kfoo Loc: Arkansas

Suggestions on what setting to use for photographing sunsets. Have not tried it yet, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Remember I am kind of new to photography. Just trying to learn new stuff.

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

To me, and this is strictly my opinion, it's important to include silhouettes in sunset photography. I recently traveled on a cruise ship, and the sunset over a watery horizon is just boring, if you ask me. It has to be spectacular for it to be elevated to "okay."

Digital Photography School (dps) has a nice page of tips on sunrise/sunset photography here: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-sunrises-and-sunsets/

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

What is it precisely you are wanting to capture? The hopefully red sky, the persons face or the foliage being backlit? You can't have it all so you need to pick a priority. To get a close approximation on the hopefully red sky aim the camera at the sky 90° from the sun and set your exposure for that, then return to the sunset and snap. For the persons face, either walk up close and fill the frame with the face or stay where you are and put your hand up in front of the lens (not against it) so the light on your hand is close to the light on the face, set your exposure, recompose and snap. No matter what you do, the sun will be blown out unless it has already fallen beyond the horizon and only a sliver remains. Sunsets and rises are a tough but beautiful animal to capture. Good luck.

As Just Fred alludes to sunsets and rises are a dime a dozen as there are just SOOOOO many of them out there. After you've seen a couple hundred they all look ho-hum.

hj Loc: Florida

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Roger Lee

Use a polariser filter and HDR if you can. Also use a graduated neutral density grad if necessary. Then tweak the heck out of it with software and plug-ins where appropiate after you've done everything in camera that you can think of.

shutterbob Loc: Tucson

Polarizer filters can help. In camera HDR will sometimes give an artificial brightness ring around the sun so I avoid using it for sunsets. I live in AZ and have spent a lot of time in Maui, two places known for dramatic sunsets and have found that deliberately underexposing your shots will usually make them more interesting. Use fill flash to illuminate people or object you don't want to be sillouetted but keep the overall shot underexposed. Most sunsets are much more interesting several minutes after the sun has set. High, thin cloudcover is usually better than thick, low clouds if you want the dramatic pinks and oranges. High, icey particled skies have the most color. I agree with Just Fred....plain, water sunsets are boring. If you are at the beach, get some of the sand with the sky's reflection in your shot. Get some trees or cactus in it. Just don't shoot a horizon split in top and bottom halves. Key is to experiment and have fun.

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

I have found that getting to your location early and staying till dark can offer so many different opportunities for very interesting effects. I call it one evening (4) different sunsets. Stabilizing the camera is important as the light diminishes. If you are still shooting in Auto, make sure to turn off your flash.

cdayton

I reluctantly second some of the comments about "boring" sunsets. When we first moved to Tucson, I shot lots of sunsets since we are surrounded by mountains and the Eastern mountains get fantastic reflections. But, then every night on the local news you see viewers' submissions that are equally or more beautiful and you get jaded. My best photos are, as noted, with silhouettes involving cacti and one of the Eastern mountains with literally brilliant red peaks.

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

I believe the key is a tripod. I set my release with a 2-second delay or when I can find it my remote shutter release. I down loaded these from my husbands folder. The "streak" in one of them is interesting.

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

I like sunsets too. My camera is a Canon T6s with a Tamron 16-300 lens. I use the Manual mode, Auto ISO, and control exposure with F-Stops. Shutter speed is a minimum of 1/500th, and usually Hand Held. No tweeting necessary afterwards.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

When taking sunsets, remember to look behind you where there may be other great photo opportunities.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

You want to underexpose for sunset photography (and expose for the sky). The photographic settings will change throughout the sunset (the sky becomes darker and there is less light); as a starting point I often begin at ISO 200 (it's kind of my default setting for my various cameras), f/4.5 to 5.6, at 1/250 of a second. I will decrease the shutter speed as the lighting conditions change. A good tripod is an essential piece of equipment. If you are shooting JPEG, change the white balance to find the "look" you like. A spirit level that fits your hot shoe is also a good idea. Bring extra batteries and memory cards as well as a small flash light (it will be dark during the blue hour).

My sunset sessions will run about 45 minutes (in warm weather--it's very cold in Connecticut today!). I get to the site at least 20 minutes before the sun will actually set and I will stay into the blue hour. Some of the best shots come after sunset as the sun's rays still peak over the horizon and illuminate the clouds. Also be aware that sunsets in winter are shorter than sunsets in spring, summer, and fall. From December through February it's not unusual for a sunset session to run only 20 minutes. Realize that I am in Connecticut and that will probably be different the further south you go.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Get out and try. You won't be perfect the first time but practice makes perfection. You will need a tripod. You can start with your camera on a tripod and use LiveView mode so that by looking at the back of the LCD you will see the final picture before you even take it. As someone already pointed out, I like to underexpose slightly for more saturated color. You should get familiar with using Aperture Priority mode and Exposure Compensation or learn to use Manual settings. When the sun goes down, don't be in a hurry to pack up and go home. For about another half hour you can catch much more in your images. The "Blue Hour" is the time when the sun is down but not out. Stay and shoot. Keep shooting. You'll be surprised what you'll get. Also, as someone else pointed out, you need something other than just the sky over the water to make your image interesting. Someone has displayed some of their work depicting this and their pictures are worth more than a thousand of my words. Use them as examples of what to look for in your sunset and sunrise shots.

Blue Hour

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russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

A great supermajority of my sunsets (and sunrises) have a silhouette that takes 25-33% of the picture. In selling my Photographic Art for 5 years now, those with interesting silhouettes are my best sellers. Sunsets are my best sellers by about two to one over my flowers. These are my five top selling sunsets, #5 at the top, #1 at the bottom.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

My best sunsets SOOC have been taken with 2 stops under exposure. At least it's a starting point.