How to Photograph a Sunset or Sunrise (the right way)
The sun rising over Lake Louisa in Algonquin Provincial Park.
I’ve been teaching photography workshops for over 6 years now and the number one thing my students say is that they want to know how to photograph a sunset.
I’ve been there. You’re on vacation and watching the sunset from a lookout, beach, or in the city. You take your camera out, photograph the whole thing and look back through your images only to find that they are very underwhelming.
It’s NOT WHAT YOU SAW!
First of all, I hope you were out there for the 30 minutes after the sun set. I’ve been to Port Elgin, I’ve seen the crowds of people honour the sun’s drop into the earth on Lake Huron, only to pack their chairs up and head home right after it disappeared. The show was only getting started!
The magic happens after the sun sets.
Next, you need to make sure that you’re under exposing the shot. You don’t want to focus right on the brightness of the sun because it will over expose your shot. You will want to focus on something dark and that will help your camera to under expose your sunset. This adds so much drama to your image!
This is the focus area in your camera’s view finder.
Point your focus area at a darker spot in your composition instead of directly at the sun.
What happens when you point your focus area directly at the sun in your camera’s viewfinder.
But HOW?
Okay, so instead of pointing your viewfinder’s focus area directly at the sun, point it at a darker colour in your composition.
A sunset in Temagami, Ontario. The focus area is pointed just below on a darker area instead of directly at the sun.
Sunrise over Mnidoo Gamii Georgian Bay from Beausoleil Island/Georgian Bay Islands National Park.
Reach out if you have any questions!
