Planning
Pick a location that is out of the way of road and foot traffic, where you’re unlikely to be disturbed. Go to the location in broad daylight before the shoot, and ensure your view of the horizon will be unobstructed and free of any hazards. Look for interesting forgrounds.
If you are in a new location, ask around about great locations for sunrise.
The most important part of planning a sunrise shoot is pre-visualization. This is the act of looking at a scene and imagining it at the time of sunrise. There are a number of apps to help with pre-visualization. They can point directly to where the sun will rise and help you decide camera angles and compositions.
The most important factor after the location is time of the day. Obviously, this will vary depending on whether you’re capturing a sunrise or a sunset. Is there a storm coming? If your shooting time coincides with an approaching or recently-ended storm, the results can be staggering. Rain and storm clouds can add a dramatic layer of dimension to the scene.
Arrive Early
Often the best show of colours comes before the sun breaches the horizon if you have decent cloud cover. Arriving 30 minutes before sunrise might mean you miss this colourful show or are scrambling to get set up and shoot before the colours are dashed.
Being prepared and planning ahead is a great way to enjoy sunrise photography without the rush. Take the time to scout and plan ahead by having your gear ready.
Clean Your Lens
When we take our photo gear out into the elements, it gets dirty. Nothing seems to attract dust as much as the front element of a lens. Just take a look at it after you've been outside shooting for a while. Point that dirty lens toward the sun and even the tiniest specks of dust will be accentuated in the resulting images.
Sunrise, or Sunset?
There is a slight difference in the appearance of light at sunset versus what you’ll see at sunrise. Early morning light tends to be cooler (higher blue) than light in the late evening, which leans toward more warm colour castings consisting of orange and red.
Since we know there are differing colour temperatures at work here, you might need to adjust for this, depending on what feel you’re going for, either through warming or cooling filters, or adjustments in post-production to add or remove warmth into the colour profile of the final photograph.
Gear
Obviously you can’t capture the right shot without the right gear; so make sure you have it all ready to go before you head out. First and foremost, you’ll want to bring your tripod. Sunrises and sunsets are potentially low-light situations (depending on what part of the sunset you’re trying to capture), so you want a steady base for your camera.
Secondly, you’ll want to determine what lens to use for the shot. Even though beautiful landscapes can be captured using a 35mm or 50mm focal length (for sensors with a 1.6 crop factor – 56 to 80mm on a full frame system), a wide angle lens is preferred, including any zoom lenses that can capture a length of 25mm and below (40mm on a full frame system). If you have a prime lens at these lengths, you will have a better chance of catching an even sharper image. Using a wide angle lens will allow you to capture a more vast, sweeping portion of the scene.
Although using filters can degrade image quality a bit, due to the addition of another obstacle for light to pass through between your subject and your camera’s sensor, there are some that could be useful here, such as a GND (graduated neutral density) filter, to darken the upper portion of the sky a bit. Filters such as UV (ultraviolet) or polarizing filters may actually be a hindrance in these situations, and should be avoided. These filters reduce the amount of light coming in to the sensor, further increasing the required exposure time, which may not be idea if you’re trying to freeze any motion in the shot.
Use a tripod
Use a tripod because as the sun goes down, especially with sunrises but with sunsets the light will quickly diminish and then a tripod is necessary. That means your shutter speed could get too slow to hand-hold the camera anyway. With the camera on the tripod, the shutter speed can be longer without the worry of camera shake. However, be aware of moving foreground objects, such as blowing trees. A slower shutter speed could introduce motion blur, which may not be the desired effect.
Settings
It’s best not to use automatic settings. Unfortunately, automatic shutter speed can cause shots to be underexposed or overexposed depending on whether the camera is using the dark foreground or the lighter sky to set the speed and aperture.
The aperture will need to be set to a large number, such as f/11, f/13, or f/16. The lens opening gets smaller as the f-number get larger. A larger f-number is also what is needed to give the sun the starburst effect. A lower ISO setting usually means less grain (noise) and results in a cleaner image. Set the ISO to the lowest setting for your camera, usually either 100 or 200. Try to keep the ISO at the lowest setting, if possible.
After shooting a few images, it's a good idea to review the photos on the camera's LCD and to also look at the histogram. If the exposure is not what you want, a quick and easy way to make an adjustment is to apply exposure compensation. If the image looks a little too dark, apply some positive exposure compensation. Conversely, if it's a bit too bright, a bit of negative exposure compensation should tone down the image. Experiment with it to see how it works and the amount of exposure compensation you need.
Sunset photography, especially when including the sun in the frame, is a very high dynamic range (HDR) in which to shoot. In other words, there is a huge difference in tonal values between the brightest and darkest parts in the image. A lot of times, the dynamic range is too high for our cameras to capture everything in a single image. If you expose for the brightest parts, then the shadows become black. When exposing to bring out the shadows, the sky will likely be blown out and that detail will be lost. This is a situation where shooting multiple exposures of the same scene may help.
Shooting bracketed exposures is usually pretty easy to do. Most all modern DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have automatic exposure bracketing. Check your manual to see how to do this with your camera. The default is typically set to shoot 3 exposures. One will be the correct exposure, one underexposed, and one overexposed. The amount of under- or over-exposure can be set in-camera. Some cameras even allow for 5, 7, or even 9 bracketed exposures, but 3 is generally enough. After the bracketed exposures are captured, they can be combined into a single image using Lightroom's Photo Merge HDR feature or other HDR software.
normal camera setting
over exposed
Auto Exposure Lock is another trick to use. It allows you to point the camera at the dark area and return to your composition and the shot will be lighter. I prefer the other way. Point at the light part and press the shutter half way down then move back to the sunset. This will make the sky darker and more colourful.
Don’t use automatic white balance, it makes it too cool looking. Use ‘cloudy’ or ‘shade’ , which will bring out the warm colours.
Use manual focus and set it to infinity. In automatic focus the camera has difficulty finding something to focus on in the sky.
Use vivid mode for high colour and contrast.
For sunset photography, and landscape images in general, wide, sweeping vistas are typically what you will want to capture. A focal length range of 14 mm to roughly 24 mm is a good starting point to compose the image and get everything in the photo that you want. Shooting at a wider angle will also accentuate the starburst effect for more dramatic sunset images.
After getting that wide angle shot, try switching lenses and zooming in. Try different focal lengths. The only limitation should be your own creativity. There's no rule about what focal length is right.
Compose for Interest
A sunrise or sunset can actually be pretty boring. That is when there is a lack of compelling subject matter in a photo of a sunrise or sunset like for example an empty beach with just the setting sun.
“While sitting on a beach and seeing a sunset can seem like a wonderful experience, unfortunately, the camera cannot replicate that. Most successful photos of sunrises or sunsets have a point of interest in them, in that there is a subject that is the main story and the sunrise or sunset is providing the light and the atmosphere.
That story doesn’t necessarily have to be a person or an object in the frame. The story could be the beautiful scenery or the crashing waves against the coast. But the key point is that there is something that gets the viewers’ attention. So, don’t just rely on the sunrise or sunset, try to build your composition using it as an addition rather than the story.” Kav Dadfar
Once you have identified that, simply compose the shot to include more of the most dramatic scenery. If you have an angry, cloudy sky that accentuates the sunlight, let that occupy the upper 2/3 of the scene. If you have an interesting foreground or landscape below the sun, and a less-intriguing sky, let that occupy the bottom 2/3 of the image. You want to draw the viewer into the horizon, and then let their eyes drift to the most dramatic part of the image.
The most common error in shooting sunsets or sunrises is composing the horizon exactly in the middle of the photo. While this can work in some cases, it normally causes a bit too much symmetry and can make the picture uninteresting.
Use the rule of thirds and place the sun, silhouette, or the point of interest off centre.
Use the LCD to Compose and Shoot
Sunset photography may involve pointing the camera/lens directly at the sun. You don't want to look through the viewfinder because of the possibility of damaging your eyes. Therefore, take advantage of the LCD to frame up your shots. If your camera happens to have a tilting LCD, it is awesome for getting low angle shots without laying on the ground. All cameras should have that feature!
Be Patient Don’t Leave too Early
After the sun goes down below the horizon, don't leave right away. Keep watching the light and colours in the sky and keep shooting. Quite often the best colour will happen well after the sun has set. This is especially true if there are a few clouds in the sky near the horizon. Also remember to look behind you to see what the sun is hitting.
Don't worry too much about keeping all the info in your head. Just have have a passion and have fun practicing and practicing.
