Any tips on getting a decent sunrise

[JJthethird]

I'm fairly new to dSLR photography and would appreciate any help or comments on taking good shots of sunrise/sets. This is my first attempt.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjthethird/493906393/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/493906393_958094f34c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sunrise 2" /></a>

Cheers, John.:)

[wulf]

I think I prefer the earlier shot (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjthethird/493882372/in/photostream/) and I reckon it might have been even better if you had another one taken a minute or two earlier.

The reason is that the sun is relatively bright compared to the rest of the sky and so will get overexposed very quickly.

Out of my sunrise (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wulf/tags/sunrise) and sunset (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wulf/tags/sunset) images, I think the best ones have been where the sun hasn't featured directly at all (when it is below the skyline or not pointing the camera towards it) or when, like in the shot below, it has been subdued by clouds:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wulf/129428178/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/129428178_b79f8929a7_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Sunset Over O'Cebreiro #1" /></a>

Wulf

[Saralonde]

Did you read this? http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-photograph-sunrises-and-sunsets/ It has some helpful ideas.

[JJthethird]

Thanks for the advice Wulf, I will bear it in mind next time.I see what you mean about leaving the sun out of the shot, your shot "Sunrise at O'Cebreiro" still has the colours that I am after without the overexposure, great shots by the way! I did take a shot a couple of minutes earlier but I hadnt gotten round to uploading it to Flickr.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjthethird/494021258/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/217/494021258_d7b6fd9039.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sunrise 4" /></a>

Thanks again,

John.:)

[JJthethird]

Thanks for the link Saralonde, just had a quick look and it seems to echo some of the things Wulf said. I will go back and read it thoroughly after looking through the forums.

Cheers,
John.

[wulf]

Thanks for the advice Wulf, I will bear it in mind next time.I see what you mean about leaving the sun out of the shot, your shot "Sunrise at O'Cebreiro" still has the colours that I am after without the overexposure, great shots by the way! I did take a shot a couple of minutes earlier but I hadnt gotten round to uploading it to Flickr.
That is a great photo. My only criticism there would be that it appears a touch grainy - I tend to keep my ISO setting at 200 (lowest available) and adjust aperture and shutter speed to get a reasonable exposure unless light levels are very low and I need extra sensitivity without adjusting those two settings any more.

Wulf

[JJthethird]

Thanks Wulf, I am finding this site is building my knowledge considerably already. Long may it continue!

Cheers again, John.:)

[janellen]

Hi guys, I would like to know how you can take a picture of a sunset or sunrise and not get all of the glare from the sun. I have a finepix 9500 digital camera and I've tried to experiment, but don't know how not to get the horrible overexposure :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/henrietta1/513227286/

This has been photoshop elemented to death to cut down the glare.

[wulf]

Don't point the camera directly at the sun. If you want to include the sun in the picture, either wait for it to sink low enough to look at with the naked eye or learn how to adjust the exposure settings on your camera. You may also find that the angle you hold the camera at has an impact on the kind of lens flare you get.

Oh... and it normally is best to keep the horizon level (just to prove I looked) ;)

Wulf

[jocelynkl]

Have you tried metering without the sun then recomposing with the sun in?
I was just reading about this in the book understanding exposure.

[shidalgo777]

If your camera has an exposure lock meter off the sky then recompose and you should get better results.

[subrataofkris]

If the sun is visible, I normally do a -ve exposure compensation. As the light changes very fast, I keep on changing shot by shot.

[winterminute]

Don't forget that you can use your subject (or other "objects") to block the direct rays of the sun while still getting great color. This isn't a great shot, but it is a more "in face your face" example, but there are also subtle ways to use your environment to block the sun.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1264/900510310_699c972872.jpg

[sunsetter]

First, moving the sun out of the center of the frame will help. Try using the cloudy setting on the white balance will give a better color.

[RexK_Cozumel]

All great tips but most important thing about shooting sunrise shots... an alarm clock and coffee lots of coffee....

[sunsetter]

Also moving the sun out of the center of the shot. Set white balance to cloudy helps.

[Dr. WooD]

I usually dont go to be till around 5 AM, so sunrise pics don't happen for me too often. I have managed to shoot the sunrise the past 2 Easter mornings thou.

Click the link to see my attempts.

http://wood-shots.smugmug.com/gallery/2126430#110018541

[ciogi]

One little trick I use when shooting either a sunrise or sunset with the sun directly in shot is throw my polarizer on my lens, that does two things I have noticed to make a difference, one it brings out the clouds, and allows me to use 2-stops lower to get a more ominous look. I highly recommend using a sturdy tripod and using the highest f-stop and lowest ISO you can. I usually use a minimum of F11, ISO 100.

Another good tip is to use the sun as a "backlight" example...

Hope I helped!!

[photobyfelix]

Hi All:

What about using an HD filter to cut down the over exposure? Then the forground would not be as dark. I just started working with a graduated HD filter last night (post-sunset images) and seems it could help with sunrise also.

Felix