Beginner...how to take sunset photos

[greenindian]

The other night I was trying to take photos with my new Canon EOS 40d. I must admit this is my first SLR and I feel overwhelmed with it. So many features and I don't think the user manual is the best. Can anyone give me some step by step instructions on how and what to set my camera on? Please? Thanks so much! Sorry the photo is so small...I have got to figure out a way to shrink my photos.

[PhotoNewt]

Originally Posted by greenindian

The other night I was trying to take photos with my new Canon EOS 40d. I must admit this is my first SLR and I feel overwhelmed with it. So many features and I don't think the user manual is the best. Can anyone give me some step by step instructions on how and what to set my camera on? Please? Thanks so much! Sorry the photo is so small...I have got to figure out a way to shrink my photos.

Welcome Greenindian, hang in there it will become easier sooner than you think. The printed manual is not too thorough, you can download the updated PDF version from the Canon website here.

This is what I do for sunset photos:

1. First I use a tripod to maximize sharpness.
2. I use a lens hood to minimize flare and improve color contrast. I do not use UV filter and I will recommend removing it for this type of shots.
3. I alway shoot these in RAW so I can have maximum flexibility in post-processing.
4. I use a graduated ND filter such as this to decrease the brightness difference between the sky and the ground. This helps bring the exposure value (EV) between the sky and ground closer - most times I decrease the sky exposure by 2 stops.
5. I use a wide angle prime lens - 28mm - or a zoom around 20-24mm.
6. I set my lens on manual focus and set the focus to infinity if I don't have any specific item in the foreground that I need to include in focus.
7. I usually choose Manual [M] exposure mode, in this I select an aperture value around 11-16 for most shots to get maximum depth-of-field (DoF) possible.
8. I make sure the ISO is set to 100.
9. I set the mirror lock function (found in your custom function menu) to [ENABLE], this minimizes camera shake providing sharper photos.
10. I select the 10-second self-timer function to take the photograph, again this decreases potential for camera shake producing sharper results.
11. I point the camera to the sky making sure the sun is not included (or even near) in the viewfinder, then select a shutter speed to get an exposure of +2 EV when using a -2 stop graduated ND filter, or exposure of 0 if not using any filter.
12. I usually leave the white balance on AUTO - I select the final white balance during color correction in Photoshop since I shoot in RAW format.
13. Finally, I bracket my shots 1-stop above and below to get additional exposures to choose from later. You can do this by taking one shot at the selected exposure, the use the control wheel behind the shutter buton to change the shutter speed - move in one direction 3 clicks (1-stop) and take a second photo, then 6 clicks in the opposite direction and take a final photo.

And there you have it...


Pay particular attention to the horizon line, make sure is straight. If using a graduated ND filter, you need to place the dark side of the filter on the top with the transition line on the horizon.

Hope this helps.