Timing your sunset photos for more dynamic compositions. Plus, how to use points of tension.
Timing Your Sunset Photos
When
it comes to creating a really great sunset photo, timing is everything.
While sunsets are always pretty to watch and photograph, often being
really careful with your timing will turn a good photograph into a
really nice one. I prefer to shoot the sun just a few seconds before it
hits the horizon because there is this added element of the sun about
to disappear. So, while I usually begin to shoot the sunset once it begins
to color the sky, I always reserve a few frames for the moment when the sun is
about to hit, or has just hit, the horizon.
It's interesting that once the sun actually hits or slips below the horizon that the look and mood often change quickly. After the sun had slipped partially behind the horizon in this shot, for example, that brilliant yellow streak in the water faded quickly. It was still interesting and pretty as the streak faded to a more pastel pinkish color, but it the mood was different. Also, once the sun was completely behind the hill the sky got even more fiery for a few quick seconds, then began to morph into a gentler afterglow. Again, it was still a very pretty shot with the sun gone and the afterglow rising up, but it wasn't quite as dynamic (and the boat was gone!).
Also, remember that once the sun is hidden the lighting intensity fades quickly and so even if you weren't using a tripod during the sunset, you'll need one to keep shooting. That's especially true with relatively slow telephoto lenses. This shot was taken with a 70-300mm Nikkor lens (at 130mm, equivalent of 195mm on my D70s body) at f/5.6 and because the light changed so radically and I didn't have my tripod out, I literally had to stop shooting a few moments after the sun was gone.
The funny thing
is that the closer the sun gets to the horizon, the faster it appears
to be setting--as if all of a sudden it's in a hurry to hide (and trying to make me panic to get the shot done). It's
really important then to be sure you and your camera are ready for
those last few seconds. Also, a lot of times there are other objects in your
composition that you have to time along with the sun. In this shot, I wanted the sun just a hair above the horizon but,
of course, wanted to catch the boat in the frame too. I kept hoping the
boat would slow down because it was moving pretty quickly and the sun
wasn't yet in position! (I kept yelling "Slow down!" at them telepathically, but it didn't work.) Fortunately I got off this one frame (and just one frame) with the sun and boat
exactly where I wanted them. If that boat had been moving a tiny bit
faster though, it would have left the frame too soon.
By the
way, in composing sunsets (and most of my landscapes), I try to build in what artists call "points of
tension." Points of tension are small areas, often little gaps between objects, that draw the eye's attention because they appear like they are interacting or are about to interact. As an extreme example, if you had a person inches away from walking into a street sign, the distance between the tip of their nose and the sign would be a point of tension. The mind knows that something is about to happen there, so it draws our attention, either consciously or unconsciously. The more I study other photographers' work, the more I see how powerful and important these points of tension can be and why they are used.
The little gap between the sun and
the horizon is a point of tension because the mind knows that something
is about to happen there--the sun and land are about to meet--even though this is just a still photo. The
gap between the bow of the boat and the edge of the frame is a larger,
more subtle point of tension. And the tiny space between the top of the boat's front mast and the top edge of the hill is yet another. Subtle? Yes, but a good landscape is powerful because it has many subtle elements at work. The subconscious brain is probably looking far more carefully at any photograph than your conscious mind because in the real world is must "pre-screen" things faster than your eyes or you would walk into street signs.
Here again, the sun has just touched the horizon and the feeling is that the sky and land are meeting at the end of the day.