Techniques of shooting sunrise and sunset

For beginners, shooting sunrise and sunset is a basic compulsory course, and it is also very easy to see the progress of photography skills! Moreover, the cooperation of various equipment is also very important, so in order to learn photography, let's take a look at the skills and equipment application of shooting sunrise and sunset! Remember to go back and practice!

Sunrise The sun rises from behind the clouds.

The best time to shoot sunrise and sunset

Many friends who are beginners in photography also think that the best time to shoot these subjects is when the sun rises and sets, but it is not. Please remember the following formula:

(1) Be diligent (get up early) when shooting the sunrise.

(2) shoot the sunset, be patient (etc. )

When shooting the sunrise, you must start shooting at least half an hour before sunrise, especially one hour, because the time before sunrise when the sky changes from black to blue and from blue to orange will be very beautiful. Of course, you can also shoot the moment when the sun appears at the real sunrise, which is very spectacular! And making preparations early can also avoid being in a hurry in an emergency.

When shooting the sunset, shooting too early will only capture the "sun scene" with fierce sunshine, so it is suitable for shooting when the sky color begins to change. If the clouds cooperate, there will be an exciting "flaming cloud" effect. Of course, you can also shoot the sun like an egg yolk at sunset.

You can shoot a beautiful "magic hour" before the sun appears.

Required equipment

With the right time, the required equipment is actually very simple:

Tripod suggests stabilizing the camera before sunrise and after sunset, using slow shutter, small aperture and low ISO to maintain the photo quality. Cable release is not important. You can also keep the camera in a slow shutter state to avoid the vibration caused by pressing the shutter. Graded Gray Filter (GND) suggests that gradated gray is very important, because the light difference must be great when shooting towards the sky/sun, and gradated gray filter can effectively balance the light difference between heaven and earth. It doesn't matter if you take professional photos with a black card, you can also use a black card to slow the shutter.

Sunrise shooting:

When it is still dark, set the tripod to manual mode (M mode), f/8 aperture, automatic ISO closing (if on), ISO setting to the lowest, such as ISO 100, and shutter setting to 30 seconds (if the clouds move fast, you can speed up the shutter, but increase the aperture or improve ISO coordination). By using autofocus, the focus can be set to infinity, and distant buildings can be used. Then adjust the focus to manual and wait for the sky to change color. If you are bored, you can take some photos of the starry sky (see this article for aperture shutter settings). After the sky begins to change color, take photos with cable release (if any). You can also try to adjust the horizontal flatness of the shutter to take pictures by observing the brightness of the actual photos. It's best to repeat after moving the camera (3) Focus settings with different brightness can make good use of gradient gray filters with different degrees. This will be a better reverse GND (reverse gradient gray). When the sun is getting higher and higher, the light will become violent. It is necessary to increase the shutter speed from time to time to keep the exposure correct and move quickly, because the light changes quickly. When the shutter speed exceeds the safety shutter, you can take photos by hand to increase the mobility.

When shooting the sunrise, the sun actually rises very fast, so the shutter speed must be adjusted quickly.

When you plan to shoot the sunrise, you might as well get to the scene early and shoot the stars!

Sunset shooting

Arrive at the shooting location 30 to 60 minutes before sunset, set up the tripod, set it to manual mode (M mode), the aperture f/8, automatic ISO closing (if on), and the ISO setting is the lowest, such as ISO 100, shutter1100 seconds (please take a picture, depending on the light at that time. You can use distant buildings or luminous objects to help focus, and then set the focus to manual focus. After the sky begins to change color, use the cable release (if any) to shoot, and observe the brightness of the actual shot photos to adjust the horizontal straightness of the shutter. You can also try shooting. After moving the camera, it is best to repeat the focus in (3) and set different brightness. Can make good use of different degrees of gradient gray filters. At first, you can use ordinary GND. Prepare the reverse GND (reverse gradient gray) to use to the horizontal line at sunset. When the sun is getting lower and lower, the environment will get darker and darker. It is necessary to slow down the shutter speed from time to time to keep the exposure correct, because the light changes quickly, so move quickly.

Using GND gradient gray filter at sunset can balance the light difference.

About white balance

White balance can be used to change the color of photos. If the camera is set to a low K value (for example, 2700K), the photo will appear colder/bluer, and vice versa (for example, 7000K) will appear warmer/yellower. The author suggests that sunrise can make photos cool, and sunset can make photos warm to show the atmosphere. For more information, please refer to: Make the photo atmosphere stronger-the magic of white balance!

White balance allows you to change the color of photos!