Nikon1201

I shoot sunsets at AP using F/11 and ISO 100 use you shitter release or the timer

bweber Loc: Newton, MA

If you want to capture the color of the sun, you should spot meter the sun. Any other metering mode will over expose the sun and washout the color. If the red sun is to bright when using a very low ISO, high shutter speed and high aperture, you should try a ND filter that will let you find an acceptable exposure for the sun. Most of this requires some planning and is hard to do at the spur of the moment, but it should give you the image you want.

biry

So who decides who's answer is going to be posted? There may be several ways to accomplish whatever task is asked about. Who decides which way is best? Of course everyone on UHH is going to agree that whatever answer allowed to be posted is best. I don't think so. If many answers and suggestions irritate you just read one and move on.

Bill

Low Budget Dave

I hate to jump in late on a discussion, but Linda is exactly right. When you shoot into the sun, you can trash your dynamic range. You can fix your exposure just by adjusting the speed, but it might not save all the color information you lost.

Here are some suggestions:
1. Go ahead and underexpose (a quarter stop to a full stop) unless you are trying to get the stuff in the foreground.
2. If you need the foreground, go ahead and buy a graduated ND filter, or use HDR (more on this later)
3. Don't be afraid to go to F22. If you get the sunburst effect, you can back off, but don't be scared of it.
4. Turn off your Auto White Balance. (You seem to be shooting RAW, which is better.)
5. If there are clouds in the sky, wait until the sun is below the horizon and get the "Blue hour sunset" as well
6. Don't focus on the clouds, by the way. (The general rule is to continue to Focus 1/3 up from the bottom of the photo.)
7. (Remember that you still need a point of interest. You chose the outline the tree, which is fine.)
8. Don't be afraid to use HDR photography. The D3100 does not allow you to bracket your shots, but since you are using a tripod, you can take a series of shots at different speeds, and merge them in Photoshop Automate HDR.

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

Bought one each of these solar filters sold by this company that fit my camera's lens. Is fun to use them: https://www.rainbowsymphony.com/solar-filters/

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Because the sun is so bright do not expect to record its image as you see it except when near the horizon when the light is much softer.
The "best" settings for a sunset come from experience. Meter from the the sky without the sun in the viewfinder, recompose and shoot using the meter reading. That is only a start, you could find yourself underexposing a bit so several shots will be necessary.
Using the tripod is a good start.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

Spot meter exposure on the sun. Since you are then left with a very high contrast situation shoot in raw so you can take care of the contrast in PP.

This was shot in a situation when the sun was higher than in your shots and with no clouds directly in front of the sun. In order to bring out more of the tree line will require lowering the contrast even more than I have done here.

Shot with a Vari Cross filter

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gwilliams6

Yes bracket your sunset exposures. Camera meters are made to exposure everything to a medium tone. Most people want deeper sunset tones, so as you bracket you will probably like the shots that were minus the average metered exposure. It also depends how much sky and other objects are in your sunset picture. Do you need them properly exposed also or can they go silhouette? For your immediate task at hand, shoot in manual mode and bracket, or if your camera has a setting, use auto bracketing settings in your choice of auto modes, and use a tripod if you are using a long lens. Here are some tips from Adorama TV Learning Center. Cheers

https://www.adorama.com/alc/episode/capturing-colorful-sunsets

https://www.adorama.com/alc/0008097/article/Composition-Basics-Gifts-from-the-Sky

wetreed

People, can we all just along with each other. If you don’t like someone’ Response write one you think is better. There is enough stupidity here for everyone.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

Or just shoot in negative film which has a much more pleasing response to reaching saturation.

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traderjohn Loc: New York City

Thank you and you also.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

In the end photography is all about understanding the limitations of our individual equipment and devising methods of working around those limitations. Otherwise we're just taking snapshots.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

traderjohn -
No extension on the image file. What is it?

BebuLamar

Yup! One of the most important thing I learned about photography is that it's impossible for my photos to look like things in real life. By controls of exposure and manipulation either in the darkroom or by software I can get them to look many different ways but never like real life. So I learned to decide how I want my photos to look like finally before I took the pictures.