Help with sunset photo

[cciotti]

Hi -

I took this shot quickly out my hotel window in Orlando, FL and it's awful. This is the image from the camera (resized only). The sun was actually a brilliant red disk and is in my picture a dull white ball (and this one looked the best). I get why it's white (brightest thing in the scene) but I'm trying to find out what I needed to do to photograph sunsets so as to get the red disk. Any ideas?

Lens: 35mm 1.8G with UV filter only.

From Misc

Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D40
Date/Time : 2009:06:09 20:16:39
Resolution : 800 x 530
Flash used : No
Focal length : 35.0mm (35mm equivalent: 52mm)
Exposure time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture : f/5.6
ISO equiv. : 200
Exposure bias: -0.67
Whitebalance : Manual
Light Source : Shade
Metering Mode: center weight
Exposure : program (auto)

[smc1377]

Moved your thread to the Critique section since you're asking for help and you have all the necessary info for a critique thread.

[genielamb]

your problem is your aperture setting and shutter speed combination. Remember that when photographing the sun you are pointing your camera right at a glowing ball of light. For this reason you want you aperture to be as closed as possible (i.e. very high f-stop) The more open it is (smaller value, you are using f/5.6 here) the more light will reach your sensor. So try setting your aperture to a higher value.This will also aid in keeping everything in nice sharp focus. Then OVEREXPOSE (slower shutter speed) slightly or your sunset will be too dark. Here are a few examples. These are SOOC no PP at all other than to resize. They depict the sun exactly as I witnessed it. If you want more DOF use a smaller f-stop but then you will need to UNDEREXPOSE (faster shutter speed)

[Digidave]

Shutter speed. When taking sunset/sunrise shots you should never meter the shot correctly. You need to go into manual mode & set your shutter speed faster for an underexposed shot. You will find it to be much more dramatic.

[dcclark]

To expand on and clarifiy what genielamb said...

First, your camera's meter is easily tricked by sunset shots. There is a LOT of dark area (the city below), and the sky is relatively dim, but the sun is VERY bright. So the meter can easily be confused by what exposure it needs -- and usually makes things too bright, because so much of the scene is dark. So, this is why you probably want to deliberately underexpose -- use your camera's exposure compensation and move it down a few notches. Then the parts you care about (clouds, sun) will look more natural, and the parts you don't care about will be dark anyhow.

Another problem is that the sky is usually brighter than the land -- and this can cause either the sky to be blown out, or the land to be completely dark. One solution to this is simply to recompose, and put more of the sky (or more of the land) in the frame. In your case, the horizon -- running straight through the middle -- makes things pretty boring, and splits the scene between very dark land and (relatively) bright sky. Another solution is to use a graduated neutral density filter, which will absorb light from the sky, so that your camera can expose both ground and sky correctly.

Finally -- related to my last point -- I think that this photo would benefit well from having more sky in it. The clouds are cool, while the cityscape below is relatively boring. Having a few buildings silouhetted near the bottom would be good, but the clouds are much more interesting.

[zoolfadhlie]

yup, you should put your aperture to higher f-stop and lower your shutter speed. This simple adjustment alone will help improve the shot. Use manual mode, increase your f-stop to f 16 or above. then, adjust your shutter speed accordingly.. do not trust you camera's metering because it will confused with the bright light from the sun

[Digidave]

All very good ideas if you want the foreground lit up & in focus. If you want the entire scene to be properly exposed, that would be an entirely different question & my original response would have been entirely different. Closer to dcclark's response.

The original question was how to get the sun to a big red ball as it appeared with the naked eye. The only way to do that is to underexpose. If cciotti was to slow up his shutter speed by 1 stop & at the same time close down his aperture by 1 stop, his exposure would be exactly the same. So, with your camera set to Manual, you have 2 choices. Either close down your aperture or speed up your shutter.

Maybe I missed something. If so please feel free to correct me.

[jsl]

So am I correct in believing that to get a great sunset, you should either under or over expose?

Genielamb - the shot of the heron you took is the sort of shot that I would be after. Did you over expose for this?

Also, what white balance do you pros use for sunset shots?

[cciotti]

Hi -

Underexpose the shot. I've tried it since and it works. Thanks for the help guys.

chris

[Hockey-whino]

Could you use a gray card to set the exposure to get a more natural sunset? My thinking is that you would not confuse the cameras ae with the contrast of the bright sun and dark buildings.

HW