Techniques for shooting sunsets and dusk

Techniques for shooting sunsets and dusk

Sunset has always been a favorite subject for photographers, especially beginners. By mastering the shooting method of sunset, you can have a better understanding of exposure, tripod, filter and so on. And you will be more handy when shooting other subjects! Here are seven tips for shooting people at sunset. I collected and sorted out the skills of shooting sunset and dusk for you, hoping to help you!

Tips for shooting sunset and dusk Step 1. Arrive at the scene in advance.

Finding the best shooting position is the basic condition for taking good photos. It is very important to confirm whether the shooting position is spacious enough in advance. If the place is too small, you may need to arrive at the scene in advance to avoid turning into a corner. If it is a popular scenic spot, the sooner you arrive at the scene, the better.

Some shooting positions are relatively narrow, so latecomers should respect the first one, and the first one should have a reasonable position to avoid disputes. Why not take good care of your friends? In public places, if tourists break into the photography area, please move away or persuade them in good faith to avoid damaging the photographer's image and being disgusted. If the composition of tourists is decorated as a mirror, there will be good works.

Step two. Set the appropriate ISO value.

The lower the ISO value, the better the image quality, but the relative exposure time will be longer. If there are no special requirements, it is recommended to set it to ISO 100.

Step three. Turn off NR function.

NR is the "denoising" function of the camera. Generally speaking, I suggest turning off NR when shooting, because when turning on NR, if the exposure is 10 minute, it will take the camera another 10 minute to remove noise. At this time, the camera can't do any shooting at all, and it can only miss the opportunity to shoot beautiful scenery. In addition, with the progress of science and technology, the noise phenomenon caused by long-term exposure of cameras has been improved. Maybe the future model design will be more advanced!

Step four. Turn off the hand shock prevention function.

The hand shock prevention function is only suitable for hand-held camera shooting, but if you don't turn off the hand shock prevention function when using tripod with long exposure shooting, it will have the opposite effect.

Step five. Shoot in manual (M) mode.

In order to get the best shooting effect, it is suggested to set the aperture value between F8F22 and shoot with B shutter, cable player and tripod.

Step six. Make sure the lens is in focus.

It is recommended to switch to manual focusing (MF) and focus at infinity, but some lenses need to be turned back to focus. It is recommended to test your own lenses first.

Step seven. Composition test

After all, morning photography belongs to the environment of Gao Fancha. It is suggested that the composition test should be conducted in the way of blind shot based on the principle of underexposure, so as not to waste precious time when shooting is officially started. Of course, you only need blind shot to shoot the sunrise, and you can shoot it directly at sunset.

Composition skills: when shooting beautiful scenery in the morning and evening, you must choose the right foreground. A suitable foreground not only expresses the changes of color temperature and clouds in the morning and evening, but also adds points to the whole picture. Composition is the biggest factor in the success or failure of a photo. Although most of the composition rules are similar, many people may use the basic tic-tac-toe composition and golden composition points, but to achieve excellent composition, we must make full use of the characteristics of the lens and give full play to our keen observation and creativity.

1. Must have a theme and background.

The theme of this song Sunrise in Erliao is the hills covered with bamboo forests, which form a well-defined sea of clouds under abundant water vapor; The background scene is gorgeous clouds and blue sky just before sunrise, and * * * isomorphic becomes a beautiful picture. The composition of this work is a typical dichotomy, and the foreground can occupy one-third or two-thirds of the area in the photo. If the clouds in the sky are interesting, you can shoot more (two thirds), and the clouds in the foreground can only shoot one third. On the contrary, there can be less clouds in the sky (one third) and more clouds below (two thirds).

2. Grasp the best shooting opportunity

Although we can't grasp the probability of the big scene, we can not only get twice the result with half the effort, but also prepare for shooting in advance by careful observation and reference to the previous experience. This photo was taken after sunrise, because the angle of sunlight just passed through the bamboo forest and water vapor, producing dazzling oblique light; In the green bamboo forest, the business is abundant and the levels are clear, which makes the picture full of changes. Therefore, the key to taking this photo is to grasp the shooting opportunity and the best angle of oblique sunlight entering the bamboo forest. I shot with a medium focal length lens, avoiding the dazzling sun in the sky, and I can easily shoot this satisfactory work with light and shadow through automatic metering.

3. Contrast control method

When shooting twilight scenes, it is often necessary to shoot against the light. The biggest problem at this time is that the contrast of light is too large, and the details of bright and dark parts are lost. To solve this problem, the most common methods are shaking the black card, installing a gradient reduction mirror, using enclosed exposure, repeated exposure, digital post-processing, or using the built-in contrast reduction function of the camera, such as Nikon's D-Lighting, Canon's automatic brightness optimization, Pentax's dynamic range setting, or Sony's automatic HDR.

Beginners are advised to install gradient dimming filters before shooting, and practice shaking black cards after fully understanding the differences between exposure value, and fully control the exposure time of the upper and lower parts, so as to make the bright part and the dark part exposure value closer and reduce the contrast.

4. Try to show the change of sky color temperature.

At the beginning of June, the main peak of the Snow Mountain is in full bloom, but when it gets dark, it is necessary to use headlights to find a suitable prospect (if it can be found in the daytime in advance), and then take the valley and the distant ridge line as the middle scene and the rich color changes of the sky as the background. When the color temperature begins to change, it is necessary to grasp the short moment and quickly shoot this rare beauty.

In order to reduce the contrast between the sky and the scenery, I use black cards to control the exposure time of the upper and lower parts. Because the shutter time is as high as 16 seconds in low light, we should pay attention to the disturbance of clouds and avoid taking pictures with unclear scenery. Therefore, it is necessary to practice shooting skills more to avoid being in a hurry when encountering big scenes.

Note: 1. Grasp the best shooting opportunity.

Half an hour before sunrise, with the change of elevation between the sun and the ground, the colors of the sky and clouds will begin to change (color temperature changes). From the deep blue sky to the golden red clouds, each has its own worth shooting and should not be missed. As the sky gets brighter and brighter, the required exposure value becomes smaller and smaller, so the aperture and shutter must be adjusted at any time. Sunset is the opposite of sunrise, but the best shooting time is also half an hour before sunset. Remember that the demanding exposure value will be higher and higher.

2. Don't just shoot

When you are busy shooting, I suggest you take time to enjoy the beautiful scenery around you and shoot something else. As long as you can take satisfactory photos, this trip is worth it!

Avoid strong light

The worse the lens quality, the more serious the glare phenomenon. To solve this problem, first look at whether the lens has fingerprints, dust or moisture; If there is no dirt, you can take out the protective lenses from the shooting, because inferior protective lenses will also have an impact. In addition, the fewer filters used, the smaller the impact on image quality. If there is no improvement, we will have to avoid taking pictures of the light and environment in Gao Fancha; If the light source comes from the side, please be sure to add a hood.

Pay attention to your own safety

Although many spectacular scenes take the road that others dare not take, they can only be obtained by shooting scenes that others dare not take, but we still have to ensure our own safety in order to concentrate on shooting and framing. When shooting the sunset, the trip is in the afternoon, and the shooting target and road conditions are very clear; However, it is often at night after shooting, so be sure to be familiar with the return road conditions and prepare the lighting headlights in advance. Before shooting the sunrise, it is also recommended to survey the terrain and bring necessary lighting equipment to avoid accidents when going to the shooting location in the dark.

5. Check the lens frequently and keep it clean.

When shooting the morning twilight at the seaside, water vapor is easy to spray on the lens, causing dirt and affecting the picture, so check the lens at the front end of the lens from time to time and wipe it clean if necessary. On the high mountain, the lens often fogs the mirror due to the large temperature drop, so it is forbidden to blow the front end of the lens directly against the cold wind when shooting, and the storage environment of the camera should be as same as the outside temperature as possible.

6. Try to use a tripod.

If shooting on the flat ground or abroad, just carry a portable tripod that can hold the camera; However, shooting on high mountains needs to prevent shaking caused by strong winds, so we have to choose between lightweight and stability. Because when you press the shutter, some slight and unconscious actions will affect the picture. If possible, it is recommended to use cable release or remote control, or even lock the mirror in advance to reduce camera shake.

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