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Posts Tagged ‘Sunrise’

Weekly Photo Challenge – Sunrise

13 Mar

The post Weekly Photo Challenge – Sunrise appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

It’s 2021 and it’s simply time to see your sunrise, wherever you are in the world! This week, simply post your sunrise photograph and roughly where it was taken (which town are you in or near?) in the comment section. #dPSSunrise

Don’t forget, you can go back and try ALL of our CHALLENGES over HERE!

A sunrise can show many things, quality of light, silhouette, rays of sun, clouds, water… Whatever, as long as it’s a sunrise! Tag your post on social – #dPSSunrise

Share on Instagram and tag us so we can repost you! @DigitalPS

federico-respini-sYffw0LNr7s-unsplash — Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash

Remember! Note down where you made your photograph and share it in the comments!

Share on Instagram or Twitter and use the hashtag #dPSCars so we can see them!

How do I upload my photo to the comments?

Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Looking Up

The post Weekly Photo Challenge – Sunrise appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

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8 Simple Guidelines for Capturing Spectacular Sunrise and Sunset Images

24 Jan

The post 8 Simple Guidelines for Capturing Spectacular Sunrise and Sunset Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

8 simple tips for stunning sunrise photography and sunset photography

When we are asked to think of popular subjects for landscape photography, images of beautiful sunsets and sunrises immediately come to mind.

What outdoor photographer worth their salt doesn’t have at least a couple of images of the sun dipping below the horizon?

In most people’s minds, sunrise and sunset photography is an easy thing to capture; the beauty and scale of the event itself should carry the photo, with minimal interaction from the photographer.

But is this really the case?

Unfortunately, it’s not. Unless you’re relying on luck alone, you’ll need to possess a few seeds of knowledge (eight, in this case!) to get you started capturing that epic sunrise or sunset.

None of these guidelines are difficult to comprehend, and they can all vastly improve your chances of properly capturing one of Mother Nature’s most incredible events.

So let’s jump right in!

1. Scout the location

As tempting as it is to just show up at a convenient location and start shooting, you greatly increase your chances of success by planning your sunrise or sunset photoshoot in advance. The first thing you’ll want to determine is the best location from which to shoot.

Pick a location that is out of the way of road and foot traffic, where you’re unlikely to be disturbed. Go to the location in broad daylight before the shoot, and ensure your view of the horizon will be unobstructed and free of any hazards.

The most important factor after the location is the time of day. Obviously, this will vary depending on whether you’re capturing a sunrise or a sunset.

But start by checking the weather. If your shooting time coincides with an approaching or recently-ended storm, the results can be staggering. Rain and storm clouds can add a dramatic layer of dimension to the scene.

You can also pinpoint the perfect time to shoot with an online tool or smartphone app that will display precise sunrise and sunset times for your location. Many low-cost (and sometimes free) solutions are available, including PhotoPills (for Android and iOS), and The Photographer’s Ephemeris (for Android and iOS).

2. Sunrise or sunset?

If you’re familiar with color temperature, you’ll know that there is a slight difference in the appearance of light at sunset versus sunrise. Early morning light tends to be cooler (higher blue) than light in the late evening, which leans toward warmer color casts consisting of orange and red.

Since there are different color temperatures at work here, you might need to adjust your photos, depending on the look you’re after. You can do this through your camera’s white balance settings, through warming or cooling filters, or via adjustments in post-production – where you’ll need to add or remove warmth to achieve the perfect final photograph.

Be aware that physical filters placed over your lens will degrade image quality slightly, because they’re an additional obstacle for light to pass through, so adjusting color temperature with camera settings or in post-production is often the better choice.

3. Plan your shots

Another important step to accomplish before heading out is to plan what you hope to achieve in your sunrise or sunset photo.

Ask yourself:

What look are you going for? Will you capture a definitive subject lit by the sunlight, or will the sunset itself be the star of the show?

Planning beforehand is also a great time to determine any other special considerations, such as whether you’ll be shooting an HDR (high dynamic range) photo.

If you do decide to use an HDR technique, you’ll need to prepare your camera for bracketed exposures to capture the full range of tones in the scene.

But while HDR can be a bit tricky to pull off, it’s a great way to produce some truly dramatic images!

4. Gather the proper gear

You can’t capture the right shot without the right gear, so make sure you have everything ready to go before you head out.

First and foremost, you’ll want to bring your tripod. Sunrises and sunsets are potential low-light situations (depending on the part of the sunset you’re trying to capture), so you’ll need a steady base for your camera.

Second, you’ll want to determine the right lens to use for the shoot. While beautiful landscapes can be captured using a 50mm to 85mm focal length, a wide-angle lens is preferred, including any zoom lenses that can shoot at 40mm or below. If you have a prime lens in the 12mm to 40mm range, you’ll have a better chance of capturing an even sharper image, and using a wide-angle lens will allow you to capture a vast, sweeping portion of the scene.

Do you own and use screw-on filters for your camera?

Although using filters can degrade image quality a bit, some can be useful here. A GND (graduated neutral density) filter, for instance, will darken the upper portion of the sky and keep it well-exposed and dramatic, even without HDR techniques.

A polarizing filter, on the other hand, may actually be a hindrance in these situations, so I recommend you avoid them.

(Polarizers reduce the amount of light coming in to the sensor, further increasing the required exposure time, which may not be ideal if you’re trying to freeze motion, such as ocean waves.)

5. Use the right settings

Before you even arrive at your photoshoot destination, you can choose the settings on your camera.

Since you’re shooting a landscape image, you’ll want to use a smaller aperture, such as f/8, f/11, or even higher, to maximize the depth of field and capture sharp detail throughout. If you’re using a tripod, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Although you can shoot in Manual mode, I personally prefer to shoot almost everything in A/Av (Aperture Priority mode). This way, I can lock in my aperture and let the camera choose a proper shutter speed. Since low-light situations like this can confuse the camera and you run the risk of overexposure, you can always use your camera’s exposure compensation settings to drop the brightness a bit.

If possible, you should use a low ISO, such as 100 or 200, to ensure there isn’t a lot of noise in the final shot. This should be very achievable if you’re working with a tripod. However, if you’re hand-holding your shot, you will need to bump the ISO up to get a shutter speed that’s fast enough to avoid a blurry photo.

This is also the time to choose your white balance, and as I mentioned above, you can use this setting to boost (or reduce) the warmth of your shot. If you’re after a warm, orangish image, set your white balance to the Shadow, Cloudy, or Daylight option.

And, of course, always shoot in RAW! To a certain extent, shadows and highlights that are lost in a shot can be recovered in post-processing later – but only if you have a RAW file.

6. Compose for interest

Now that the preparation is over, we get to the fun part! Once you’re on location and are ready to take the shot, you’ll need to consider your composition.

The most common error when shooting sunsets or sunrises is positioning the horizon exactly in the middle of the photo. While this can work, it normally causes a bit too much symmetry and can make the picture uninteresting.

Take a moment to look your scene over. Ask yourself: What part of the sunrise or sunset is the most dramatic? Are there any parts that aren’t that interesting?

Once you’ve done this, simply compose the shot to include more of the most dramatic scenery. If you have an angry, cloudy sky that accentuates the sunlight, let that occupy the upper two-thirds of the scene. If you have an interesting foreground or landscape but a less intriguing sky, let that occupy the bottom two-thirds of the image.

You want to draw the viewer into the composition, then let their eyes drift to the most dramatic part of the image.

7. Waiting for the right shot

If you already have experience shooting landscapes, you know that sometimes waiting is the name of the game. Because of the dynamics of natural lighting, a scene can completely change from one hour to the next – and sometimes even from one minute to the next.

That’s why a sunrise or sunset shoot is the time to be creative! Try different exposure times and play with your exposure compensation settings for different tones. Let the clouds and sun change positions, then reshoot, or try a slightly different angle.

Maybe even include additional subjects in the frame, and shoot them in the foreground against the sunrise or sunset. The longer you’re at the location shooting, the more variety you’ll end up with!

8. Don’t leave too early

One of the most common tips you’ll hear regarding sunset photography is to stick around after the sun dips below the horizon.

This is certainly good advice, as the entire dynamic of the scene changes after sundown.

Specifically, the tones, colors, and hues in the sky often become more saturated and dramatic. You’ll need to compensate for the loss of your main source of light, probably with a tripod – but it’s hard to deny some of the most beautiful images can be shot right after the sun is out of sight.

8 simple guidelines for sunrise and sunset photography: Conclusion

Now that you’ve finished this article, you should be ready to capture some stunning images at sunrise and sunset!

So get up early, stay out late, and create some gorgeous photos.

Now over to you:

Do you have any beautiful sunset or sunrise photography you’d like to share? Post it in the comments below!

The post 8 Simple Guidelines for Capturing Spectacular Sunrise and Sunset Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

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SLC-1L-11: Planting Rice at Sunrise

14 Jul

Seeing as no one is doing much traveling these days, I thought it'd be fun to pay a visit with a Strobist reader photographing somewhere far away.

Up for a little Lighting Cookbook field trip to Indonesia? Yeah? Then let's go… Read more »
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Create Amazing Sunrise Photos with these Easy Lightroom Editing Tips

09 Oct

The post Create Amazing Sunrise Photos with these Easy Lightroom Editing Tips appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Sunrise pictures can be tricky. Even the most dedicated photographer can get frustrated with sub-par results, often with foregrounds that are too dark or a nice round sun that appears white and washed-out. While things like timing and technique are critical for taking good sunrise pictures, another element is the editing. With a few Lightroom sunrise photo editing tips, you can take a boring, bland sunrise and turn it into a work of art.

Create Amazing Sunrise Photos with these Easy Lightroom Editing Tips

To get a good finished photo you need a solid starting point. That means your initial sunrise photo needs to meet a few basic parameters:

It must be shot in RAW.
The sky should be properly exposed, which means the foreground will be dark.
It’s helpful to shoot with low ISO values to give you as much headroom as possible when editing.

If you start with a sunrise photo that meets these parameters, you can use a few sliders and options in Lightroom to bring out the colors and brilliance that you saw with your eyes when you shot it.

To illustrate this process, I’m going to walk through an example of sunrise photo editing. The picture below is a RAW file straight out of my camera.

Original RAW file straight from my camera. Nikon D750, 50mm, f/4, 1/180 second, ISO 320.

This picture might not look very impressive, but that’s the point. If I had exposed for the foreground, the dark areas would be bright and natural. The trade-off is that parts of the sky would be so bright they would be unrecoverable in Lightroom.

Everything needed for a beautiful sunrise photo is fully intact in this dark, underexposed image. I just need to coax out the colors with a little sunrise photo editing.

Step 1: Shadows

The first thing to do is brighten the foreground by adjusting the shadows. Locate the Basic Panel in the Lightroom Develop module and push the Shadows slider all the way to the right.

Boosting the shadows will make the dark foreground a lot more usable.

This makes the foreground much brighter. It is very close to how the scene looked when I shot the picture. I was on my bike, and there’s no way I would have ridden to work that morning in the complete pitch black!

With the shadows lifted, the foreground is brighter. You can also see that there is plenty of image data captured in the RAW file to work with.

Step 2: White balance and graduated filters

After bringing up the shadows, the next step is to tweak the colors of the sky and foreground. The graduated filter is perfect for this since your edits are applied gradually, as the name implies.

Graduated Filters are ideal for sunrise photos.

The values you use for this will depend greatly on the look you want in your picture. For a good starting point, I recommend lowering the Temperature, raising the Whites, and increasing the Saturation. Feel free to tweak the other settings to your liking, but I recommend being a little conservative at this point. You can always go back and change things later. If you have objects protruding into your sky like trees, buildings, or mountains, you can use the Range Mask option. Then your edits are only applied to the sky and nothing else.

Image: When using a Graduated Filter on the sky, I like to lower the color temperature and increase...

When using a Graduated Filter on the sky, I like to lower the color temperature and increase saturation. You might find other tweaks to be helpful as well.

After adjusting the sky, use a second Graduated Filter to perform a similar operation on the foreground. Click the New button at the top of the Graduated Filter panel, and click-and-drag on the picture to apply your filter.

Move the Temperature slider to the right so the foreground is a little warmer. Then adjust other options like Exposure, Texture, and Sharpness as needed.

Image: A second Graduated Filter in the opposite direction can be useful for giving the foreground a...

A second Graduated Filter in the opposite direction can be useful for giving the foreground a warmer white balance.

There’s no correct way to do this next step because everyone has unique taste and preferences. I used the following values on the image above, but your results will vary depending on your picture.

Image: When applying a second Graduated Filter to the foreground, it can be useful to edit some othe...

When applying a second Graduated Filter to the foreground, it can be useful to edit some other parameters as well, especially Exposure and Shadows.

Step 3: Crop the picture

Some will debate the exact stage in the process where you need to crop your picture. Others will say that a good photographer should use what comes out of the camera and never crop anything! I say it’s your picture and if you want to crop, go right ahead. I recommend cropping after your basic adjustments are in place. Those operations can bring out things formerly hidden and give you a better sense of how you really want to crop the image.

In the image I’m working with for this example, I don’t like the “Speed Limit 35” sign on the right side. If I crop that out, then I need also to re-frame the picture, so the sun is in the middle.

You can use cropping to get the dimensions and proportions of your picture just right.

Step 4: General Color Adjustments

After making your initial set of adjustments, and cropping the picture to your liking, it’s time to head to the HSL/Color panel to tweak the individual colors of the sunrise. Bring up the Saturation level of orange, blue, and red while also adjusting the Hue and Luminance to get just the right look. As before, be careful not to go overboard since too much tweaking makes your picture look unnatural.

For the picture below, I adjusted the Hue and Saturation of Blue by +20 each, and the Saturation of Orange by 14.

Image: Adjusting the blues and oranges can really bring out some of the vivid colors of a sunrise pi...

Adjusting the blues and oranges can really bring out some of the vivid colors of a sunrise picture.

Don’t overdo your adjustments or your image will look fake and over-saturated.

Step 5: Detailed enhancements

As with cropping, some photographers have varying opinions on when to do this step while others skip it entirely. I like to do it near the end of the editing process after I have made my other adjustments. However, you might find it better utilized at an earlier phase. Head back to the Basic panel where everything began and fine-tune a couple of other sliders like Highlights, Whites, Texture, and even Exposure if you need to.

Final tweaks help put the finishing touches on your sunrise.

At this point, you’re really just putting the finishing touches on, almost like adding a pinch of salt or garlic powder to a pot of soup that’s ready to eat. I sometimes get lost down an image-editing rabbit hole at this step. I find myself endlessly tweaking the sliders in a vain attempt to chase perfection. If that happens to you, walk away from your computer for an hour. When you return, you may be pleasantly surprised at how good your picture looks, with no additional tweaking required.

Create Amazing Sunrise Photos with these Easy Lightroom Editing Tips

You can also use the Spot Removal tool to clean up dust or dirt on the lens as well as fix other imperfections. There are also several Sharpening options to make your sunrise a little more clear and crisp.

From good to great

As with most photo editing situations, your results will vary greatly depending on a variety of factors. I have found that this same process, with different degrees of adjustments to the sliders, works quite well for me. It would probably work as a good starting point for you too. Still, I encourage you to experiment and develop your own editing style over time.

For one more example of how this process can yield good results, I started with the following RAW file. I shot this picture just as the sun was coming up in rural Nebraska.

RAW file straight out of my camera. 50mm, f/8, 1/180 second, ISO 100. As with the other image at the top of this article, the original is severely underexposed but contains all the data needed when editing in Lightroom.

I used the exact same process described in this article to vastly improve the picture in less than two minutes.

Two minutes later and it’s been transformed into a frame-worthy midwestern sunrise.

I hope these sunrise photo editing tips help you achieve some epic photos!

I’d love to see some of your sunrise shots and hear about the editing process you use as well. Leave your thoughts, as well as any pictures you’d like to share, in the comments below.

The post Create Amazing Sunrise Photos with these Easy Lightroom Editing Tips appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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How to Take Epic Sunrise Photos with a Zoom Lens

04 Oct

The post How to Take Epic Sunrise Photos with a Zoom Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Taking a beautiful sunrise picture might seem simple: just point your camera or mobile at the sun as it creeps over the horizon and you’re good to go. While this can certainly result in an interesting image, you can take sunrise pictures to a whole new level with a zoom lens and a bit of camera knowledge. If you have a lens with a longer focal length that goes to 200 or 300mm, you can get some epic sunrise pictures with a zoom that showcase the majesty of nature in the morning.

200mm, f/11, 1/500 second, ISO 100

Seek the sun

Before you can take a good sunrise picture, you need to do a bit of planning, so you know when the sun is going to come up. It also helps to know where to look so you’re ready when the moment hits. A quick internet search with your location and the words “sunrise time” will help you know what time to take pictures. As far as where to look, that’s up to you.

Of course, the sun always rises in the east, but it’s necessary to know exactly where it will come up relative to your specific location and time of year. To get the best results, you want to snap your pictures right as the sun appears on the horizon. If buildings obstruct your view, you’re going to need to find a location that offers an unobstructed view in the right direction.

To show how precise this process is, look at the picture below. I shot it as the sun was coming up, but the result is boring, bland, and entirely unremarkable.

200mm, f/6.7, 1/500 second, ISO 800

This was shot precisely one minute and 48 seconds before the picture at the top of this article. Why is it so boring? The answer is a simple truth of the business world: location, location, location. While I looked east for the sun, I didn’t realize it had already crested the horizon behind a grove of trees. I was able to take a vastly improved picture just by repositioning myself 100 meters from this point.

When you go out to take sunrise photos, make sure you can actually find the sun!

Expose for the sun

Nailing the exposure on a sunrise picture is quite tricky. Imagine taking a picture of a flashlight in a dimly-lit room. You’ll end up with one of two results:

The room will be properly exposed while the flashlight is super bright.
The flashlight will be properly exposed while the rest of the room will be entirely dark.

It’s nearly impossible to get a properly-exposed flashlight and a properly-exposed room.

Image: 200mm, f/8, 1/30 second, ISO 280. Aside from being hidden behind the trees, this is also a po...

200mm, f/8, 1/30 second, ISO 280. Aside from being hidden behind the trees, this is also a poor shot because the sky and sun are just too bright. The foreground is fine, but all the color detail in the sky is mostly gone.

That is precisely what it’s like to take a picture of the sunrise, especially with a telephoto lens. What you want is a picture where the bright parts (i.e. the sun and sky) aren’t too bright, and the dark parts (i.e. the foreground) aren’t too dark. Basically you want an HDR image, but rather than shooting on a tripod and combining multiple exposures in post-production, you can do it with a single image by shooting in RAW.

Since RAW files capture much more picture data than JPEG files, you can fix many issues in Lightroom, Photoshop, Luminar, and other editing applications. The trick is to make sure you don’t lose any data to clipping, which happens when bright things are so bright that it doesn’t record data. The same can happen with dark areas too, but it’s usually not as much of a problem.

Image: 200mm, f/8, 1/1000 second, ISO 280. Exposing for the sun gave me a lot more wiggle room to fi...

200mm, f/8, 1/1000 second, ISO 280. Exposing for the sun gave me a lot more wiggle room to fix the darker areas of the picture in Lightroom.

There are a couple of ways to expose for the sun so it’s not too bright. You can set your camera to Center-Weighted metering, which ensures the middle of your picture is not too bright or too dark. Another method (and the one which I prefer), is to have your camera evaluate the entire scene but use exposure compensation to under-expose by roughly two stops.

Regardless of how you meter the scene and set your exposure, the end result is the same. In your resulting image, you want the sun to be visible and not too bright. This means the foreground will be dark, but remember that you can recover everything you need when you process the RAW file.

Use a small aperture

If you have a high-end zoom lens like a 70-200 f/2.8 or a 300mm f/4, you might be tempted to shoot sunrise pictures with the largest possible aperture. Blurry foregrounds and backgrounds are great, right? So why wouldn’t you shoot wide open?

Contrary to what you might think, smaller apertures are better when taking sunrise photos. First, it helps make sure your entire picture is sharp. Bokeh is great on portraits but not so desirable on most landscapes. A blurry foreground (thanks to a wide aperture) can distract the viewer and leave the scene feeling kind of mushy as a result.

200mm, f/11, 1/250 second, ISO 100

Another reason to use smaller apertures, like f/8 or f/11, is that it gives you more control over your exposure. Remember, the sun is really bright, so you don’t need to worry about not getting enough light in your picture! On the contrary, you actually want to limit the amount of light, especially since you want the foreground to be underexposed. A small aperture helps with this.

Use a fast shutter speed

The sun moves fast – really fast. Or, rather, the earth spins fast. That’s what is actually happening when you see the sun come up. And just like any time you want to capture motion, you need to use a shutter speed that’s up to the task. Slower values like 1/30th and 1/60th will not only make exposure tricky, but result in a blurry sun as it speeds upwards on the horizon.

200mm, f/2.8, 1/4000th of a second, ISO 100. I broke my own rule about small apertures here, specifically because I wanted the vehicle in the foreground to be out of focus. The trade-off for such a wide aperture was a very fast shutter speed.

I recommend a minimum shutter speed of 1/250th, and even faster if possible. 1/500th is even better. If you are exposing for the sun, you might even use ultra-fast shutter speeds like 1/1000th or more. Of course, the foreground will be dim, but that’s fine since you can recover those shadows in post-production.

One nice thing about this is it means you don’t need to use a tripod. So that means one less thing for you to bring with you to your sunrise photo shoots. Handheld will work fine, even when zoomed all the way in. That’s because you should have a shutter speed that will compensate for any motion blur due to camera shake.

Be patient, but act fast

Once you have the technical aspects figured out, and you know where you want to position yourself to capture a sunrise, the final piece off the puzzle is patience. I recommend arriving early so you can make sure everything is situated properly. Bring some music or a podcast because you might be waiting a little while. However, it’s better to arrive early than scramble at the last minute.

190mm, f/2.8, 1/180th of a second, ISO 250. The sun wasn’t up yet, but I really liked the rich purple and blue colors of the sky – an added bonus of arriving early and waiting. Note the large aperture. It was required to let plenty of light in since there just wasn’t much light available.

As soon as you start to see the sun peek over the horizon, you only have a few minutes to get your shots. Remember to use a small aperture, expose for the sun, and shoot in RAW, and you should be fine. Go ahead and snap a few pictures with your mobile phone too. You’ll be amazed at how much more dramatic and impactful your pictures are with a zoom lens!

200mm, f/8, 1/1000th of a second, ISO 100. The sun isn’t in this picture but you can clearly see the morning light on the clouds. I liked the silhouette of the tower against the glowing morning sky too. You can’t get this shot with a mobile phone!

Do you have any other tips for sunrise photos with a zoom lens? Share with us in the comments. Also, I’d love to see your sunrise photos, and I’m sure the rest of the DPS community would also, so please share them in the comments too!

The post How to Take Epic Sunrise Photos with a Zoom Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Waiting to Photograph Sunrise – What to do Before the Sun Comes Up

28 Jun

A beautiful sunrise is, hands down, one of the best photography subjects and most beloved by photography viewers and photographers alike. They differ from sunset in the amount of pre-planning that aids a successful shoot. It’s no wonder that sunsets are easier to prepare for, as it is light out and you’re awake. So what do you need to do to photography sunrise?

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise – What to do Before the Sun Comes Up - dramatic sky

It’s a good idea to break down the pre-planning for a sunset shoot into three separate task groups:

The day before you shoot
The night before your shoot
Day of the shoot

The Day Before

Planning for a sunrise shoot starts well before the sun goes down the day before. You can’t change the weather, but providence favors the prepared soul.

Seattle at sunrise - Waiting to Photograph Sunrise

Seattle and Mount Rainier Before The Sun Comes Up

Scout

The most important part of planning a sunrise shoot is pre-visualization. This is the act of looking at a scene and imagining it at the time of sunrise. There are a number of apps to help with pre-visualization, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris and LightTrac. They can point directly to where the sun will rise and help you decide camera angles and compositions.

These apps often let you mark your favorite locations to help you find them quickly the next day. So don’t guess! Go, scout.

Talk to Locals

If you are in a new location, ask around about great locations for sunrise. You don’t have to state you are a photographer, you can be just another tourist (even if you are in a town next door). Restaurants and bars are a good bet for easy places to start a conversation. You might be amazed at how easy it is to get people talking; everyone enjoys a nice sunrise.

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - planning tips

Front side and back side of Delicate Arch in Utah

Some other local options and organizations to try:

Camera clubs
Audubon Society or birding groups
Outdoor gear and apparel stores
The local Chamber of Commerce

Other Odds and Ends

I suggest taking care of other odds and ends the day before, like packing a snack for the morning. If you’re not used to getting up before the sun, you’re going to be fairly hungry by the time you’re done shooting.

Also, fill your gas tank the day before if you are going to be driving. Anything you can do to reduce the odds of something simple going wrong will help you have a successful photo shoot.

prayer flags Nepal - Waiting to Photograph Sunrise

Prayer flags before Ama Dablam in the Himalayas of Nepal

The Night Before

Charge Batteries

More than once I have hit the field with only 25% battery power because my Canon doesn’t shut off the GPS when the camera powers down. It’s frustrating to have to ration something that can easily be topped off the night before. It’s a good habit to get into charging all your batteries ahead of time.

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - sunrise in Hawaii from a cruise ship

Opportune sunrise over Maui, Hawaii on UnCruise Endeavour.

Clean your gear and wipe your cards

It’s the little things that matter most. Who hasn’t taken a few choice photos only to find dust spots or streaks that need to be sometimes painfully removed in post-processing? Take care of those things the night before. Clean your sensor, clean your gear and make sure it is all working perfectly.

Also, organize your cards and make sure you have fresh, empty memory cards before heading to bed. If you’re on a trip of multiple days, ensure your cards are backed up or at least have enough space available for your anticipated shoot the next morning.

Remember, sunrise scenes are aided by bracketing your images, so they tend to require more space than normal.

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - colorful sunrise shot

Organize

Put on a blindfold or close your eyes right now and point to where everything is in your camera bag. Can you do it? Do you know where your spare batteries and cards are? Your second lens or the Allen wrench you need to adjust your tripod? What about your filters?

Being well organized and knowing your bag front to back by touch is valuable when the sun hasn’t yet risen. Depending on your latitude and cloud cover, it may be quite dark until just before sunrise so it is important to not be fumbling with gear or hunting for your flashlight.

Pack it all up the night before and set your bag by the door, ready to go in the morning without another thought.

Dunes at sunrise

The Day of Your Shoot

Arrive Early

I can’t stress this enough.

ARRIVE EARLY!

Often the best show of colors comes before the sun breaches the horizon if you have decent cloud cover. Arriving 30 minutes before sunrise might mean you miss this colorful show or are scrambling to get set up and shoot before the colors are dashed.

My rule of thumb is to show up an hour before the actual sunrise time. Maybe you can arrive a little later than that in places with deep valleys, like the Himalayas. The reverse is also true if you are on a mountaintop. With a little time on your hands, you can let your eyes adjust to the growing light and look for opportunities and compositions you might have missed on the previous day’s scouting mission.

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise -Taj Mahal at sunrise

Good timing at the Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Setting Up

Tripods are a big help for sunrise shoots and it’s best to set up early. Getting your camera out and mounted on a tripod can also help it acclimate in colder weather. Plus getting set up before the sun arrives gives you time for last minute scouting of the area.

If the weather is cold, it’s also a good time to bring out any filters you may need, such as graduated neutral density filters. I prefer to keep filters in a nice wallet, like the Tiffen Belt Holder so they stay secure and clean while acclimating.

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - canyon in Utah at sunrise

Canyonlands National Park as seen from Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah

The Shoot

We have a number of excellent articles here on Digital Photography School to help you with shooting sunrises. Here are some of my favorites:

8 Simple Guidelines for Capturing Spectacular Sunrise and Sunset Images
How to Shoot Stunning Photos at Sunrise and Sunset
5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - ferry in Washington state at sunrise

Washington State Ferry Chelan in front of Mt. Baker, Washington

Editing Those Wonderful Shots

DPS also has many beneficial articles on processing your sunrise photos (the same techniques are used for sunrise and sunset).

Lightroom Workflow – from Setup to Finished Sunrise Photo
How I Shot And Edited It – Mesa Arch At Sunrise
4 Tips for Post-Processing Images on the Road

Waiting to Photograph Sunrise - mountains in Nepal

Spindrift catching the morning’s rays on the Himalayas, Lobuche, Nepal

Conclusion

Being prepared and planning ahead is a great way to enjoy sunrise photography without the rush. Take the time to scout and plan ahead by having your gear ready. The tips listed here will help you take your sunrise photography from accidental to purposefully beautiful art.

The post Waiting to Photograph Sunrise – What to do Before the Sun Comes Up appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning

20 Apr

The holy grail of travel photography is a stunning photo looking into the vast distance taken at sunrise or sunset. It seems to just work as a blend of color, composition, and light to create something that often makes the viewer utter that famous word that any photographer wants to hear, “Wow!”.

But why is it then that so often when you look at your own sunrise or sunset photos they don’t look so stunning? Here are 5 reasons why your sunrise or sunset photos don’t live up to your expectations.

5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning - sunset on the coast

#1 – What’s the point?

I remember a picture editor once told me, “This might sound controversial, but a sunrise or sunset is actually pretty boring.” What he was referring to was the lack of compelling subject matter in a photo of a sunrise or sunset like for example an empty beach with just the setting sun.

While sitting on a beach and seeing a sunset can seem like a wonderful experience, unfortunately, the camera cannot replicate that. Most successful photos of sunrises or sunsets have a point of interest in them, in that there is a subject that is the main story and the sunrise or sunset is providing the light and the atmosphere.

That story doesn’t necessarily have to be a person or an object in the frame. The story could be the beautiful scenery or the crashing waves against the coast. But the key point is that there is something that gets the viewers’ attention. So, don’t just rely on the sunrise or sunset, try to build your composition using it as an addition rather than the story.

boring sunset photo - 5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning

This photo just isn’t very interesting. There’s a lack of interesting clouds or even water movement.

In this image, the big rock in the foreground, footsteps in the sand and the people all add interest and context to the photo.

#2 – Clouds or no clouds?

For example, one element that can dramatically improve your sunrise or sunset photos is some clouds. Take your generic empty beach scenario from above, but this time add some dramatic clouds that the light can bounce off and suddenly you’ll go from something mundane to something that looks fantastic.

The clouds here add drama to the scene.

Of course, you can’t control the elements and no clouds in the sky means, there’s nothing you can do. In that scenario, you just have to work harder to frame your shot and give the viewer a point of interest.

While you generally want some clouds in the sky, too much cloud cover and you will often find the light seems flat and dull and the whole photo looks uninteresting (unless the sun can set below the clouds and light them up from underneath). So, in conclusion, while you ideally want some clouds, it’s important not to have a completely overcast day. You can, of course, plan your shoots around times when you will have the best conditions.

5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning

#3 – Are your highlights and shadows correct?

One of the big challenges in photographing sunrise or sunsets is the vast contrast you get between highlights and shadows. Your highlights are the light areas of your photo (such as the sky for example) and your shadows are the dark areas in the photo (for example your foreground).

If either is pushed too far you will get completely white areas for highlights and completely black areas for shadows. This means that these areas contain no pixel details and is something you want to avoid.

The problem you face when photographing sunsets or sunrises is that your sky will be bright, and your foreground will be dark (a high dynamic range). The way that you can ensure that your highlights and shadows are exposed correctly in this scenario is to use a graduated neutral density filter to balance out the difference in the highlights and shadows.

There are also other techniques such as exposure bracketing as well that can help you achieve this in post-production and actually just brightening or darkening these areas in a software like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. But whatever you decide, just make sure that your highlights and shadows are exposed correctly and fine-tune them if you need to in post-production.

5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning - clipped shadow areas

The blue areas on this photo indicate where the shadows are being clipped (black with no detail).

Here the same image has been adjusted in post-processing to hold more detail in the shadow areas.

#4 – The image isn’t framed correctly

One of the key elements in ensuring the final photo looks great is to frame your composition correctly.

The easiest way to do this and a good starting point for any photographer is the famous Rule of Thirds where you try to place key points of interest on the intersection of the lines. But the Rule of Thirds is also worth remembering for your horizon line. Usually, you will find that placing the horizon either on the top third or the bottom third will look better than slap bang in the middle.

Horizon centrally framed.

Using the rule of thirds, the horizon here is on the lower third – off-center.

But try to consider the whole picture when framing your shot. Think if there are any areas that are just wasted space where you can crop in tighter. Or if your camera angle is slightly off and you can benefit by just moving a little to either side.

The beauty of photography these days is that you can usually take as many photos as it takes to get your shot framed right. So, play around with your composition and capture a few alternatives that you can then review later in post-production.

5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning

Your camera may have the option to display the Rule of Thirds grid when you’re shooting or in image playback mode.

#5 – You haven’t fixed mistakes

Usually, the first bit of feedback that I often give newbie photographers when I look at their sunrise or sunset photos is on elements that could easily be fixed in post-production. Whether you are an advocate of post-production or not there are certain things that you simply should not forego on any photo.

The two biggest of these are:

Ensuring that your photos are straight, that means the horizon line needs to be dead straight.
Making sure you have the correct white balance for the photo (if you haven’t already done so when taking the photo). Think about the scene that you are showing, is it a warm and golden scenario or is it a cool and crisp setting? Either way, tweak your white balance until it is correct.

If you do nothing else in post-production, just making sure these two settings are correct will immediately improve your photos.

5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning - crooked horizon line

This image is clearly not straight as can be seen from the horizon line.

Here the image tilt has been corrected.

Conclusion

Sunsets and sunrises are wonderful times in the day to photograph things. The soft golden light can transform an ordinary scene into an extraordinary one. When done well, they are often the photos that will be the “show stoppers” in any portfolio.

But always remember that a sunset and sunrise needs to work in combination with your composition and subject matter to create a wonderful photo. Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to capturing great photos of sunrise and sunsets.

Now it’s your turn to get involved. Share your great sunrise and sunset photos below.

The post 5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Photo story of the week: Sunrise in Burren National Park

11 Nov

The warm colors of a sunrise or sunset in a wide open landscape, the foreground gently touched by the orange hues, and the sun throwing a nice aperture star—that is what the romanticizing cliché of landscape photography looks like in the heads of many people these days I reckon. Rightfully so, since it is one of the most atmospheric times of day to shoot: the light is soft, and partial illumination of the foreground is desirable for tonal separation and visual flow.

Almost every landscape photographer has at some point of his or her creative journey chased the intensity that comes with the golden hour. Still, even after all these years of shooting mainly landscapes, going after the elusive sunset and sunrise light is one of my favorite things to do while out in the field. One of the reasons is simply because depending on where you live it can be a rare sight—it is not an everyday sight for most of us.

For all who don’t do this already I would highly recommend using satellite and radar data to scout your location ahead of time

Whenever I am out on a road trip or hiking trip I keep a constant eye on the satellite data—if I have cell reception—to check the cloud coverage in order to find spots right at the edge of a field of clouds to get good conditions for a sunrise or sunset shot. To take this shot, I took a look at the radar over the western parts of Ireland—over the Burren National Park to be exact—and monitored the satellite forecast before I was catching some shuteye.

The predictions for the following morning showed the clouds would most likely pass in the next couple of hours, being carried further north, leaving only a field of scattered patches behind. Furthermore, there would be no clouds at the eastern horizon blocking the sunlight. It is not hard to do these sorts of things if you know the sources for reliable weather data in the area you’re in, but it can be the difference between getting a good shot or none at all. So, for all who don’t do this already I would highly recommend using satellite and radar data to scout your location ahead of time.

When I woke up next morning it was still dark as I made my way out to the karst landscape of the national park grounds which are dominated by limestone ground speckled with shrubs and grass. I had scouted the lake before while I was preparing for my trip by looking at hiking maps of the area, and knew the sun was at the right angle to rise next to one of the limestone hills I had hiked to a day before. With this in mind, I was spending much of the blue hour finding different foreground compositions for the moment the clouds would light up and sun would make its way past the horizon line.

It seemed like the country had saved the best light for last

Originally, I intended to include a bigger patch of the lake in my image, but ultimately scrapped the idea for the shrubs and stones for three reasons: A) because the unique feature of the landscape is not the lake but rather the limestone, B) because the clouds were almost entirely gone by the time the sun rose and only covered a narrow strip of the sky, logically much of the reflection would have been just empty sky, and C) the morning light on the shrubs made for a warm and cold color palette with the rocks still in the shade.

I tried to balance out the double sun star in the upper right corner by placing some of the little bushes near the lower left corner of the frame. Due to the perspective, the gaps in between the shrubs appear to becoming shorter the further away they are from the camera, creating a visual flow and implicitly drawing the viewer into the image towards the sun, much like the curvature of the shoreline and the slim layer of mist above the lake. To me the leading lines were appealing in their subtlety, not being too obvious, yet present.

After I walked back to my sleeping bag I was very content, feeling like I did the landscape and the sunrise justice. This was also one of the last shots I took on my two week road trip through Ireland and it seemed like the country had saved the best light for last.

Pure bliss for a landscape photographer

Now I have another cheesy sunset in my portfolio. And sure, for some it may be nothing more than a cliché, but for me it represents a morning alone in Burren National Park, one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland, sitting in the warm morning light and enjoying these sights and taking a couple of shots while eating breakfast—pure bliss for a landscape photographer.

EXIF: Nikon D800 – Nikkor AF-S 20 mm 1:1,8 G ED | FLM CB-48FTR & CP30-M4S | 20mm | 4 Exposures for DRI | f/13 | ISO 100

Nicolas Alexander Otto is a semi-professional landscape photographer based out of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. He writes for different online and print media, teaches workshops for several agencies, sells prints and calendars and offers post processing sessions. You can find more of his work on his website, Facebook and Instagram.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Video – How to Shoot Stunning Photos at Sunrise and Sunset

28 Oct

In another video from Practical Photography, get some really good tips on how to shoot at sunrise and sunset to get the most epic images.

Follow along as two photographers go head to head in a little friendly competition to get the best sunset and sunrise photos. Get some practical tips that you can use in your photography at these magic hours as well.

Need more sunrise and sunset tips? Try these dPS articles:

4 Reasons Shooting at Sunrise and Sunset Will Help You Take Better Photos
8 Simple Guidelines for Capturing Spectacular Sunrise and Sunset Images
7 Uncommon Tips for Winter Sunrise Photos Near Water
Tips for Location Scouting to Get the Perfect Sunset Photograph
Tips for Doing More Spectacular Sunset Photography
5 Tips to Take Better Sunset Photos – and Why Not to Photograph the Sunset Directly

The post Video – How to Shoot Stunning Photos at Sunrise and Sunset by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Sunrise Sunset

28 Oct

Shooting the sunset or sunrise is a great way to come back with spectacular images. This week it’s time to get out there at dawn or dusk and make some magic.

Sunset in Nicaragua.

If you need some tips to help you on this one you can find a good video here and links to several articles on shooting the sunrise and sunset.

Remember you don’t have to have the sun in your photo to make it an effective shot. Use the nice soft directional light at these times of day to your advantage.

Sunrise in the beach in a fishing village in Nicaragua. I used the soft warm light to show the subject – this young girl taking home a fish for her efforts helping the fishermen on the boats coming in.

Another Nicaraguan sunset. Add an interesting subject in front of your sunset for a more dramatic photo.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Sunrise Sunset

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.