Would you like to learn how to shoot stunning sunset pictures?
Waiting for the right time. The biggest mistake beginners do is to set their camera up and take a straight on shot of the sun in the center of the frame. This only produces dull images that any one can take.
To get professional looking photos do what the greats do. You have to try and capture the atmosphere of the scene. Like mountains, trees or anything that can add depth to the scene. By doing this you create a silhouette of the foreground, which gives the photo a dark and moody effect. Most camera have an option for taking sunset pictures built in, which will give you the correct exposure. Consult your owners manuel for detail instructions.
Wait for the sun to be out of view. By obscuring the sun with an object in the scene you will create the silhouette effect. This creates less extreme lighting and will give you better flow between the background and foreground.
When taking portraitures, faces will look better if you use a flash. Try to use white balancing techniques in this situation. Setting your white balance to daylight manually will create warm tones with reds and yellows, which is the effect you want.
As always if you're using a digital camera take several pictures and use different techniques. Move the camera to different positions especially keeping it at ground level, which will capture more of the foreground a make it appear as if you are in the photo.
Lonnie Kunkel is a freelance photographer and a graphic/web designer. You can discover more Digital Photography Tutorials at FisheyeZen.com
Domainer