Sunset in False Bay

[berpie]

I am having trouble with sunsets. Is the exposure and composition correct? The wind was blowing very strong thus the exposure time.

Panasonic FZ-30
ISO 80
f 6.3
Exposure time 1/500

[AndrewPDX]

I like the composition. Good placement of the sun and the indentations and patterns in the flats make for some interesting elements. My problem is the exposure does seem a bit off- much of the right side of the shot is very difficult to see. I know the current trend is to use HDR techniques to enhance foreground elements while keeping the background stunning. If you're not a fan of the post-processing route, you can check out this basic guide for sunsets here on DPS.com instead. I'd love to give you more advice, but I struggle with sunsets myself. Good luck!

Quick question- that isn't False Bay on SJ island, is it?

[navcom]

You are not alone having trouble with sunsets. The problem is something called dynamic range. This is the range between the darkest and lightest spot in an image. Your eye can see around 20 stops of light while your camera can only capture around 9 or so.

Sunrises/sets contain a huge dynamic range. This means that your camera will usually have to make a choice...either overexpose the sky to get a properly exposed foreground or get a black foreground to get a properly exposed sky.

There are a couple ways to overcome the dynamic range problem. The most popular and most traditional method is to use graduated neutral density filters. These are filters that are rectangular and are half clear and half darkened (kind of like non-polarized, non-colored sunglasses). You position the darkened half over the sky and leave the clear half over the foreground. This allows you to "push back" the intensity of the sun and even out the dynamic range into something your camera can handle.

The other more recent method is to use HDR techniques as Andrew points out. I personally prefer the filter method as I've found it creates a more natural image and also usually produces a higher quality image as well (but this is my personal opinion).

Hope that helps!

[berpie]

Thanks for your replies

I read the link and am going to try this. I will look at the filters as well.
False Bay is in the Western Cape, South Africa.