Need Help with Sunsets...

[varlavixen]

Hi -
These sunset photos didn't turn out as vibrant as I thought they would...this wasn't the brightest sunset I've ever seen, but it was definitely more orange and pink than is coming through...
Anyone have any tips on good sunset technique?

http://www.pbase.com/varlavixen/sutro_baths

Thanks!
V

[stanb]

I think the problem is your camera's taking an average exposure - hence the blown (washed out) sky, with detail in the foreground - you really need to meter on the sky, and lock your exposure on that. This will give correctly exposed sky, but very dark forground.

Alternativly, shoot in raw, and process the image twice - with the exposure set for the brighter and darker parts of the image seperately. Its then a matter of putting one over the other, and removing the incorrectly exposed parts ofeth top image to reveal the correctly exposed parts of the lower layer

[neovolatile]

Hi,

You could make a duplicate layer and then change the blending mode to OVERLAY. Then cut back the percentage a bit. See how that works.

Ellsworth Weaver
http://www.pbase.com/neovolatile

[keiththomson]

I find sunsets to be pretty tricky too.....I find I can never capture a photograph that looks like the sunset did to my eyes (I guess thats because of the huge amount of dynamic range in the pictures). It often seems as if a great sunset that I think should look great on a photo doesnt look so good, and a mediocre sunset to my eyes often makes a great picture (though never looking like the sunset did for real).

I agree with the tips above and tend to always exposure for the brightest part of the sunset. Also with digital play around some and try differing exposures to examine back on a computer.