Feature: Sunsets

For dramatic colour in nature, nothing beats a sunset,
which is why it is so popular with photographers;
to avoid your picture looking like a cliché, you need some forethought.

The first thing you have to realise when photographing a sunset is that you don’t have to shoot directly at the sun each time. If the light is exceptionally clear and bright, face away from it to see its reddish glow illuminating the scene stunningly.

But if you do choose to shoot the sun itself, the two keys to success will be composing the sun against an interesting part of the horizon, and getting the exposure right. As the examples here show, it’s what else is in the shot that makes all the difference, whether an ancient temple, or outstanding rocks on which the sun is putting on a departing show. The sun alone is never enough. When shooting into the sun, remove all filters to avoid ghost images. Polaroid filters are effective only if the sun is off to one side.

Overexposure is the worst mistake; this kind of shot wants colour richness. And if you want more landscape detail than a deep silhouette can provide, consider shooting a bracketed sequence for later exposure blending.

A telephoto will make the sun’s disc larger in the frame, and a really long lens (500mm equivalent focal length or more) can be spectacular, with the disc large enough to be a backdrop for a flock of geese, for example, in silhouette. Wide-angle compositions can also work well, with the sun a pinpoint and the horizon a wide sweep of silhouette. A cloud passing in front of the sun in this wide-angle scenario can be useful for the composition as well as lowering the contrast.

The sun diffuses its light over the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Devoid of figures, it has a timeless quality.

Julian Love/APA

The sun by itself is never enough: it’s the rays penetrating the atmospehere and cloud cover that create the picture here. The red clouds produce a velvet texture, while the sea darkens to black.

Kevin Cummins/APA

Turning your back on the setting sun, you will see the other side of the silhouettes, and how the sun lights up the landscape. Here, at the Mittens in Monument Valley, Arizona, it brings out the deepest colours in the rocks.

Abe Nowitz/APA

At sunset the sun simply pours its colour over everything before it. Here, over the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, the water turns to a silvery gold, while landscape features disappear into a deep palette, and the sailing boats provide a touch of idle animation.

Abe Nowitz/APA

This welcoming silhouette reinforces the idea that dawn is a time of rebirth.

iStockphoto.com

Sunrise

Sunrises are more difficult to photograph than sunsets, not in any technical sense, but because you don’t have daylight in which to anticipate where the sun will be on the horizon, and to see what mist or cloud cover there is. Ask around to find the best spots to watch the sun come up, and find out when it arrives - sometimes the time is listed in local papers. The rewards for getting up early can be great. At this time of day there is often a different kind of light, a beautifully quiet and soft quality with none of the flame and fire associated with sunsets. This morning light can also invade city and harbourside streets – the sea will be calmer than in the evenings – when everyone is asleep, bringing picture opportunities.

The rules for sunsets apply similarly to sunrises, but if you are on any elevated spot, or in a wide open space, such as a desert or steppes, a wide angle will show the full extent of the flooding colour and light. A long lens, on the other hand, will show the shimmering outlines of the sun, which emerges like a living being, changing it colours and shape by the second. The action will happen quickly: and you will need to fire off rapid numbers of shots to get the best results.
There are many famous high spots to visit to witness the sun’s arrival, casting the shadow of the hill or mountain and exploding like a rainbow ripple around the horizon. Some, like Mount Fuji, can be crowded. Since ancient times the rising sun has been celebrated, making places such as Machu Picchu and Adam’s Peak particularly magical at this time of day.