how can I get better sun set shots.

[denja]

Thought I'd throw in my $.02 worth. I like the thought behind the image but agree with most of the thoughts already presented. I tried a crop, constraining it to a 5x7 and I think it is better, but not perfect. If the original image had been taken from a little lower angle, I think it would have worked better. I also used an unsharp mask on it, If you would like me to take this down, please let me know.

Jim

[radityopradipto]

I'd go playing with the WB or the Colour Temperature... Sometimes Warming up you sunset will dramatically enhance your pictures

[kencaleno]

From: The K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple,Shutterbug) Photography Course

By Ken Caleno (Dip. Phot)

Landscapes b) Sunrises/Sunsets

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about: Manual focusing- If auto focus fails


A pretty, colourful sky on its own, doesn’t really say much, but if you can find a situation where there is a subject in the foreground that would silhouette against the sky, such as an old, gnarled tree, or a church steeple-then you have the making of a great landscape-Shop around for the best angle, by rendering your subject recognisable, while eliminating unnecessary distractions from foreground/background.
The wide-angle 18mm -24mm end of your kit zoom lens will be the focal length of choice for this type of scene (This will allow room to crop out any other distractions)

Sometimes you will find that auto-focus has trouble finding focus, due usually to inadequate contrast-That’s where manual focus needs to be employed-
just switch off auto-focus and focus by revolving the lens’s focusing ring. As for metering, this could give problems balancing contrast of sky and land, so for silhouettes, try an aperture of, say, F8,filling the majority of your viewfinder frame with sky-You camera will take a reading from the brighter part of the sky, and expose for that, rendering all else as silhouettes. But if you want detail in the sky and the land, the answer is a graduated neutral density filter, or “ND grad.” These filters come in several grades both soft and hard, from 1 to 10 stops. They are half grey and half transparent-The upper, grey part, holds back the sky, while the land gets exposed correctly

Then there is the question do you want the sun in the image? If you do, you will need to watch for lens flare, and you don’t want the Sun dominating the scene- A lens hood, (Which you should always use) will often solve the problem


Copyright: © Kenneth William Caleno (Dip Phot) 2009

[jaime jasmine joseph]

Hi Gazza ! am pretty much new here but your sunset shot is really pretty ... and i think addding the fishing poles add more character to the picture as it gives your picture a story to tell

my personal view if u ask me ... everyone has their own style of taking pictures and the most important thing is that if u love it, then everyone else will love it too !!

CHEERS