Tips and Tricks for Sunset Photography

"Shining Through"(Click for Morel)

I personally prefer to shoot sunsets where the sun is hiding behind clouds.

Choosing the Right Day

In Malaysia, the best day for photographing a sunset or sunrise is a day when it is unbearably hot. This is because the sky is so clear that it is almost cloudless, therefore the sun’s heat rays are at their maximum intensity. So the next time you feel that the temperature is shooting up, pack your tripod and head for your favourite photography location!

The Right White Balance

A good starting point for your white balance setting would be Daylight/Sunny. This is to preserve any blue colour in left in the sky. Using a warmer white balance setting such as Cloudy or Shade may kill the blues. If there is no blue left in the sky, my advice is to go warm, which is to choose either Cloudy or Shade, in order to maximise the intensity of the orange/yellow colour.

Panoramic Vistas

You can take about 4 to 5 shots of a sunset panorama and then stitch them together in Adobe Photoshop. When taking panoramas, it helps to use Manual exposure mode, and manual focusing so that your focus point does not change from shot to shot. Using a telephoto lens rather than a wide angle lens also helps to minimise distortion, so that it is easier to do the stitching later.

"Sunset over the temples of Bagan, Burma"  by Andy Cheek (Click for More)