Sunsets

[bskts4bj]

I hope that someone can help me -- I've lost my notes and don't have time to search the forum for the answer.

Digital camera, taking pictures of sunsets -- aren't you supposed to set your focus in the light (or the dark?) and then, while holding the focus, move the camera to the opposite?

TIA!
Brenda

 

[KrazyPete]

Most of the time you want to expose for the sky.

 

[Pokprincess]

We just took the shot.. it adjusted itself. But we also have the Cannon digital/slr.

 

[Virgo10]

I always manually focus on the sky if that's my primary interest.

Rarely, I'm more interested in catching something in the foreground.

I've never done the focusing on the light or darkness thing. Sunsets/rises are way cool!

 

[SharonLowe]

Set the camera to Manual exposure mode. Take your exposure reading without the sun in it and remember it. Recompose if you want the sun and use the settings from the previous. If you don't have the sun in your photo, just use the exposure your camera tells you to use.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'd just shoot it and look at the viewfinder. If anything other than the sun is blinking (overexposed), I'll lower the exposure and shoot again. If it's a really good sunset, I'll bracket (take several exposures at different levels).

I'd be sure to take off any filters before shooting a shot with the sun in it. One of the worst problems with filters is that they sometimes show reflections of light sources in the picture.

 

[SharonLowe]

I'd just shoot it and look at the viewfinder. If anything other than the sun is blinking (overexposed), I'll lower the exposure and shoot again. If it's a really good sunset, I'll bracket (take several exposures at different levels).

For those who still use film, they can't do this. Plus, you don't always have time to chimp. Learning to do things right without relying on that little LCD is much better IMO.

 

[dancekm01]

I took these at Sunset Point in the FL Keys with my Pentax DSR K100. It was so easy!! I just had to set it to sunset mode...

 

[boBQuincy]

This is one of those situations where it really pays off to learn the Zone System. Meter the subject of interest, decide what value it should be, and adjust the exposure up or down accordingly.

No guesswork, no errors, exactly the exposure you wanted, it really works.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

For those who still use film, they can't do this. Plus, you don't always have time to chimp. Learning to do things right without relying on that little LCD is much better IMO.

If that works for you, great. There are dozens of ways to skin this cat. Bracketing is the safest because it gives you multiple versions to work with. If you bracket on a tripod, you can even use HDR to compress the dynamic range.

For me, switching to manual metering would probably be one of the last approaches I'd take, unless I was planning to take a series of shots showing the fading light.

Other approaches I might use include:

1) Spot or partial meter off of a medium to light part of the sky that I want accurately represented.

2) Shoot in evaluative/matrix or center weighted (with the sun not in the center) and trust the camera to toss out the values for the sun.

3) Zoom or recompose without the sun in the photo, partially press the shutter to lock the exposure, recompose and shoot.

4) Just fire off a set of bracketed shots with a 1.3 stop range and not worry about the metering. That's probably the approach I'd take if I was in a hurry and wanted to make sure that I got a good one.

5) If I didn't want someone accusing me of "chimping", I'd switch to manual, spot meter the different elements of my composition, determine what elements I was willing to overexpose, what elements I was willing to underexpose, and pick the optimal exposure that matched the readings that I took.

However I shot it, I'd take a quick look at the image on the LCD to see how it looks. The histogram would be less useful than normal because you are intentionally including some overexposed elements in the picture.

If for some strange reason I actually was shooting film, I'd shoot it in digital first to makes sure I had my exopsure the way I wanted it and then I'd shoot in film. Then I'd relax, enjoy the sunset, and why I was shooting film. If I was shooting with slides, I'd sigh and wonder how much I'd lose because of the limited dynamic range. If I was shooting print film, I'd mutter curses about the fact that all of my careful exposure work would probably come to naught when the automated printing machine decided to expose the print it's way instead of mine. I sure am glad those days are gone.

 

[SharonLowe]

If for some strange reason I actually was shooting film, I'd shoot it in digital first to makes sure I had my exopsure the way I wanted it and then I'd shoot in film. Then I'd relax, enjoy the sunset, and why I was shooting film. If I was shooting with slides, I'd sigh and wonder how much I'd lose because of the limited dynamic range. If I was shooting print film, I'd mutter curses about the fact that all of my careful exposure work would probably come to naught when the automated printing machine decided to expose the print it's way instead of mine. I sure am glad those days are gone.

Mark - Believe it or not, not everyone has a digital camera, which was why I made my point about not relying on that little LCD to determine if you got the exposure correct. And, despite advances, digital still blows out highlights quicker than film does, especially if someone doesn't have a top of the line pro DSLR. Set two cameras up for the same scene with a setting or rising sun in the scene, using Velvia in the film camera. Take your exposures any way you choose but use the same method for both cameras. Take the same shots with each. See which camera keeps color in the sun and which ones blows it out. The digital one will blow out the sun way more easily than the film. If it wasn't for digital, there would be little need for the HDR tool in PS.

 

[Master Mason]

If it wasn't for digital, there would be little need for the HDR tool in PS.

It it wasn't for digital, there would be no need for PS.... just saying

 

[SharonLowe]

It it wasn't for digital, there would be no need for PS.... just saying

How true!

Though, it was great in the early scanning days to help out all bad scans of slides.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Mark - Believe it or not, not everyone has a digital camera, which was why I made my point about not relying on that little LCD to determine if you got the exposure correct. And, despite advances, digital still blows out highlights quicker than film does, especially if someone doesn't have a top of the line pro DSLR. Set two cameras up for the same scene with a setting or rising sun in the scene, using Velvia in the film camera. Take your exposures any way you choose but use the same method for both cameras. Take the same shots with each. See which camera keeps color in the sun and which ones blows it out. The digital one will blow out the sun way more easily than the film. If it wasn't for digital, there would be little need for the HDR tool in PS.

I'm really not interested in debating the relative merits of slides vs digital. I disagree with you on the relative dynamic range capabilities of digital cameras versus slide film, but I'm not going to argue the point. If anyone really cares to learn more, I suggest that they either experiment on their own or do a search on "dynamic range slide print digital."

I only shoot digital and generally always give advice assuming others are shooting digital. I assume that covers the overwhelming majority of people looking for technical advice here, with most film shooters either not being very interested in photography or already having a signficant level of expertise. However, since there are almost certainly some exceptions, any time my advice conflicts with how someone should shoot film, I think it would be great if you or another film shooter chimed in with relevant advice.

 

[boBQuincy]

We can debate film vs digital, vinyl LP vs CD, carburetors vs EFI, etc. on and on. It's fun!
What does not need debate is that if you use film then the Zone System and a spot meter are your friends.

This is probably the most accurate and mistake proof method of determining exposure that is available. However, we still cannot change the range of a scene and it is still likely to exceed the range of film (in most cases). Once the proper exposure is determined for one part of the scene it is likely other parts will be out of range, either totally black or totally white.

Apart from selective development (B&W) there is little we can do about this. For color film there is nothing that can be done except to use a form of HDR.

 

[cpbjgc]

which seems to me was coined by people unable to check their histogram, I was wondering what the difference is between the manual mode metering, and simply using and AE lock function in spot metering mode and recomposing with your digital camera?

And while staying out of the film v. digital debate, I do beleive the original question was specifically about shooting sunsets using a digital camera.