How to photograph sunrises
Photographer and author Rick Sammon shares with you his best advice including 8 tips for photographing the perfect sunrise.
1. Know where the sun rises before you go out taking photographs. Once the sun starts to rise, you won’t want to waist any time repositioning your camera gear.
2. Know what time the sun is expected to rise in your particular area. Buying a copy of the local newspaper will tell you this.
3. Use a tripod, because you will need to set slow shutter speeds due to low light conditions. For example, 1/8th of a second or slower depending on the available light.
4. Underexposing your shot will result in richer, deeper colors and shades of reds, oranges and yellows.
5. If you want a small sun in your composition, use a wide angle lens. If you want a larger sun seen within your composition then use a telephoto zoom lens.
6. For composition purposes, don’t place the sun dead centre in the frame. Try and imagine a grid over your composition, like the one shown in the image below.
If you always ensure the sun’s position is over one of the overlapping areas, you’ll come out a winner every time.
7. Like any landscape, don’t place the horizon dead centre of the frame either. If there is a lot of color and light in the sky, then make sure that area takes up the top 2/3’s of your composition. On the otherhand, if there is a lot of color or reflection in the foreground, then compose your shot so the foreground takes up the bottom 2/3’s of the shot. You can view examples of both of these compositions in the video below.
8. Take off all filters when photograhing towards the sun. Otherwise you will end up with a ghost image of the sun, which will ruin any sunrise photograph. It’s also important to remember that a polarising filter is only useful in creating a more colorful sky when the sun is to the right or left of your position. Therefore, in the majority of cases, polarising filters should also be removed for sunrise photography.
In the video below, Rick Sammon explains all these tips for photographing sunrises in more detail.
{ 2 comments }
This may be a stupid question, but I’ve read that you should never point your SLR toward the sun because of the magnifying effects of the lens + the already damaging brightness of the sun. In sunrise/sunset cases, is the intensity of the sun low enough so that this is not dangerous?
Hi Kristen,
It’s not a stupid question at all. Personally, I’d be more worried about damage to your eye than the camera. Thinking how camera’s are built technically, I can’t see a problem with it as long as mirror lockup isn’t being used. ie there is a mirror between the sun and the camera sensor. Having said that, in any case, I wouldn’t recommend leaving it for long periods pointing directly at the sun and getting overheated either.
Kind Regards.
Tanya.
we enjoyed going through your article, you have a wonderful delivery style! I have sent a link to my friends, and shall surely be back for more.
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