Photographing Sunrise, Sunset and Twilight

Photographing sunrise and sunset is actually no different from the photography side,Preparation needed is to check the location of the previous day , the sun and so on . The main equipment required is a camera , a tripod , and a flashlight .

Upon arriving at the first location was certainly looking for a nice and safe location to photograph . Having got a good plug the camera on a tripod . Do not install the camera first before we get the ideal place .

Mode and the camera exposure settings

I use the camera mode is manual mode ( M ) . Make sure the AUTO ISO in the OFF condition . Loss dong , if it turns out the camera chose ISO AUTO ISO is too high because it detects not so bright lighting .

After that I would set the ISO low , around 100/200 ( depending on the camera , respectively ) . With a low ISO , the picture quality is nice

My favorite opening is around f / 8 to f/16 . With a relatively small aperture , a large and sharply to extensive views can be sharp all .

After that , I just set the shutter speed to lightmeter fall in the zero point when I half-press the shutter button / snap . Usually the shutter speed will fall more slowly than a second just before the sun rises .

To focus , I try to autofocus , but if the sky is still dark and the camera fails to lock the focus , I would set the lens / camera to manual focus , and using live view ( composition with LCD screen ) and then look for the focus by turning the focus on the lens barrel .

Then I would take a test shot , if it's too bright or dark , I will change the shutter speed so that the value of the result as I wanted.

Ideally use the self-timer or delay exposure so that when we press the shutter button, the camera does not shake and the images sharp. And remote release cable, two auxiliary accessories can help.

If the view includes anything that moves, for example, there are people such as fishermen, photographers, wildlife, etc., then the shutter speednya not be too slow (more than one second) because the subject is moving it will not be sharp.

If possible, we use a fast enough shutter speed, eg 1/15 sec or if it could be 1/100 sec be ideal. To get a fast shutter speed without making the image darker, raise the value ISOnya.

Filter or not?

Filters such as GND (graduated neutral density) is usually used to balance the lighting the sky and the earth when sunset and sunrise.

I myself despise not use GND filter and let the dark parts of foreground / silhouette. So it felt more natural and more prominent forms.
Another alternative if you want the sky and the earth is balanced is to enable a feature called Active D Lighting (Nikon), Auto lighting optimizer (Canon). There are also cameras that now features built-in HDR. When this feature is activated, the camera will automatically create two images and combine them into one company.

Another way is to make two or more than two photos different light and dark combine with HDR processing software such as Photomatix or Photoshop CS.Saat using HDR techniques, we shall use a tripod so that the final image does not show up shadows.