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Author Topic: Shoot Sunsets  (Read 1607 times)

Tim Gray

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Shoot Sunsets
« on: April 22, 2004, 12:01:33 pm »

Number 1, until you get familiar with the genre:  Bracket so you can combine (lots of different options available) the images and thus extend the dynamic range (tripod required - should go without saying).  Don't forget to use mirror lock up since you'll likely be in the moderately slow exposure range.  Metering can be tough - you need to decide how many pixels you're willing to let be blown, and how much underexposure is acceptable.  Even if  you bracket you should check the histogram after each shot. You need to develop a sense of how much ev adjustment is appropriate in different circumstances - when you bracket, you're not necessarily bracketing around the exposure that the metre gives you.  I've shot up to 6 shots of the same scene, before I've been happy with the exposure.

Number 2, think about the composition and the key relationship between the foreground and background (sunset) - IMHO there's a touch too much foreground in the shot you posted.  Back to #1 you may not want the detail in the foreground that extended dynamic range would provide - you have to decide what you want.  In general, the more foreground you include, the more detail you want, ie the greater dynamic range required.  Mix up the ratio of foreground to background - generally avoid 50/50, but sometimes the extreme can be even more interesting, than the standard 1/3 2/3. eg 95% foreground and only 5% sunset (and obviously the inverse).  Try portrait in addition to landscape.  You may have to focus on the horizon to get lock, but make sure you reframe if appropriate. Your don't have to wait until the sun is below the horizon to start shooting - particularly if there are interesting clouds.

Number 3, take lots of shots, and really mix up the focal lengths from wide angle to zoom - decide later when the pressure is off what worked and what didn't.  The light changes so quickly that you don't have time to go through an extended mental evaluation.  After you have more experience you'll know what works and what doesn't.  When you review the shots after, make note of the exif on the shots you like.
If time permits, play a bit with a polarizer.  PS CS gives me all the other filter flexability I need - so think about warming or cooling the shot in post processing.  


Here's a technique for bringing out some punch in the sky - as long as there are some clouds:

1.  Use the wand to select the sky (save the selection)
2. Create a new fill layer, solid color, color gray, mode color burn.
3. set the Hue, Saturation and Brightness all to 0, (the three options over the RGB boxes) and gradually increase the bottom one (brightness as I recall) until you're happy.  This will also add a bit of noise and bring out all the dust (edit: oops, I see you have no dust problems -A2 - my 1D drives me crazy), depending on how much effect you use - going all the way to 255 will give nil impact, 0 will be almost totally black.
4. Zoom in and check the boundary between the foreground and sky, apply some Gaussian Blur to the mask (about 9 works) until you are satisfied.  Then, if you want, merge.
5.  If the result looks "too grainy" apply the initial selection and use some smart blur to smooth things out a bit.

Once you have a selection of the sky, you can try different level and curve adjustments as well.

Bottom line is to expirement like crazy.  You'll never break out of the cliche mode if you don't push the edges.  At first be happy if one in 20 or 30 is a keeper.
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Spyro

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Shoot Sunsets
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2004, 10:04:34 am »

Here is an example of a sunset captured with my new A2.

http://erbesfamily.com/jimrebecca/james/pics/42120040007.JPG

ISO 100
Aperature 3.5
200 mm

What shooting techniques and post processing can I do to get better sunset pictures?

-j
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Aaron Bredon

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Shoot Sunsets
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2004, 01:34:08 pm »

Quote
What shooting techniques and post processing can I do to get better sunset pictures?
First - I have found on my Dimage 7i that RAW mode works best when shooting sunsets. I use MRWFormat to convert the RAW picture, and use this white balance: R: 1.9844, G: 1, B:1.1758.
I then adjust saturation and gamma to produce the right feel, and finish opening the file in 16 bit mode.

If you have to shoot JPEG, try these:
use sunset mode - this is the only mode on my 7i that gets the color even close to right. If you can't use that scene mode, either white balance manually off of a gray card, or use daylight balance and a color adjustment to warm up the color a bit.
underexpose a little - this brings out some of the color.
Experiment a lot - sunsets are tricky.
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