Catching a sunset

[kimapali]

I took this picture today while in the mountains. The sunset was the most gorgeous yellow and the sky was really blue, so naturally I wanted to capture it. I have yet to do this successfully, so some suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[jerryph]

I think you did quite well, Kim. 3 things that may have added to your pic:

- circular polarizer, would have made the blue part of the sky bluer

- lens flare... by pointing the camera into the sun you got a little. If you had changed the direction by a few degrees left or right it would have reduced or eliminated it.

- Manually, slightly reduce the amount of light coming in. You are a touch overexposed. Increase of aperture to F/7.1 or so would increase DOF and decrease exposure slightly.

In the 2nd one, it could have been improved by seeing more sky and lowering the horizon (rule of thirds).

[kimapali]

I think you did quite well, Kim. 3 things that may have added to your pic:

- circular polarizer, would have made the blue part of the sky bluer

- lens flare... by pointing the camera into the sun you got a little. If you had changed the direction by a few degrees left or right it would have reduced or eliminated it.

- Manually, slightly reduce the amount of light coming in. You are a touch overexposed. Increase of aperture to F/7.1 or so would increase DOF and decrease exposure slightly.

In the 2nd one, it could have been improved by seeing more sky and lowering the horizon (rule of thirds).Thanks for the input Jerry! I was using a CPL for the first time and haven't really gotten the hang of it yet...I'm not really sure what direction creates what effect! I also didn't think about changing the aperture, I will definitely have to remember that next time!

Is there a way to get the foreground to be properly lit as well as the sunset?

[jerryph]

Is there a way to get the foreground to be properly lit as well as the sunset?

A portion of it, yes... by using a flash (off or on camera). Otherwise, not really.

Without it:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2260944733_eb949fac9a_m.jpg

With it:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2285339954_c693832e3f_m.jpg

[arrowind]

Kim
A CPL filter would have very little if any effect in your photo. They work at their best when at 90 degrees to the sun. You were pointing directly at the sun. It would take a really large flash to light the landscape. A person or object close to the lens yes. you could possibly use a graduated ND filter to reduce the sun and maybe bring out the foreground.

[kimapali]

Kim
A CPL filter would have very little if any effect in your photo. They work at their best when at 90 degrees to the sun. You were pointing directly at the sun. It would take a really large flash to light the landscape. A person or object close to the lens yes. you could possibly use a graduated ND filter to reduce the sun and maybe bring out the foreground.
What a dilemma: if is use an ND filter to reduce the sun then I lose some of my sunset, but if I don't then I lose the foreground. Are sunset pictures supposed to have more of a darker foreground anyway and focus mainly on the sun?

[jerryph]

Are sunset pictures supposed to have more of a darker foreground anyway and focus mainly on the sun?

Depends on what you want in terms of a final creative result.

[arrowind]

Kim
The KEY word is GRADUATED ND. Meaning that ONLY the top half would be reduced in light. The bottom half is clear. Thus you would reduce the sun in preportion to the foreground. This way you would be able to expose for the sun as well as the foreground. You wind up with the beautiful sunset and the foreground exposed properly.

[jerryph]

Kim
The KEY word is GRADUATED ND. Meaning that ONLY the top half would be reduced in light. The bottom half is clear. Thus you would reduce the sun in preportion to the foreground. This way you would be able to expose for the sun as well as the foreground. You wind up with the beautiful sunset and the foreground exposed properly.

I've seen one example of a pic taken with a graduated ND filter. They worked really well for landscape shots, but the moment you have a person in the pic, it looks a little off... everything below their knees is exposed lighter than their heads, but thats normal and should be expected, I suppose. That's where a fill-flash would help.

[arrowind]

A graduated ND is used for Landscape and is not intended to be used elsewhere. When you have a very bright sky and darker landscape they work really well.