|
Special Message:
Which is
more important, getting a new PlayStation or your health and wellbeing?
Buy these
as cards
Get these as prints for
your walls
| |
|
How to take photos:
Sunrises & Sunsets |
| |
Also see:
'How to use your SLR'. Bookmark this page in your browser, or with
 del.icio.us
(more below).
Visit our forums to
discuss and ask questions. |
Basic gear you need:
 | Tripod, remote shutter
release (or use your cameras timer) |
| Filters, preferably a
graduated filter, either Neutral Density, or Tobacco coloured. |
| Coffee, and warm clothes
(in winter) |
|
The
Aim:
| To show something unique,
original, that others haven't done or seen before |
| Not to blind yourself
(looking through the camera at the sun can damage your eyes) |
| Get a great / dramatic
picture |
|
How:
| ISO: Usually, it's best to use
iso100 to reduce noise. |
| Aperture: About f22 Set the focus to manual,
and focus to 'infinity'. Having the aperture set to F22, makes almost
everything 'in focus', so if your focusing is a little off, it's all
right. |
| Shutter Speed:
These will vary. With the sunrise samples
below, I chose to use filters, hoping to slow the shutter, and blur the
water. However, this seems to only work if the water is close, not a few
kilometers away, like as seen below. |
| Filters: Not
needed, but I chose to use a graduated
filter, so
the foreground is in it's natural colour, but the subject and sky are
rendered more intensely, adding drama to the pictures |
| White Balance: Be sure your
white balance is set for
the the light conditions, either 'Sunny', Sunrise / Sunset, Auto, or
custom (if you know how). |
| Lens: I prefer both my 75-300mm
zoom and macro 18-70mm lenses. Often, a newer lens can bring out more colour. |
| The How: The light
at this time of day
still wasn't bright, and in using iso100, the best speeds were quite slow,
hence the need for a tripod. In the sunrises below, I set the shutter speed to over expose
seemed to work better most of the time, other times setting to under
expose also brought out the best results. Use your preview screen to help
you judge, and the camera's histogram |
| Quality Issues: Be sure there's no
distractions, or unnecessary junk in the fore or backgrounds. Plan it, so
everything that you see through the lens is there, because it needs to be.
That includes no power lines, no garbage bins, or an unsightly McDonalds
billboard or other. Include rocks and kangaroos only if they add
atmosphere to the picture |
| Advice: In the case of the
sunrises seen below, it rose suddenly (I wasn't expecting it when it
did), and it moved surprisingly quickly. Be there early, and set up early,
take some early test pictures to help you better judge your shutter speed
and other settings,
it'll be a pain if you got there late, after going through the trouble of
getting up early. |
| I chose to zoom in as much
as I could, which makes it dangerous for your eyes if you look through the
lens. Looks at marks at the base of the view finder to help you judge
where the sun is positioned in the frame. NEVER look at the sun through a
lens! |
| Issues With Zooming:
Also, if you zoom right in onto any object, then your camera will wobble a little
from any wind, and from the shutter itself moving to to take the picture.
So, I used my body to shield the camera from the wind, and held the centre
part as still as possible. However, just to see how sensitive it is, hold the
tripod, look through the lens, and vary your weight of grip on the tripod;
there you will see movement though the lens. So, do be careful |
| Also see the
composition article. |
| Click on these thumbnails
to see them larger: |
 |
Notice the light through
the view finder |
|
Examples:
Click on
these to view them at a larger size. Notice the time, and the varying
shutter speeds.
Create your photo book now!
 |
< Sunset
near Osu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, July 2006. F11, 1/100, iso100,
18-70mm lens at 40mm (no filters used) |
 |
< Sunrise
over Nagoya Port 24th December 2007, at 6.57am. F22, 1/5, iso100;
75-300mm lens at 300mm, Cokin P124 tobacco graduated filter, and tripod
used. Notice the thirds rule being applied (see the
composition article.) |
 |
< Sunrise
over Nagoya Port 24th December 2007, at 7.02am. F22, 1/6, iso100;
75-300mm lens at 110mm, Cokin P124 tobacco graduated filter (possibly a
Cokin P152 Neutral Density filter, and or Cokin P160 Linear Polariser
filter), and tripod used. |
 |
< Sunrise
over Nagoya Port 24th December 2007, at 7.21am. F22, 1/80, iso100;
18-70mm lens at 60mm, Cokin P124 tobacco graduated filter, and tripod
used. |
Also see
this gallery
for more examples |
| |
We proudly support:
|
