sunrise

by Anoop
(MN,USA)

I just bought my camera D90 last month; I am new to photography.

Took this shot outside our apartment on a Thursday morning at sunrise. Manual mode with aperture f/5.6 and shutter speed 1/200 secs with focal length 105mm.

Please review this snap.

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I remember when I got my first camera. Loved it to bits.

But being a film camera I had to be careful with my shots because once you exposed a frame you didn't get a chance to do it again. Not like digital.

So, to play it safe I took photos of things that I knew I couldn't get wrong. Sunsets!

My reasoning was that sunsets are colourful, they don't move very fast and everyone loves them.

Sound reasoning you might think. And so did I until I had a roll of film developed.

24 photos of sunsets. Nice enough, but not one of them really grabbed me.

And so it dawned on me (no pun intended!) that it's really difficult to capture a sunset on film.

I realise Anoop's photo is a sunrise, but it's basically the same thing in reverse.

So, if it's so difficult to take a decent sunset (or sunrise) photo what is a photographer to do?

Well, that's why you're here, right? There are things that can help improve your sunset photos.

Firstly, find a good spot where you have something in the foreground. Whatever this something is it will end up as a silhouette so don't be too concerned about its colour or fine details.

This something could be some trees, some rocks, a person or maybe just some buildings.

Once you know where you're going to take your photo you need to wait for the sunset itself.

When a decent sunset comes your way frame your shot so that you have some of that foreground silhouetted against the sky and take the shot.

And then wait.

Sunsets often get more colourful as time passes. Keep taking photos every couple of minutes until you have some really deep colours.

Try to get a lot of the sky in. It is after all the star of the photo!

Some more tips for sunset photos…

• Use a tripod, or at least set the camera down on a hard surface and use the self timer to take the photo. Because the shutter speed will be slow there's a danger the silhouetted parts of your photo will get blurred.


• If you have a digital SLR try underexposing your photo. This tends to make sunsets more saturated.


• If you have water available (the sea, a lake or pond) use it. The reflection can really enhance a sunset.

Anoop's photo is ok, but using some of these tips could make that photo better.

Thanks for the submission Anoop,

Darrell.
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