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​Sunrises and sunsets shooting skills

​Sunrises and sunsets shooting skills

Deep blue sky, red clouds, canvas print sunsets and sunrises always make photography enthusiasts involuntarily click the shutter, although this has been repeated countless times... How to capture breathtaking sunrises and sunsets? Below we tell you about shooting sunrise and sunset matters of note and shooting skills.

Preliminary preparation:

1. Where to shoot

I came up with the idea of shooting sunrises and sunsets. The first question I considered was: where should I go to shoot sunrises and sunsets?

Everyone knows that the sun rises and sets in the east and crosses the sky from left to right. Before you shoot, cheap canvas prints online you need to think about how you want it to look. Generally choose places with wide views: beaches, lakes, hilltops and even urban rooftops.

Of course, the choice of location must be able to see the sunrise or sunset of the place, if the conditions allow, or choose to shoot in the wild is better, after all, large canvas prints cheap the air in the wild is much more thorough than in the city. But you can also get great shots in the city.

But whether in the wild or in the city, the choice of site should be relatively open, high terrain is appropriate. When shooting in the field, choose the location with relatively high terrain, such as the high mountain, and choose the Angle of view with high altitude and downward Angle, so that there will be no unnecessary objects blocking the sun near and on the ground, which is conducive to the performance of the main content. Mountains piled high against the rising sun produce a rich variety of effects. If shooting in the city, you can choose a relatively high building, with the same effect, the level is relatively rich.

In addition, the shooting point is also good for improving the contrast and composition of the picture. That's not to say you have to shoot on high ground. If you have a good view of a large lake, it's also a great place to shoot sunrises and sunsets. So choose the location of photography do not have a thinking set xing, as long as you can show their own photography ideas, are excellent shooting location. The choice of location is very important in shooting this type of landscape theme, shooting sunrise and sunset location is appropriate, is equal to half the success!

2. When

The time of sunrise and sunset is very strong, and the performance of different seasons and time periods is different, which requires us to pay great attention to the choice of shooting time between shooting.

In terms of seasons, the best seasons for shooting sunrise and sunset are spring and fall. In these two seasons, the sunrise is later and the sunset is earlier than that of summer, which is favorable for shooting. Besides, there are more clouds, so it is easy to encounter the scene of "rosy clouds are all over the sky". The specific time is determined by the author's intention, the choice of location, the local sunrise and sunset schedule and the season at that time. Before you shoot, keep an eye on when the sun goes down, and ask the local weather department for a sunrise and sunset schedule if you can. Also, pay close attention to the weather forecast for the day before you leave.

Specific shooting:

1. When should I click the shutter?

Sunrise or sunset time is very short, and every minute in this short period of time the view of the great changes are possible, and then take the sunset, the sunset, there are several process is divided into four, to be by the yellow sun, into the long turn red egg, disappear to level, and turn again from red to purple blue of the sky.

In this among the light changes very big, by blazing the eye sunlight becomes the deep blue, and the foreground is like the city's light also along with bright, the time looks very long, but the sun disappears in the mountain line or the horizontal line time is really very fast, may not disappear two minutes from the sun just touched the mountain line and to sink, a not careful nature is not grasp.

And after the sun goes down, beautiful color has just begun, or ten minutes after the sun goes down it's nothing, light one, it is also more and more dark, there is a lot of home to see good start packing equipment, more than half a hour but sunset sky have good, if it is in the city, the city of lights and become the best theme, a lot of perfect day sun when completed, because of poor light receive fine, building or country prospects and level, it is to please.

Sunrises and sunsets shooting skills

2. Cloud shooting

Clouds are natural reflective objects in shooting, which can spread the red light of the sun, thus constantly changing the works. When taking pictures, pay particular attention to what happens when clouds cover the setting sun. At this time, the sun's rays will shoot out from behind the clouds, creating a large scene of radioactive light, which adds a very touching effect to the picture.

Due to the fickle nature of clouds, the photographer is required to be observant and to seize the moment when the shutter is pressed. When taking pictures of clouds as the main body, it is generally necessary to point the measuring point at the clouds to measure the light, but at the same time be careful not to overexpose the sun.

3. Application of foreground

It is common to see no clouds in the sky at sunrise or sunset. In order to avoid the monotonous sky, some surrounding foreground is used as a foil, such as the sparse leaves and branches as the foreground of the empty sky, which can help to balance the picture structure of the scenery.

If the foreground is too much, it will cover most of the sky and affect the balance of the picture. However, it is also good to use the foreground as the subject and the sunset/sunrise scene as the background.

If the foreground is used to show the sunset or sunrise view of the sky, the foreground is often processed into the silhouette effect. The silhouette effect makes full use of the light difference between the subject and the background. Generally speaking, the backlight at sunrise and sunset is easy to show the silhouette effect, because the light at this time is the most gentle, choose the position and Angle in advance, wait for the sun to rise from the horizon, or set the horizon, from red to orange yellow, or from orange yellow to red, it does not look dazzling, is the best time to shoot.

At this time, exposure should follow the principle of underexposure but not exposure, according to the background of exposure measurement, only in this way can make the subject seriously insufficient exposure, form a strong silhouette.

Must first select the camera metering mode to "spot metering, the metering click next in the light of the sky for metering, if you are in the hands of the camera have the AE Lock (AE Lock) function, according to the AE Lock button of the camera, locks the exposure value (no camera AE Lock function, can be half holding down the shutter button to Lock); Finally, adjust the composition and shoot with the same exposure combination as before, so that you can get the perfect silhouette effect.

4, the reflection

Many excellent sunrise and sunset photography works are completed at the water's edge, because at sunrise or sunset, the wavy water reflects a beautiful rosy clouds, the boat sailing on the surface of the water adds some vivid images, it is really a very good photographic subject. Taking a reflection of the water makes the sunrise and sunset look better, while a calm sea or lake reflects the sky.

The image appears as if it was in a mirror, and the reflection is always disturbed by the breeze that blows across the water. Leave a brighter light on the water and trace a path of light from the horizon to the foreground of the picture, which will stretch out before your eyes as the sun sets.

So, the first thing to look out for when shooting at the water's edge is the composition factor. Are the horizontal lines positioned before you press the shutter? Have I included everything I need? These are all noteworthy issues. When measuring light, we usually choose the average metering mode, so that the light distribution of the whole picture is uniform, not overexposed or underexposed.

5, close-up

There's no rule that you have to have clouds at sunrise or sunset, and you don't have to have a foreground, but a simple, pure sunset or sunrise is just as lovely to get into. If your camera has a telephoto lens, elongate it to allow a simple sunset or sunrise to dominate the scene.

In fact, such a picture is rich in colors. When the setting sun or rising sun approaches the ground, it shows a transition from red to yellow, and the surrounding sky also shows a transition from yellow to red and from bright to dark. How can we tolerate such a picture?

Therefore, when shooting, do not stick to the previous shooting experience, your own development of personal creativity, perhaps there will be unexpected harvest!

The sun sank in the west

We're almost done. The sun has gone down behind the mountains. Should we cover the lens, too? Don't busy, can't appear in the picture, the sun does not mean we should have finished the work by shooting, sometimes when the sun goes down to the west, the beauty of the evening glow began to appear at this moment, this is because the sun is below the horizon, the clouds reflect the sun's light effect more apparent, this time the light tend to be more dark, cameras are often already reduced to handheld shooting.

When we worked so hard to back to the tripod can come in handy, metering select on the evening glow to spot metering, or while filming the scene, while using a wide-angle lens (or pull the camera focal length to the most wide Angle), and USES the average metering, will have very good effect, of course, use the manual exposure will get more effect, then test the combination of several kinds of aperture and shutter speed, more generally, when shooting landscapes using small aperture more can make the picture more clear. So, is it too wasteful to put a lens cap on when the sky is full of brilliant clouds of fire that give it a variety of colors?

TIPS1: sunset and sunrise shooting tips

1. Use a smaller aperture to prevent over-exposure caused by insufficient shutter speed. Of course, shooting with a small aperture is also a common means of scenery photos;

2. Normal metering and increase the exposure compensation of 1-1.5EV can generally achieve an ideal effect;

3. Point metering above the setting sun can also be performed, and exposure compensation of about 1EV can be added;

4. To prevent glare from the lens, try to use the hood and remove unnecessary filters;

5. If it is a point-and-shoot camera, it usually has a special "sunset mode", which can be used for shooting.

6, pay attention to protect your eyes, especially when shooting with a telephoto lens, do not view the sun.

7. Using average metering, and then increase or decrease EV value as required, so that the surrounding exposure can be considered;

8. Magenta filters can deepen the purple tone of the sky, of course, in the digital age; this can be achieved in post-processing;

9. When encountering fast-moving clouds, use smaller apertures and longer exposure times to convey a sense of movement.

10. Try to use a tripod to ensure the picture is stable enough.

These are some basic rules for shooting sunrise and sunset! As for composition and so on, needs to make the corresponding change according to the different situation, acrylic mounting online therefore is very difficult to sum up, has to rely on everybody to explore by oneself.

15th Jun 2019

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