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 How to Get Great Landscape Images at Sunrise and Sunset

The best time to shoot great landscape images is at sunrise and sunset. A photographer must have the time and space to allow for camera settings, lens changes and when to use a tripod. Landscape photographers depending upon the light given from Mother Nature must determine how best to take advantage of that light. Expect configuration changes by rapidly changing light values and be totally familiar with the operation of your camera. You will need to have available an appropriate selection of lenses and use techniques like Overlay-Multiple Exposure Mode (OME), and application of Graduated Neutral Density Filters (GND). Practice with a sunrise or sunset close to home before preparing for one far from home.

Here are few tips before you get started:

·         Use wide-angle lenses for the early part of the landscape photo shoot and follow by normal to medium telephoto lenses when you desire narrow perspective and foreshortening

·         Lens combinations covering 24 to 200 mm is usually enough

·         Allow thirty minutes before the official sunrise to setup. At the beginning of day magic light follows the faint light of dawn as the sun shines up underneath the clouds from below the horizon. At this time colors of the clouds change from purple and vermillion to red, orange and yellow.

·         If you are using a digital camera in JPEG mode, select white balance and set it to “open shade.” This will maximize the color saturation.

·         If your camera has the option to shoot in RAW mode, don’t worry about setting white balance as the RAW image is not processed in-camera. If your camera provides the option of shooting in RAW mode with a JPEG backup as an option, set the white balance for the JPEG backup to be processed in-camera even though the RAW images are not. A JPEG processed in-camera has exposure latitude of 1 to 2 f-stops, and has a much narrower range of manipulation than a RAW image that has about 3 to 4 f-stops latitude.

To give photos depth and reality:

·         Use compositional elements that introduce foreground, middle ground and background objects

A landscape picture that leads the viewer on a visual journey involves:

·         Impact from colorful subjects

·         Observation of the rule of thirds

·         Leading lines provided by natural objects and terrain

·         High-resolution foreground objects

·         Great depth-of-field

To provide scale to the landscape scene:

·         A clue the eye and mind can relate to could be a familiar object like a small image of a person, or other familiar object

The image should pop into reality as the mind interprets the 2D visual information as a 3D image leading viewers to experience a bonding with the picture.

Once the orb of the sun is above the horizon and there are hills or mountains behind you, the tops will start turning orange. If you will watch for this, you can capture the bright orange color of light as it moves down the mountain.

For first images:

·         They will probably have to be taken in very low light levels that require long exposure times. Mount the camera on a tripod. It is preferred to use Aperture Priority (A) to lock in the desired f-stop.

·         A setting between f-8 and f-16 is generally required for maximum depth-of-field. The camera will automatically select the best shutter speed.

·         A Histogram is a valuable tool for compensating the exposure under these conditions. Use the Histogram to make sure the exposure fits between the tone values of 10 to 250. If data piles up at either end of the histogram, the shadows will be blocked up and/or the highlights will be blown out.

What makes a great sunrise/sunset picture?

·         Capturing detail in the foreground. Use the Overlay/Multiple Exposure mode (ME), or the Graduated Neutral Density filters GND. The picture needs the GND or OME assistance anytime you see bright colorful skies and dark foregrounds with only silhouettes in them, or the sky has weak colors and the foreground has blocked up shadows and poor detail.

For single image landscapes and to allow a better exposure of the foreground:

·         Use the rectangular GND filter placed in a slotted bolder screwed onto the lens filter ring. The filters come in soft and hard transitions, and 1, 2, or 3 degrees (f-stops) of shading. If you buy only one, get the #2-H

When is it all over to capture great sunset photos?

·         When the sun has topped the haze layer and the entire area is bathed in sunlight

Sunset shooting is the reverse of sunrise shooting. Arrive shortly before published sunset and setup can is done in the light of the day rather than in the dark. Consider the following tips:

·         Using a tripod is advisable.

·         Increase your camera’s ISO if you have to achieve a correct exposure

·         Sometimes the best opportunities are before it is too dark to navigate without lights

·         Check for the bright orange light going up the mountains behind the photographer

·         You should have a ready reference to the times of sunrise and sunset so as to arrive at a photography confluence, which is a coming together of time, place, and favorable characteristics of light that allows for creation of the most memorable images.

Now it is time for computer downloads, back-ups, critiquing your results. You should have some beautiful images by the second day.

Source:  Landscape Photography by Lyle Trusty published in the PSA Journal 75.10, pages 32-34.