditions). If you don’t want to make it to complicated just use “auto” white balance.
Here is some useful trick if you want to adjust the color temperature in post-processing. You must always shoot in RAW! So that you can easily to readjust it. For smartphone user remember to switch on HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature to prevent your photo overexposure and balance out the light and dark area.
Small tips but a huge improvement which are make sure all your photo is straight horizon! Most common composition are the sunrises or sunsets exactly in the middle of the photo. Is okay in some scenarios, it also can be very dramatic although the sun is not in the middle.
Did you ever hear the rule of thirds? Just use it! It is a recipe to cook your delicious photography! You can turn it on inside your camera setting, with a button name as grid. Rule of thirds can help you to get the better composition and draw the viewer into the most interesting part of the image.
If your scene has a stunning cloudy sky that accentuates the sunlight, fill up 2/3 of the scene. If you have an interesting foreground or landscape below the sun, fill up the bottom 2/3 of the scene.
Don’t just standing and waiting or leave to early when you day plan to take sunrises or sunsets photo. Try to capture the surrounding! The tones, color and hue of the scene will become much more vivid and dramatic. Although the main dishes are the sunrises or sunsets, the side dishes photo will enhance the whole experience.
Just a minor adjustment will let you photo stand out! Try some simple adjust like straightening out your horizon, or cropping out distracting elements, adjust the highlights, shadows and white balance can make your photo significantly more impact.
There are a million apps you can choose to edit your photo. My personal favorite is Adobe Lightroom to achieve the super fine results. When I want to quick edit to post on my social media, Instagram, Snapseed or even your phone native app will help you a lot.
Shoot in RAW file if you’re a professional, with RAW file you be able to fine tune all the detail at post-processing.
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I know it really look like got a lot of things to learn and prepare to get the magical shot. To be honest, no matter how many tutorials or article that you are watched. The best way to learn is try it yourself.
Just go to the same spot to shot until you get the best result! You will get more creative when you are keeping shot at the same place.
Last but not least, if you still find confuse of want to know more please drop a message at HERE! I will try my best to help you!
Kira Tien
Kira Tien
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