Lighting Issues

[EmmaR]

Hi All,

I am trying to get some sunset shots however am having issues with light. I want a slow shutter speed to get the depth of colours in the clouds, but having such a slow shutter speed lets in too much light. Even with underexposure set, it's still too much light.

Any other ideas?

[Jim Poor]

How about an example.

If your exposure is correct, slow shutter speed has little to do with "depth of color."

What do you mean "with under exposure set?"

What camera, lens and settings are you using?

Originally Posted by EmmaR

Hi All,

I am trying to get some sunset shots however am having issues with light. I want a slow shutter speed to get the depth of colours in the clouds, but having such a slow shutter speed lets in too much light. Even with underexposure set, it's still too much light.

Any other ideas?

[navcom]

Jim is right. We need more information to help you. A photo example along with your EXIF data and the type of camera/lens you were using would be helpful.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you are probably experiencing what every new sunset photographer experiences...high contrast in your image. The sun is overpowering the foreground making it impossible to get both the sky and the foreground exposed properly.

If this is the case, you are not alone. A camera is limited in the dynamic range it can capture...that is, the range between the darkest and lightest part of the image. The human eye can see a much higher range than your camera can. That's why when you snap that photo of the sunset, the foreground is black but when you look at it with your eyes, you can see detail.....and it makes you frustrated. That's the dynamic range limitation of the camera showing up in your image.

To overcome this limitation, photographers employ a couple different tools to help out. The oldest and most common is a graduated neutral density filter. It looks like a clear piece of plastic that is half clear and then gradually becomes darker like your sunglasses. This is held in front of the lens with a filter holder and positioned so the darker area "pushes back" the brightness of the sun, allowing the foreground and sky to be properly exposed together.

Another more recent tool is called HDR (high dynamic range). For this, you take a minimum of three photos....the first exposed in the middle, the second exposed for the sky, and the third exposed for the foreground. Using your computer and Photoshop or other software, you combine the three together making an image that shows all elements exposed properly.

A third way...You can also manipulate a single image in post-processing software to bring up the shadows and push back the highlights.

Hope that helps!

[EmmaR]

sorry guys for the lack of information.

Ok, it's not so much about the foreground vs background - I've already worked that one out on my latest sunrise trip! Learned to take at least two, if not three exposures - one for the sky, one for the foreground and an overall shot and then merge them together in software later on.

I have studied other landscape shots at sunset and it appears that they all use a slow shutter speed to get the color saturation in the shot.

So when I went out yesterday, the clouds were a nice pinky/purply tinge. I used around a 2sec shutter speed but the whole image is just washed out. I deleted them so I don't have any to show you - sorry.

So am I wrong in thinking that using a slow shutter speed can give extra color saturation to an image?

[navcom]

Slower shutter speeds will give deeper colors, but that is mostly with film. I have heard that iIt does help with digital but not like it does with film. Don't ask me why.

I've tried using normal shutter speeds and slow one's and have not noticed much difference. If you are using slower shutter speeds and your image is getting washed out, you need to adjust your aperture and ISO to compensate. For your aperture, I would keep it between f/11 and f/16 min. Any smaller than that and it will start to affect image quality with diffraction. Set your ISO to the minimum you can...usually this is ISO 100 or so.

If your image is washing out, it's because it's not a proper exposure. Just changing your shutter speed without adjusting the other legs of the exposure triangle will make your exposure incorrect.