How to shoot the sun? We have very smokey skies right now and the setting sun is very red behind this smoke. The scene is dusky but to expose correctly for the sun, the rocks and trees...

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

We have very smokey skies right now and the setting sun is very red behind this smoke. The scene is dusky but to expose correctly for the sun, the rocks and trees are black. I tried using a GND but that didn't really work very well. Should I bracket to expose the foreground, middle ground and sky correctly? I wish I had thought of that while I was out shooting! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

(Download)

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

I like the photo just the way it is.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

You too? We, the residents of Utah, are experiencing skies like we have never seen before. Being downwind from all of the fires in CA. Driving just a few miles for the Wasatch Mountains one cannot even see those peaks through the haze. I have lived here most of my life and never seen it this bad.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Initial viewing would indicate slightly under-exposed.

However, when viewed in the download the photograph takes on a different
appearance. I like the mood the photograph takes on.

For me personally, I would not change it.

alx Loc: NJ

Golden Rule wrote:

We have very smokey skies right now and the setting sun is very red behind this smoke. The scene is dusky but to expose correctly for the sun, the rocks and trees are black. I tried using a GND but that didn't really work very well. Should I bracket to expose the foreground, middle ground and sky correctly? I wish I had thought of that while I was out shooting! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

I like what you did, but I think the answer here is to bracket. Quite frankly we are moving into new territory here where traditional rules no longer apply. Experimentation is in order.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The download is brighter, especially when I brought into my exif reader to see if sRGB (couldn't tell). Did you try any without the grad ND? What "strength" is the filter? If shot in raw, you could easily brighten foreground, but I agree with Leicaflex; I like the menacing drama of the darkness. Yakima had hazardous air quality readings yesterday. Stay safe!

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

Linda From Maine wrote:

The download is brighter, especially when I brought into my exif reader to see if sRGB (couldn't tell). Did you try any without the grad ND? What "strength" is the filter? If shot in raw, you could easily brighten foreground, but I agree with Leicaflex; I like the menacing drama of the darkness. Yakima had hazardous air quality readings yesterday. Stay safe!

I have the NiSi 3 stop GND because that is what came with the package deal. Now to save up for the 1 and 2 stop GND, ha! I really had to work on bringing the foreground out in LR and especially giving the cliffs some kind of dimension due to severe underexposure. I'm heading to the coast again on Tuesday to see if I can give this another try. Unfortunately there are no big rocks out in the water where I'm heading so I will have to find some other composition of interest. I've never bracketed so this will be interesting.

chikid68 Loc: Tennesse USA

possibly increase exposure time

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

As with all sun and moon shots: Spot meter on the sun (in this case,) since its the brightest thing in the image.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

DaveC1 wrote:

As with all sun and moon shots: Spot meter on the sun (in this case,) since its the brightest thing in the image.

I did spot meter with and without GND. BTW this shot was a long exposure with a ND filter.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I like it the way it was shot but if you want more latitude simply go with HDR photography. Opening the shadow areas happens to be a privilege when using digital photography because of the dynamic range offered by the shadow areas.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

Golden Rule wrote:

I did spot meter with and without GND. BTW this shot was a long exposure with a ND filter.

If you spotmetered on the sun (the brightest object in the photo) then you should be able to set the rest in post processing from the raw image.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

The problem is the difference in brightness between the sun, sky and trees. The dynamic range is too wide for a single photograph. A ND filter will do nothing to change that balance. You have two options. You can try lightening the shadows and changing the exposure curve in post processing, which will help but not be ideal. The other option for the future is to bracket the exposures and combine using HDR, but that take some effort and a learning curve, not to mention a graphics program capable of doing HDR.

Golden Rule Loc: Washington State

kymarto wrote:

The problem is the difference in brightness betwee... (show quote)

Agreed! I am going to try bracketing (my first time) and attempt some kind of post processing there. The ND was used to feather the water only.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Golden Rule wrote:

We have very smokey skies right now and the setting sun is very red behind this smoke. The scene is dusky but to expose correctly for the sun, the rocks and trees are black. I tried using a GND but that didn't really work very well. Should I bracket to expose the foreground, middle ground and sky correctly? I wish I had thought of that while I was out shooting! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

In an image like this, I don't know why you did not expose for the scene surrounding you, the sun is just a tiny dot anyway and has no impact (except to show just how smoky it really is) on the overall image!