Sunset photos are the most emotional of all nature photography. They can convey such strong feelings of wonder and inspiration!
The great thing is sunsets are readily available for you to capture. The opportunities to take awesome twilight photographs happen every single day; you don’t have to travel anywhere, and this kind of photography provides numerous ways to alter your composition, from silhouettes, dramatic shadows, surreal close-ups.
If you are really creative and into digital photography, you can make some absolutely stunning creations by manipulating your results in the computer. (Stay tuned for my articles on Digital Photography coming soon)
But shooting really amazing sunsets requires a little bit of effort, planning and preparation to make sure you have it exactly perfect!
The light changes fast at this time of day, and is often challenging to capture. But by using a few simple techniques, you’ll be taking spectacular photographs in no time! (Check out the Sunset Photo Gallery coming soon,for
examples and photos.)
After many attempts to capture that fleeting sunset, you know the kind – truly amazing almost unnatural colors, a few clouds to add some texture, and more drama than an Oscar winning movie – I decided I’d better come up with a more consistent technique to avoid being disappointed, not to mention wasting so much money on film!
Here's my best process for taking original and creative evening twilight and dusk photos:
The most basic technique of all is to get set up at your location early.
I try to have lots of film, (or digital cards) on hand, make sure I have extra batteries.
I remind myself to not forget my tripod!
I bracket my exposures to make sure I have all the possibilities covered. Usually I do +/- 2 EV.
I use an assortment of lenses to capture unusual perspectives.
"The twilight's last gleaming..."
The most important secret, I think, though, is to keep taking photographs, for an hour or so AFTER the sun has vanished beneath the horizon. This special time of rapidly changing colors can be the magic hour of all sunset photography!
You never know what kind of photo event the clouds, the haze, the sun and the other elements on the landscape will create as those last faint rays evaprate into the darkness. Give it a try - I promise you won't be disapointed.
Special techniques on the following pages will help to make sure you seize every possible second and transform your sunset session into a series of sunset photos that leaves your viewers speechless!
