One of my favourite locations for both sunsets and getting a bit of peace and quiet – although the mood was spoilt a bit by people shooting nearby when I was there last time :)
There is quite a prominent bit of foreground at this location which is shot very often, indeed I’ve done so myself on a number of occasions, but this simple view across the gently rippling water as the sun sinks behind the trees is my favourite.
Purchase print at RedBubble | imagekind
The day before I took this I noticed just how red the clouds were as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Keeping an eye on the weather over the course of the next day I thought it looked like there was a good chance conditions might be the same so I popped out an hour before sunset to explore some local lakes that I’ve ridden and driven past many times but never walked around.
The major challenge when attempting shots like this (for me at least) is getting the exposure just right. Even though the sun has disappeared below the horizon the sky is still bright enough to completely overpower the rest of the scene. I’m sure the camera could have dealt with this in one of its automatic modes in conjunction with evaluative metering and auto white balance, but from experience I doubt I would have been that happy with the results. The shot would either have contained a properly exposed sky and little else, or more light in the rest of the shot with blown highlights in the sky.
In order to maintain an even level of light in the sky and in the reflection on the water I used my trusty Cokin ND8 (P121) grad *. It’s ideal for shots of this type where there is a nice straight, dark line across the image where the start of the graduation can be placed. Using this filter allows a longer exposure time so that we can pick up more of the light elsewhere in the shot, such as the faint light on the reeds in the foregound. Once the grad is in place it’s always a good idea to double check its positioning with the DOF preview button if you’re using a small aperture as fine adjustments can make all the difference.
Before I put the grad in I’ll usually spot meter what I think is the brightest part of the scene and set it so that it exposes at just below +2EV – I do this manually by adjusting the shutter speed (but if you are using AV you can just used the exposure compensation control to achieve the same results). Once the grad is in place I’ll then adjust the shutter speed to compensate for change in light – so if I’d settled on 1/100s before the grad I’ll change it to 1/25s (even though the ND8 makes a 3 stop difference I won’t usually adjust by 3 stops initially).
Then it’s just a case of taking a test shot and checking the composition and the histogram (and keeping an eye out for blinkies). If there are blown highlights (blinkies) then the shutter speed needs to be faster – if the histogram doesn’t look right (usually not containing data in the right-hand 5th) then the shutter speed needs to be slower **.
* It’s worth noting that the Cokin P121 does give a pink/purple colour cast so it’s not really ideal for use during the day, unless you are prepared to attempt to correct the problem either by using Auto White Balance or by fixing it later in post-production. It is however great for shooting towards the sun at this time of day
** If the shutter speed can’t be slower – because there is too much movement in the shot – then compromises will have to be made with aperture size or ISO setting. A brief explanation of exposure control and stops can be found here – http://www.andystafford.co.uk/exposure-control-stops/
This hadn’t been intended my location for the evening – I’d been going through some earlier shots and wanted to carry out some further experiments with the green filter and reflections in water, so I chose somewhere at random from the OS map. Once I’d been for a walk through some fields and found that the water was on private land and not that great anyway I set off to find something else to do – then I noticed the Ratcliffe On Soar power station :)
I watched the sun go down from another location, waiting for the light to improve to give me a good balance between the sky and the ground but it was cloudy and slightly windy. In the end I decided to head home without any particularly decent shots but, when I drove past this field with easy access and a good view of the power station I knew there was going to be the chance of a nice image. Fortunately the breeze was intermittent so after a few attempts it was still enough to get this 1 second exposure without any noticeable movement in the crops.
I used a Cokin P121 ND grad filter to reduce the brightness of the sky by 3 stops – it would perhaps have been better if I’d stacked another grad on top too, but the wide angle filter holder only has room for a single filter (and even then there are still vignetting issues between 10 and 12mm)
Technical details : P121 ND grad, 1 second exposure, f/22, 10mm, ISO100
Available for licence at Getty Images
The light just after the sun has gone down can make for some really remarkable shots – Ok, sunset shots can be a bit cliched, but searching around (or waiting) for a bit of foreground interest can make all the difference.
If you are lucky and have a steady hand (or a lens with optical stabilising) you can get good shots at a low ISO without having to bother with a tripod (although using a tripod is recommended for sharper images). This shot was hand held as that is just how I prefer to take photos – I like to feel like I’m involved, rather than controlling a piece of machinery :)
I like this location as the expanse of water makes for a great reflection on a still day but despite the colours being pretty it really needed something extra. Fortunately after about 5 minutes a swan started to come towards the shore.
Technical details:- Cokin P121 ND4 Grad, ISO200, 1/15s, f/16.0, 20 mm
This was the first sunset I ever really paid attention to – and the first one I witnessed with my camera. I hadn’t previously been aware of just how much the light changes before and after the sun goes down and being there was accidental – I had actually gone to take pictures of some boats I had noticed there earlier in the week.
I’d just taken delivery of some new filters – a light blue grad and a light tobacco grad, both Kood – and was keen to try them out. After getting the shots I wanted I started to wander back to the car when I noticed that the sun had finally disappeared from view and there was a slight ripple moving across the otherwise still reservoir.
I used both filters here – the tobacco one at the bottom and the blue one at the top. Technically I should have included some foreground but the colours in this were pleasing enough for me to not mind its exclusion.
Technical details:- 0.125 sec (1/8s), f/8.0, 21 mm