How to take photos of sunrise and sunset?

I have walked through mountains and rivers and seen ups and downs. I don't know when I began to like sunrise and sunset. In the high sky, the sun is held up in the clouds, and the surrounding clouds are spectacular, quiet and beautiful. Beautiful sunset or sunrise scenery only appears in less than 20 minutes before and after sunset and sunrise. At this time, coupled with excellent color temperature and suitable cloud and terrain prospects, every photographer can't help but be moved by this beautiful scenery.

Photography often shows the effect of light and shadow. At sunrise and sunset, the light angle of the sun is low, the light quality is soft and warm, and the whole picture is full of attractive charm. Of course, no photographer will miss this opportunity easily? However, it is not easy to record the beautiful sunrise and sunset perfectly in a short time.

First, choose the right place and time.

The best seasons for shooting sunrises and sunsets are spring and autumn. In summer, these two seasons are later than sunrise and earlier than sunset, which is beneficial to shooting. In spring and autumn, there are more clouds, which can increase the shooting effect. Half an hour before sunrise and half an hour after sunset are prime time for shooting. Before shooting, you must think about the effect you want to show, the shooting location before sunrise, and choose your own seat and suitable prospect.

If conditions permit, it is best to shoot in the wild. After all, the air in the wild is much more thorough than in the city. But whether in the wild or in the city, the location should be relatively open and the terrain should be high. When shooting in the wild, choose a higher place, such as the mountain, and choose the angle of view from high to low, so that there will be no unnecessary objects blocking the sun near and on the ground when shooting, which is beneficial to the performance of the main content. When the sun rises, the mountain peaks will have rich effects in the big backlight. Of course, if you have a wide field of vision, such as a large area of water, it is also an excellent location to shoot the sunrise and sunset. Choosing the right location to shoot the sunrise and sunset is half the battle!

Second, enhance the performance of clouds and fog.

Cloud is a natural reflective object in shooting, which can spread the red light of the sun, thus constantly changing the color and composition of the work. Clouds can also be the subject of shooting. But pay attention to what happens when clouds cover the sunset; Light will come out from behind the clouds, which will add a very touching effect to the photos. When the sun just rises, the clouds will be bright, which is very suitable for shooting. Watch carefully and take a snapshot when the sun gradually appears from the middle of this bright edge. Similarly, when the shot scene is shrouded in fog, it is also conducive to rendering the artistic conception of the whole picture.

Third, capture the reflection in the water.

Shooting the reflection on the water will add a lot of color to the photos of sunrise and sunset. Many excellent photos of sunrise and sunset are taken by the water, because at sunrise or sunset, the sparkling water reflects beautiful rosy clouds. Shooting the reflection of the water surface will add a lot of color to the photos of sunrise and sunset, and a calm sea surface or lake can reflect the scenery in the sky. It presents a mirror-like image, which is always disturbed by the breeze blowing over the water. Leave more dazzling light on the water, and draw a light path from the horizon to the foreground of the picture. When the sun goes down, this light path will extend to your eyes.

When shooting by the water, the first thing to pay attention to is the composition factor. Has the horizontal line been set before pressing the shutter? Have I included all the scenery I need? These are all noteworthy issues. When metering, the average metering mode is generally selected, so that the light distribution of the whole picture can be uniform without overexposure or underexposure.

Fourth, use a medium gray gradient filter.

When shooting sunrises and sunsets, everyone has generally encountered such a problem: the light difference between the sky and the ground is quite different. Compared with film, the tolerance of digital camera photosensitive elements is limited. Therefore, whether it is the brightest, darkest or medium focus photometry, it is not perfect. In this case, it is impossible to take pictures of the sky and the ground at the same time with normal exposure. If the sky is exposed accurately, the ground will be underexposed and turn black; If the ground exposure is accurate, the sky will be overexposed and become dead white.

At this time, the medium gray gradient filter is used. Put the "medium gray gradient" filter in front of the lens, and adjust the upper and lower positions of the cascaded "gradient gray" mirrors according to the size of the sky and the ground to realize the exposure balance between the sky and the ground. Make the exposure of the sky and the ground tend to be consistent.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) the use of lens

You can shoot the sunset with any lens. The choice of lens depends on how you intend to represent the sunrise and sunset, whether the sun itself is the main body of the picture or the grandeur of a big scene. I prefer the latter.

Note that the brightness of the light is not enough before and after the sun rises. If you hold the camera with your hand, it is very unstable. So prepare a stable tripod when shooting the sun.

Six, aperture

When sunset is the theme of the work, you should pay more attention to controlling the size of the aperture. A small aperture can make the sun look like a star, and the smaller the aperture, the better.

At the same time, a small aperture can bring greater depth of field and ensure the clarity of the foreground.

Seven, the arrangement of color

When the sun gradually sets in the sky, the color temperature decreases, forming a warm tone. Long before the naked eye saw that the sun was red, it was already dark yellow, then orange and finally red. If you want to enhance the picture effect of the sunset, you can use the sunset filter to enhance the warm tone. If you can capture the performance of different color temperatures, it will be even more exciting.

Eight. aftertreatment

1, properly cropped, photos are usually taken in 4: 3 format, or 3: 2 film ratio, which may be the most commonly used ratio, but for sunrise and sunset, strip or square ratio may have unexpected surprises.

2. Use the color scale or curve tool to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image to brighten the image.

3. Changing the white balance of photos will also get unexpected results.

4. Control the tone of the whole picture. The picture atmosphere of sunrise and sunset is generally warm red and yellow. In color balance, highlights and midtones are treated separately, and then the hue and saturation of red and yellow channels are adjusted respectively to enhance saturation. At this point, the atmosphere of the picture basically came out.