May 29 2008
Don’t Turn Your Camera After Sunset
Taking beautiful sunsets is always fun, but once the sun goes down don’t put your camera back in its case.
Wait, wait and still wait some more. On a clear night (some clouds OK – just not completely overcast) you can get intense blue skies if you wait a twenty minutes to a half hour or more after the sun goes down. While all angles work well, the most dramatic blue happens with the horizon behind the camera and by adding a polarizer filter.
To get the best shot you’ll need a tripodfor the longer exposers. I use the built in camera self timer, but it’s just as easy to use a shutter release to prevent blur from the camera being moved when you pressed the shutter button. Expect the exposure will take anywhere from one to thirty seconds. It’s a good idea to bracket the exposure, one stop under, one stop over and one normal.
You’ll be better off useing manual focus. While it’s hard to pin point an accurate focus through the viewfinder at dark, it’s next to impossible for your camera, especially in lower contrast. Because the camera is on a tripod I use around f/11 to get the most depth of field. If exposures go over 30 seconds (anything over seems to cause writing problems with my camera) I’ll bump up the ISO to 400 – 800.
What you’ll need:
- A tripod
- A Polarizer filter (not necessary, but helps bring out the blues)
- A shutter release button
- Your favorite lens
- A jacket (it gets cold standing in one place)
