Capturing Sunsets, a photo from British Columbia, Western

Photographer's Note

I have posted a number of sunsets on Trekearth. This was the end of a clear day last night at the Fraser Valley. Besides simply posting this I had a mind to explain to some newcomers who love to learn how others take photos. A few different principles come to mind. If you ctirique please offer some of your own suggestions showing how you approach such a scene.

1. EXPOSURE is by far the most challenging thing to learn in photography. Photography is in its simplest form capturing light. And the light you see with your eyes is much different than how the camera sees it. From the factory most cameras have a correct exposure set to high noon on a sunny day. Trying to shoot a sunset with this exposure setting will always overexpose the scene. Therefore you must underexpose from one to two full stops below average to capture this evening light. This photo turned out nice with one and a half stop below exposure setting.

2. COMPOSITION. Because we all see things different we all bring our individual expression into our photos. Of course there is balance in the frame ( rule of thirds etc ) that is needed for every photo. The water line here is almost in dead centerin the frame, but the mountain on the right offsets it, a little. Discussion on this on Trek is endless on many photos. All I was trying to capture here was the winding water channel reaching the river. This acts as a lead in and invites the viewer into the scene. I also was trying to show the gradual color of orange close to the sun to the sky blue which you can see in the water channel too.

3. TECHNICAL ELEMENT. I used a tripod because it is necessary if you are going to stop down to F22 in this scene. If you hold your camera while you shoot a time exposure you might be dissapointed. I like to set the shutter to timer and hands off and hold my breath to avoid all movement. The longer your lens is the more necessary a tripod will be. Longer zooms also need stopping down for greater depth of field.

My next photo tommorrow will talk about processing.

Please help the many newcomers on Trek. Thank you for your help.

Clairedelune, weswang, seanf, goodfellow, ajcsousa, aloyho, singuanti, apache, ydarias, dlavoie72, PixelTerror, huynt, john_c, sarju, capthaddock, jazu, danyy, ballyna has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Clairedelune (4911) 2005-08-25 19:26

Hello Paul,
I am a newcomer. Not only of Trekearth, but of photography too. So, I really appreciate your comments here. And it is so true that exposure is "the most challenging thing to learn"! Do I know that!! So, thank you for your help! About your picture: it is great. I like the colors and the pattern of the water. Since the rest is dark, it is almost abstraction. I like it a lot. That is inspiring.
Claire

rabdelnoor (3417) 2005-08-25 19:52

Hi Paul,
This is by far your better post on a sunset, with a very nice work with the available light. Regarding your composition, I would prefer have the horizon line a bit to the bottom and leave more sky to reflect the beautiful colours of the sunset. By the way, what was your exposure time on this shot?
Very nice initiative on including a tutorial on the note.
Thanks a lot.
Ricardo

seanf (246) 2005-08-25 19:55

hi paul
the photo is rather pleasant, it shows exactly what you explain in you wonderful note. good job, pic and note!
sean

Lisas_world (1218) 2005-08-25 20:00 [Comment]

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goodfellow (195) 2005-08-25 20:02

Stunning...thanks for you good and informative notes...

ajcsousa (1804) 2005-08-25 20:18

Hi Paul,
Since i'm also a sunset lover ... what can i say ... Fantastic !!!

Regards,
António

P.S. The note it's also excelent

aloyho (6699) 2005-08-25 20:33

Hi Paul,
The simplicity of the scene makes us concentrate and focus on the sunset and it is stunning. The stream breaks away from the horizontal creating much interest and the near duplication of the mountain at the top makes it very harmonious. Simply brilliant!! Regards.

singuanti (15246) 2005-08-25 22:38

Hi Paul. It was a great idea to put this note along with the sunset. I do like the gentle meandering leading line. Of course the warm colors are wonderful. I assume that is they Fraser River? Wonderful shot and good note Paul. I learned a thing or two myself. Thanks for sharing with us!

ydarias (679) 2005-08-26 4:19

Hola Paul. Una gran foto. Me encanta la atmósfera que has representado. El tono rojizo del atardecer es muy bonito y esta muy bien el reflejo de la luz del Sol en el agua. Técnicamente nada que resaltar muy bien hecho.

Yeray

P.D: Buena nota, me gusta mucho y es muy útil.

feather (51114) 2005-08-26 4:54

With your full and excellent note Paul you have left nothing to critique. As you said the river provides an excellent lead-in and it reflects the sunset colours beautifully. The dark area above the river almost looks like a reflection of the cliff.
The is nothing to see on the left of the frame so I wondered if that should be cropped, but no, it balances the image well. So through gritted teeth :o) WELL DONE
Kath

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-08-26 10:15

I like the colours of the photo, very good still waters and the black silhouttes are well shot, great timing, well done

huynt (5079) 2005-08-26 11:46

hi Paul
A wonderful sunset shot. Well capture and composition. Thanks for sharing. bets regards. HUY

john_c (24658) 2005-08-26 12:46

Hi Paul,
Well, this is surely one of your best sunset shots of all. In fact, you have left me no alternative but to place this in my favourites list. Its much easier taking seaside sunsets, but to capture a sunset over a river as you have done takes much skill - its not "point and shoot." Your POV couldn't be better with the little rivulet in the foreground catching the reflection. A first class presentation, Paul.
John

sarju (5324) 2005-08-26 13:11

Hi Paul
Well your note was quite an introduction and I must thank you for refreshing my memory and above all thanks for posting this photo and showing us how gracefully the exposure can be attained ... i am very happy with your settings .... and about composition the refelection of sun from the river is very impressive and I think that is what this photo is all about for me.
thanks for posting .... cheers .... Sarju
PS: Will come back tomorrow for intro to processing

danby1 (3695) 2005-08-26 16:15

perfect shot, great sharpness and beautiful colours! nice reflections and good composition, this shot cannot be faulted!

LCannon (2780) 2005-08-26 23:56

I really like this sunset photo Paul, I tried several different crops to it, thinking that it should be cropped differently. None of them looked as balanced as this one you've done. I love the sharpness of the lines, the brightness of the sky. You've placed the sun off center to the right a bit, which looks well balanced to me, the sweeping curve of water on the sand takes up about 2/3 of the photo on the right, so follows that rule well. The only thing I don't like are the clouds that seen to slant making the horizon look crooked with it isn't, sort of an optical illusion of sorts. That doesn't at all detract from the overall beauty of form, and clarity of focus. I love your note, just the kind I need to make my own photos better, well to "try" and make them better! Thanks for sharing this Paul.

PixelTerror (96880) 2005-08-27 4:59

Hi Paul,
Sunsets are a common and most seen exercize around here, so we get picky...
What I like in yours is the quality of the warm coloring and the great clarity of this shot, resulting from the lying mirror water and the reflections into it. It's a beautiful one, well complemented by an excellent note.
Have a nice week end,
Jean-Yves

apache (1426) 2005-08-27 15:18

Hi Paul,
I was meaning to come back to this picture soon...but ask any of your friends who are in the software field and they would say that "soon" means anywhere between 1 day to 1 week...! :(
This one is irresistible, for its beauty and the very educative information you provided. Will help a lot of ameteurs like me. The sharpness and the colour clarity is too good. Your framing of the scene is also something to learn from.
Thanks for posting eye openers like these.
Ranjith

capthaddock (28790) 2005-08-28 0:33

Hi Paul - wow, what a magnificent sunset, the elements come togethre to make this a very memorable one, and excellent note.

jazu (407) 2005-08-28 3:10

WOW, this pic is a masterpiece.
I'm speechless

weswang (18223) 2005-08-28 14:11

Hi Paul, A beautiful sunset scene. I like the colors, the light rings and the reflections of the lights on the water, and the silhouette view of the mountain. The foreground leading stream to the lake made a nice pattern. You have managed to get this beautiful shot with noiseless high quality. Well done.

kclai (2267) 2005-08-29 2:45

Hi Paul
Great technique that produces such great picture.
Yeah, sometimes tripod is a burden, difficult to carry around, but for such shot that required it, it is a full advantage.
The exposure level is good, no bleeding and that gives the sharpness.
Well done, Paul.
Eric Lai

sayzey (2358) 2005-08-29 14:08

Hey Paul! Another excellent sunset! I think that your tips are a great idea to help newcomers who are attracted to the shot. I simply love the colours and the silhouettes, and the reflections in the water, your positioning is certainly very good : )

Now for my tips, whether they are useful or not is up for debate but they work for me most of the time!

When I approach a sunset or a sunrise I like to have my tripod as you say but I find it is not always essential, when faster exposures are used its possible to achieve sharp results without one, however its much better to have one and not need it, than to not have one and need it!

I think that its also important (in digital photography at least) to take as many photos as you can experimenting with different settings, angles, crops povs etc thatway when you get home, you have lots to choose from, and you may even find out something that you never normally woudl have tried produces great results.

danyy (94688) 2005-09-02 6:42

Bonjour Paul,
j'aime beaucoup la note aui accompagne la photo et qui montre le soin que tu portes à adapter les règlages de l'appareil au vu des situations.
Il es tvrais que cette photo est techniquement irréprochable. Les couleurs superbes. Un magnifique document d'école.
Compliments.
Daniel.

mumek (19473) 2005-09-05 15:21

Good afternoon Paul!
Great shot, perfect timing, wonderful colours and composition You are not only the excellent photographer, but very good teacher.Thanks for very informative note and instructions about making this kind of photos.
best regards.
ziggy

jinbo (319) 2005-09-15 15:35

I personally found this photo is charming. I am not quite clear why it is. I will revisit it to find out why as it is very important to me to learn from your sccuess. :D

ballyna (1689) 2005-12-03 19:09

paul,
great sunset compo,what a nature there - very beautiful.the curves are adding and silhouettes work well here.reflections ,colors excellent.
regards

Crosman (121) 2008-11-06 13:53 [Comment]

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