20 Jun Rick’s Top Sunrise/Sunset Photo Tips
Photography is an important part of adventure travel, and for many travelers, experiencing and photographing sunrises and sunsets is often a high point of an adventure. In this column I’ll share with you some of my favorite sunrise and sunset photographs along with tips you can use to capture those magical moments on your adventures.
1. Starburst Effect
When the sun is in the frame, set your aperture to f/22 to get the starburst effect. The wider the lens, the more pronounced the starburst effect. Also, make sure the front element of your lens is totally clean. Even a tiny speck of dust can look like a big blog in a picture when you are shooting into the sun. Location: Spearfish, South Dakota.
Featured Trip: The Great American West: Blacks Hills to Yellowstone National Park
2. High Dynamic Range (HDR) Images
HDR photography is perfect for sunrise/sunset shots, due to the high contrast range when you are shooting into the sun. To capture the entire dynamic range of the scene, keep taking underexposed images until you have no “blinkies” on your camera’s LCD monitor, and keep taking overexposed images until you can see into the shadows in the image while looking at the LCD monitor. The greater the contrast range, the greater the number of pictures you need to take. Location: Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Featured Trip: Cambodia: The Road Less Traveled
3. No Filters
When shooting into the sun, remove all filters from your lens, even your skylight filter. When a filter is on your lens, the sunlight passes through the filter and may (depending on the angle of the sun) bounce off the front element of your lens and back onto the filter, creating a ghost image of the sun in your frame. Location: Botswana.
Featured Trip: Best of Botswana Safari
4. Blue in the Sky
A good time to take city shots is shortly after sunset, when city lights are just coming on and while there is still some color in the sky. Location: Miami’s South Beach, Florida.
5. Foreground Element
When possible, use a foreground element to add a sense of scale to your photograph. Also, the more “layers” you have in a scene, the greater the sense of depth. Here there are three layers: bird in the foreground, birds in mid-frame, and the mountains/sun in the background. Location: Death Valley, California.
Featured Trip: Death Valley Bike Tour
6. Horizon Line
Usually, placing the horizon line in the center of the frame is boring – excepting when it comes o reflections. When the sky is interesting, place the horizon line at the bottom of the frame, and vice versa. Location: Myanmar.
Featured Trip: Kipling’s Burma
7. Silhouettes
Look for separation – between the subject and the background – when taking silhouettes. In other words, isolate the subject from the background. Location: Massai Mara, Kenya.
Featured Trip: The Hemingway Wing Safari
8. Rule of Odds
If you have the opportunity to photograph an even or odd number of subjects, go for the odd number. For some reason, the rule of odds usually makes for better composition than the rule of evens. Location: Provence, France.
Featured Trip: Provence Bike Tour
9. Softer Side
Before sunrise and after sunset is a wonderful time to take pictures without strong shadows. In lower light levels, you’ll probably need a tripod. Use a cable release or your camera’s self-timer to release the shutter. That helps to prevent camera shake during long exposures. Location: Key West, Florida.
10. Expose for the Highlights
In high-contrast situations, it’s important to expose for the highlights. Make sure your camera’s highlight alert feature is activated and avoid “blinkies.” Also check your histogram and make sure you don’t have a big spike on the right. Location: Rajastan, India.
Featured Trip: Grand India Wildlife Adventure
11. Find the Best Light
Find the best light, and more sunrise and sunset photo tips, in my iPad and iPhone app, Rick Sammon’s Photo Sundial. Weather, phases of the moon and location sharing are just a few of the other features.
I hope to see you back here on Adventure Collection soon. Thank you for joining me.
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