How to Take Better Photographs of Sunsets: Tips for that Perfect Twilight Shot

Sunsets have been a popular subject of photography ever since color could be captured on film. If you ask three different people why they enjoy sunsets, you'll get three different answers, but it's undeniably a much-loved object of attention. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your planned photo:

Figure out ahead of time when the sun will set. While being the most important step, a lot of photographers forget just how crucial it is and end up getting a spectacular view of the post-sunset sky. Scope out the landscape in advance and determine what affect it will have on the sunset. For example, the sun will set behind a mountain range several minutes sooner than it will over flatlands.

Make sure your camera is set up completely before the sunset-there's no time for last-second tweaks when you're trying to get that perfect shot. Allow at least thirty minutes before sunset to set everything up. Use the time to get the exact settings and angle you want. Maybe there's scenery in the surrounding area that will make the backdrop more dramatic. Admittedly, exposure may be more difficult to set up in advance; in this instance, just try to get a handle on the exposure value range before you take your shot. This may mean a bit of tweaking until you get to a range that satisfies you.

Tripods are your friend, no matter how much modern photographers like to pretend it takes away from the "realism". A shaking camera will kill your sunset, plain and simple. With a tripod you you can increase the exposure time without having to worry if the camera is shaking. Also consider your aperture at this point; you want to maximize the field depth, so the smaller your aperture, the better your picture will be.

Obviously, time is a factor. Once the sun starts to set you have a window of less than ten minutes, so familiarize yourself with your camera long before you decide to photograph a sunset. Practice makes perfect, so do a few test runs to get a good grip of photographing sunsets. Also, if possible, take more than a few shots as the sun is setting. There's no secret that the scene changes every minute, and one picture can look completely different from the next.

This last tip should go without saying, but bears repeating for safety's sake: never look directly at the sun, especially if you value your sight. A viewfinder won't provide any more protection than if you were staring into the corona with the naked eye. That's what your LCD screen is for, so it's best if you keep your focus directed on that.

With a little practice and a little foresight, you should be taking sunset photographs as good as any professional photographer in no time.