Sunset Photography Tips

The sunsets at @epiceventcenter are AMAZING and easily a favorite spot to shoot twilight motion and still photography…

When to capture the best sunsets?

The obvious answer is anytime because skies and sunsets are beautiful without any sort of help. But if you seriously want to capture some full spectrum colorful light displays in the sky, I’ve got some simple suggestions below including the best times to shoot. But first, check out the views out at Epic Event Center located in Marion, Iowa. This event venue is located in a perfect spot with a pond and the backdrop of limitless sky for some beautiful sunsets.

Beautiful! So, back to when is the best time to capture sunset imagery? Like I said earlier, the sky is beautiful on it’s own but there are a few things in nature to consider that can up your twilight photo game and it’s all about timing, understanding the weather and the science of skies and a couple of technical details:

1. Timing – You have about a 10 minute window just before the sun dips below the horizon to capture its warm glow so you best be setup and ready to shoot! For still photography make sure you use a tripod for slow shutter speeds that let more light in and keeps the ISO low. Also, be sure your image is properly exposed. I use a remote shutter or intervalometer as well. A few minutes before dusk I start a timelapse interval of a shutter release every 6 seconds or so. With moving image you’re working with limited controllable variables. To contrast, with still images where you can set the camera to aperture priority mode and shoot at different exposures (Although, I prefer manual er’ thang). For video, make sure you shoot in manual mode keeping the ISO as low as possible, white balance around 5500K and proper exposure. No automatic settings, specially ISO! You don’t want sensors adapting as you fly the drone or move the camera around the landscape.
2. Weather – Here’s where the science of the skies come into play. Autumn by far produces the best sunsets. More vivid sunsets occur when there’s a clean lower atmosphere. Clean and crisp air produces the most vibrant skies. Air circulation is slower in the Summer which is why the skies aren’t typically as vibrant but after a rain cools temperatures and the clouds dissipate, the sky temporarily transforms. That’s when the photo above was taken around this time last year. You can see how much more vibrant the colors in the sky are. Seriously, I sat in the rain for a half hour begging Mother Nature for a break around sunset because when I picked the time to shoot, the forecast called for rain ending in the late afternoon and cooling temperatures. I knew the sky would be even more vibrant, the rain finally ceased and it was! SCIENCE.
3. Location – The context around the sky is also important. If you are going for a minimalist style, look for isolated places with few trees with a long visible horizon. However, trees are excellent as foreground objects. In this case, the Willow tree shot with the sun behind it produces a striking silhouette.
4. (Optional) Polarizing Filter – Landscape photography is what this filter is made for. It saturates colors and limits reflection on objects like water. So why is this optional? Well, for me it’s up to taste. I prefer reflections on water and windows but at the proper angle a polarizing filter can give the sky color a little boost like the image above but, you have to play with angles to find the right one. If I’m shooting a busy landscape or body of water, no polarizing filter. Straight up sky, most of the time I use one.

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