Discover How To Take Stunning Sunset Shots

Have you ever seen a beautiful sunset and not had your camera, or meticulously planned your sunset shoot, only to find that the vibrant, saturated hues didn't materialise?

With their deep, warm colours, striking silhouettes and long, soft shadows, sunsets provide a great opportunity to capture stunning shots. They can also present some tricky challenges, and they don't wait around for the under prepared photographer!

Be ready when the moment comes with these ten tips for sunset photography

1. Be ready at least 40 minutes before the sun disappears

Published sunset times are extremely useful for planning a shoot, but these refer to the trailing edge of the sun going below the horizon. By then you may have missed most of the action. I have timed the sunsets in London and found that the rich, vibrant colours, magnified sun and longer shadows start at least 40 minutes before the sun fully sets, so make sure you are on location and set up well before the sun does a runner.

Even if you arrive too early, you can still find some of the best photographic light available, as you will be in the golden hour.

After the sun has set, the colours in the sky can still be stunning, especially if there are low clouds.

2. Check the Weather Forecast

The weather conditions are crucial to the type of sunset you will capture. There are many elements (excuse the pun) to consider, so I plan to do a more detailed post on this. To summarize, the key points are

Cloud. This is absolutely key. Clear skies will offer you beautiful graduations from deep blue to fiery orange, but are arguably less interesting than the skies you get when some clouds are present. High cloud can produce spectacular shapes and colours, especially when they form thin layers and leave a clear gap on the horizon. Unless you are in the tropics and the air is very clean you are unlikely to see such vivid hues with heavy low clouds, and overcast skies are abysmal for sunsets.

Season. Eye catching sunsets seem to favour certain times of year. I'd argue that late Autumn and Winter produce more vibrant and less hazy sunsets, due to faster air currents and fewer photochemical reactions. On the flip side, the added dust and haze in summer contributes to softer deep red colours

So check the forecast as part of your planning, I have found Intellicast to be an excellent, free resource for planning my shoots.

3. On Pollution

Contrary to popular wisdom, you will be pleased to read that lower pollution levels tend to produce better sunset photos. Some of the misapprehension about higher pollution levels being beneficial is due to the fact that particles from volcanic eruptions can produce magnificent sunsets, however, this is because the pollutants rise high into the stratosphere, unlike city pollutants.

Airborne pollutants from the city tend to accumulate lower in the atmosphere and attenuate the light from the sun, replacing vivid colours with toned down hues. They also cause haze, especially in summer, which can produce a grey sheen over components in the shot. Still not convinced? Read this great scientific paper on The Colors of Twilight and Sunset.

Check the pollution forecast or subscribe to our London bulletin to get the latest forecast.

4. Take the Right Equipment

When it comes to lenses, the one to use depends on what you are looking for. A zoom lens (120mm plus) will allow you to show a huge, burning sun, making it a strong element of your picture. This kind of shot can look timeless and ethereal.

A wide lens will allow you to capture the whole sky and show its graduated hues, from deep blue to vibrant orange.

Lens flare can look great in sunset shots, but if you want to avoid it, consider buying a lens hood. Alternatively, holding a hat or a bit of paper just out of view of the lens to reduce lens flare can be very effective. It's worth bringing a tripod along, as your exposures are may to be longer due to lower light. You can win a great Manfrotto tripod in our photography competition (apologies for the shameless plug ;)

Filters can cause lens flare, so avoid these if you don't want this to form part of your shot.

5. Tips On Composition

Sunsets are great for silhouettes, but make sure it's clear what your silhouette is of. Avoid capturing a mess of shapes and forms in silhouettes, and as is often heard in photography keep it simple

If you are shooting a silhouette, then try positioning the subject so it blocks out the sun, giving it a glowing aura. If you do want a little lens flare at the edge of your subject, make sure the light of the sun doesn't reduce the impact of the silhouette by exposing its side.

As is often the case, its best not to have the horizon in the centre of the shot. Instead, try putting the horizon 2/3 of the way down and to one side (this is called the rule of thirds).

6. Location, location, location

You need to be in the right place at the right time, as you don't have long. For city shoots, especially in London, it can be tricky to finding a good foreground that doesn't obscure too much of the sun and sky, assuming you want these to form significant components in your shot, so plan ahead!

Google Earth has a time view that allows you to see where sunlight will fall at different times of the day, it also shows other people's shots from various locations. Flickr is also great for planning, and even has a dedicated London Sunset Group

7. Get the Right (White) Balance

A trick to warm up sunsets (recommended by Scott Kelby in his Digital Photography Book), is to set your white balance to daylight. Mostly I keep the white balance settings on auto to maintain a well balanced image. You can always post process, especially if you are shooting in RAW.

8. Executing the Shot

Use a small aperture to give you a large depth of field, keeping the sky and any foreground elements in focus. Depending on your lens, you may get significant lens flare at wider aperture, so again, think about keeping it narrow.

For vibrant, saturated colours you should try to use a low ISO, for example 100. This will result in longer exposures, of course, so you may want to use a tripod. Longer exposures can produce some stunning effects with flowing water and can be used to your advantage.

9. Focus Right

Your camera will have trouble finding a lock when focussing on the sky, so it's usually best to set the focus to manual and ensure the elements you want to focus on are sharp. If you have foreground objects that are not too close, then you can set focus to infinity and with a narrow aperture they should remain sharp. If objects are very close, then you may have to decide on whether you want the sky or the foreground to be in sharp focus.

10. Exposure

If your photograph contains foreground components, then make sure you meter for the medium bright areas of the sky (for more detail, see this excellent tutorial), usually about 30 degrees off the sun. Metering on the sun, or foreground will mean you end up with a dark or bleached out sky.

Generally speaking, if you under expose a bit (up to 2 stops), you tend to get more vivid colours. You can always post process to increase the exposure, but it's significantly tougher to improve over exposed shots.

11. Watch your eyes

Yes, I know I said there would be ten tips, and I'm sure you have heard it before, but never look directly at the sun without suitable eye protection (including through the camera eyepiece).

One more thing...

I'm going to start posting a daily bulletin on key things that affect your photography, including weather, pollution and sunset times. Please subscribe to the blog to receive this, plus news of free competitions and events.

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