Need Help With Sunsets: This is my first post. I live on the Chesapeake Bay and enjoy beautiful sunsets. I would lie to know how my UHH friends set their cameras up for the best...

DDR Loc: Virginia Beach, VA

This is my first post. I live on the Chesapeake Bay and enjoy beautiful sunsets. I would lie to know how my UHH friends set their cameras up for the best exposures. My camera is a Nikon D3000. I have a prime lense, an 18-55mm, a55-200mm and a 70-300mm lense. I use the M mode for most of my exposures. I value your opinions. Thanx.....

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Hi DDR! and welcome to the site. Pretty hard to give you any help on this one. Every Sunset is different. Post a few of your shots and let us see what you are taking. And then we can go from there.
Erv

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Sunsets are generally around EV-11. At ISO 100, this means a STARTING point of around f/8 @ 1/30 sec. Of course, as Erv says, every sunset is different. If you don't have any pictures to post yet, start with the above guideline, bracket your exposures and post a few shots. If you are shooting just the sunset (and distant clouds, mountains, skylines, etc.), don't worry about DOF. Use the aperture that gives you the best resolution. Good luck.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Try perusing this:

30 Tips for stunning sunset photography
http://improvephotography.com/416/30-tips-sunset-photography/

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

DDR wrote:

This is my first post. I live on the Chesapeake Bay and enjoy beautiful sunsets. I would lie to know how my UHH friends set their cameras up for the best exposures. My camera is a Nikon D3000. I have a prime lense, an 18-55mm, a55-200mm and a 70-300mm lense. I use the M mode for most of my exposures. I value your opinions. Thanx.....

DDR, I have a couple rules I try to follow. Keep in mind that spectacular sunsets are common, so make them uncommon. Your already on M, make sure you're also on manual focus. Use live-view if you can't see the focus , them turn it off after focus.
Make it uncommon by putting a second element into the foto. Boats, rocks, birds, trees, something to give it a subject. Plan to spend an hour. Start shooting early and stay past the "blue hour". Take a flashlight and do some light painting during the blue hour or use a flash to illuminate rocks, trees, waves etc. Get creative!
Oh, and don't forget to keep the horizon a horizon (level) and don't split the foto.
I'll skip the tech stuff, you'll get lots of that. Good luck and have fun. Show'em to us!

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

After you master sunsets, try turning around to see beautiful light from yet another perspective on things otherwise mundane or over looked...there is IMO a bigger world behind you at sunrise and sunsets as beautiful as they are.

jam Loc: Beaufort, NC

SharpShooter why would you turn live view off? I leave mine on so that the mirror will be locked up and have less vibration. Thanks

wowbmw Loc: Grant, Colorado

Bmac wrote:

Try perusing this:

30 Tips for stunning sunset photography
http://improvephotography.com/416/30-tips-sunset-photography/

This site was really helpful. Thanks for sharing.

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

I usually shoot in manual exposure mode with two exceptions. One is taking pictures of grandkids running around and the other is sunsets.

This one was taken in aperture priority allowing the camera to set exposure over the series of about thirty shots in five minutes.

wowbmw Loc: Grant, Colorado

PrairieSeasons wrote:

I usually shoot in manual exposure mode with two exceptions. One is taking pictures of grandkids running around and the other is sunsets.

This one was taken in aperture priority allowing the camera to set exposure over the series of about thirty shots in five minutes.

Lots of wonderful hints in these posts. Yet, sometimes the event is so fleeting you just pull out you phone to grab it and share it.

Sunset with my iPhone

KKnight

I too live on the Bay. Virginia Beach. I shoot to preserve the highlights details and let the shadows fall where they may. Foreground object often go into silhouette so I try to keep them recognizable by their shape. The only other compositional suggestion I can offer is keep your horizon level and low to emphasize the sky detail and high to emphasize the water/foreground.

twitcher32 Loc: North Carolina/Costa Rica

PrairieSeasons, I really like your sunset shot - well done

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

twitcher32 wrote:

PrairieSeasons, I really like your sunset shot - well done

Thank you very much. By the way, I wasn't able to get that shot in Fargo.

twitcher32 Loc: North Carolina/Costa Rica

telephoto too short?

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

wowbmw wrote:

Bmac wrote:

Try perusing this:

30 Tips for stunning sunset photography
http://improvephotography.com/416/30-tips-sunset-photography/

This site was really helpful. Thanks for sharing.

You are very welcome. 8-)