Matters needing attention and skills of sunrise and sunset shooting

The beauty of sunrise and sunset always attracts countless landscape photographers, but it is still difficult for beginners to shoot beautiful sunrise and sunset scenery. The following are the precautions for shooting, hoping to help netizens.

1, location selection. Shooting sunrises and sunsets generally chooses places with wider horizons: beaches, lakes, hilltops and even the roofs of cities. I suggest shooting in the wild because the air in the wild is much more transparent than in the city. However, many beautiful photos can also be taken in the city.

2. Shooting time. Sunrise and sunset are timely, and the scenery is different in different seasons and different time periods. The best seasons for shooting sunrises and sunsets are spring and autumn. Compared with summer, in these two seasons, the sunrise is late and the sunset is early, and there are many clouds, so it is easier to encounter the scene of "colorful clouds all over the sky".

Before and after sunrise and sunset, the color of sunlight changes very quickly. For a period of time after sunrise in the morning or before sunset in the evening, the light is composed of sunlight with low color temperature and weak skylight, with rich red and orange light and less blue and cyan light, so the sunrise or sunset scene will be dyed red and orange, so we should seize the opportunity when shooting sunrise and sunset scenes.

In addition, the color temperature of the sun directly affects the overall tone of the whole scene. At sunrise, the color temperature changes from low to high, rising rapidly from 2800K to 3500K, and rising gradually, reaching about 5500K in the morning. At sunset, the color temperature changes from high to low, especially when the sun is close to the horizon, the color temperature drops rapidly. When shooting, you can flexibly set the options such as white balance and color temperature of the camera according to the above characteristics and the desired shooting effect. Usually, most photographers want to get a red or orange glow effect. At this time, the white balance of the camera should be set in sunlight or the color temperature value should be set above 5000k instead of automatic white balance.

It is worth noting that it is generally not advisable to pack up and go home immediately after sunset. In fact, sometimes the color of the sky is very beautiful within about half an hour after sunset. If you shoot in the city, the lights and buildings in the city can be used as the foreground, plus the beautiful sky, the photos taken are also very good!

Step 4 shoot the clouds

When the thin clouds cover the sun, the sunlight will pass through the clouds to form large-scale radioactive rays, and the scenery is particularly moving. It should be noted that due to the changeable clouds, photographers should find the right time and press the shutter in time when shooting.

5. Prospect application

It is also common to shoot the sunrise and sunset without clouds in the sky. In order to avoid the sky being too monotonous, using some surrounding objects as the foreground, such as sparse leaves and branches, helps to keep the balance of the picture structure. If the foreground is used to represent the sunset or sunrise in the sky, the foreground is often used as a silhouette effect. When choosing the foreground, try to choose the scenery with beautiful outline or lines to increase the aesthetic feeling of the picture.

Step 6 reflect

Many excellent photos of sunrise and sunset are taken by the water, because at sunrise and sunset, the waves are scaly and beautiful rosy clouds are reflected on the water. Ships and sails on the water add a little vividness to the painting. When shooting by the water, you need to pay attention to the elements of composition first. Before pressing the shutter, did you see that all the scenes you needed were included? In addition, as far as the picture below is concerned, it is better to choose the spot metering at the sun when metering, so that the sun will not be overexposed, and at the same time, choosing a smaller aperture will produce the effect of shining stars.

7. Close-ups

If your camera has a long focal length lens, shooting sunset or sunrise is also a good choice. However, it should be noted that shooting directly at the sun is easy to damage the photosensitive element of the camera. Because when shooting at the sun, the sunlight will converge on the photosensitive element through the lens of the lens, and the temperature of the converged light can even ignite paper and wood, so try to shoot when the sun just rises or is about to set and the light is not strong, and try to choose a small aperture.