Another venture with 300mm

[sourav]

Hi All,
This is a pic of a setting sun.
Question:
1. Does one need a UV filter to click the sun
2. Huge amount of bottom right seems dark and dead. Would it have been better to crop it closer?
3. Does the pic look underexposed?



EXIF:
Model Canon EOS 1000D
ISO 100
Exposure 1/1000 sec
Aperture 11.0
Focal Length 300mm
Flash Used false

TIA

[SwissJon]

1) No, the UV filter prevents haze in photos, which is basically UV light reflected off particles of dust and water in the air. When pointing the camera directly at the sun, it's actually likely to be detremental, as it's likely to cause flare. Please be careful when looking through your view finder with a zoom lens pointing at the sun, you could seriously damage your eyes. I would recommend the use of Live View if you have it.

2) The darkness is caused by the HUGE difference in contrast between the bright sun and the rest of the photo.. Your camera has exposed for the sun, not the overal photo (which would have caused the sun to burn out. Cropping may help.

3) Yes. See 2) above. You might try bumping up the fill light, and seeing if that improves matters.

[sourav]

So are you saying I should not click the sun? That's sad
Is there any method by which I can click the sun without harming the camera?
Sunsets and sunrises are so beautiful, they come out good even if I click them

[Trankonia]

I do not believe that Jon is saying not to Photo the sun. He is simply stating that lens flare is likely to occur and you need to account for that. It should not harm the actual camera. However, the caution is that you should not look at the sun directly via the view finder as this could damage your eyes. If your camera has an LCD screen and supports Live View then you should use that.

[TBrown00]

It looks like your camera metered the sun instead of the rest of the photo. Try switching to single point focus and use spot metering and placing your focal/metering point somewhere else in the frame or use manual mode.

Jon is not saying to not take pictures of the sun. He's saying that you shouldn't look at the sun through your camera's viewfinder - just like you shouldn't look at it without the camera. The glass inside the lens magnifies the sun's effect and it can harm your eyesight. If your camera has LiveView, you should use that instead.

[SwissJon]

Thanks.. That's exactly what I was saying..

The sun is an integral part of many beautiful photographs, but focusing on it at 300mm, and then looking through the view finder is basically the same as looking at it through a telescope.. You're risking focusing the sun on your retina, a very painful experience that's likely to make you go blind. Your camera is perfectly capable of metering for the sun and adjusting the exposure to allow it to take a phtograph without damaging the sensor, although I would recommend you don't meter for the forground, or your photograph will contain a very burned out area and you risk exposing your sensor for a period of time that might damage it. Remember playing with a magnifying glass when you were a kid, setting fire to ants (or was that just me?) Same thing could happen to your eyes and your sensor.

If you use a very dark filter, like the famous Lee Filters Big Stopper, you should be able to make much better use of your view finder without risking your eyes and your solar photographs are likely to be much nicer also.

[TBrown00]

Yep and IIRC, my Nikon came with a warning that pointing it at the sun could result in the internals starting on fire