When the sun falls on the horizon, it will produce a charming moment. At this time, the environment will wear a soft golden light, which can shoot the most amazing images. Fortunately, this wonderful light occurs twice a day: sunrise and sunset. However, most of us usually take the lens to the sunset, because the sunset will be easier, which will ignore the sunrise shooting. It is reminded that the sunrise compared to the sunset to shoot unique images in the sunset. There will be more opportunities. Of course, shooting sunrise needs to get up early, but the exquisite images you finally shoot will make you feel that these efforts are worth it.
However, before you sacrifice your sleep and drive into the cold morning, you must be fully prepared, which is important. This can maximize the chance of shooting success. In this article, we will discuss the best camera settings and techniques for how to use in sunrise photography to ensure that the best image is shot.
Do a good job in advance
Studies in advance can improve the chance of success to the greatest extent. Please understand the exact time and location of the sunrise in advance. These factors are changing all year round, so please make sure to get the most related information.
If you want to include the sun in the camera, you need to study where you are east near the place of shooting.
You should also find a place where you can clearly see the horizon.
Weather conditions should also be an important part of your research. Different types of weather will produce different quality of environmental light, which greatly affects the overall beauty of the image.
What device to bring to the sunrise
In terms of sunrise photography, I like the method of “less is more”, because no one likes to bring a lot of equipment at about 5 or 6 am. So keep the equipment simple and know what to shoot.
Equipment equipment for sunrise photography
1. Legend
The lens with the lens depends on the theme you want to shoot and the type of composition you try.
If you plan to shoot a wide -angle landscape, then with a wide -angle mirror may be your best choice.
These lenses can provide wide -angle perspective, which is an ideal choice to capture more information from the scene.
Instead, the telephoto lens will shoot a narrower field of vision. The telephoto lens is most suitable to highlight the complex details in the scene.
In addition, please remember that wide -angle lens often makes the distant objects look smaller, and closer objects look larger.
This means that if you want the sun to become the main part of the image, using a wide -angle lens is obviously not suitable. In order to make the sun in the image clearer, you can use a zoom lens to shoot.
The telephoto lens can enlarge the distant objects and make them look closer. These lenses are very suitable for establishing a sense of connection and intimacy with the audience. Individuals can make reasonable choices based on their own shooting intentions and scene characteristics. Of course, if these two lens headbands, they can shoot different effects.
2. Trident
For me, a tripod is an absolutely necessary device for sunrise photography.
First of all, using a tripod can let me shoot the scenery before the sun rises without affecting the quality of the image. Because the amount of light that can be used before the sunrise is small, it is almost impossible to take a clear photo with the handheld without increasing the ISO. There is a tripod to make me solve this problem. Therefore, it is essential for the solid and durable tridels of the sunrise photography. I suggest you use a carbon fiber tripod. It is easy to use and light weight, so you can easily move and adjust the composition.
The tripod can also allow you to use surrounding exposure images, which is very useful for high comparison environments such as sunrise. If you don’t want to carry a tripod or you can’t carry a tripod at all, you can install the camera on a stable object around the shooting scene. For example, rocks, logs or benches.
If you decide to hold the shooting, you may need to increase the ISO to prevent the shutter from being too low. With the slower shutter speed without a tripod, a camera vibration is generated and the image is blurred.
In order to maximize the clarity of the handheld image, avoid using the shutter speed with less than the focal length.
Finally, don’t be afraid to increase the ISO value. Although higher ISOs can lead to more noise, photos with a clear focus with some noise are better than images without focus.
In addition, do not deliberately make the image exposure insufficient and not improved the ISO, especially if you intend to compensate this in the later processing. This is usually more noisy than photos taken with higher ISO.
The best setting of sunrise photography
1. Use aperture or shutter preferred
Although shooting sunrise has many benefits in manual mode, sometimes shooting in priority mode can produce better results.
As the sun rises, the light of the surrounding environment will quickly transform into many different colors. This is especially true in cloudy days. To shoot under such dynamic light, you need to constantly change the exposure settings accordingly. In this case, using a manual mode will only slow down your speed and cause shooting failure. The more effective way to control the exposure is to switch the camera mode to manual, and use the shutter priority or aperture first.
“Priority mode” allows the camera to automatically select a exposure setting for you, so that the best exposure settings can be selected quickly.
Should the camera set as aperture or the shutter priority depends on your shooting object selection and the photography effect you want to shoot.
Aperture priority:
“Aperture prefer” allows you to completely control the aperture and ISO settings, while the camera automatically sets the shutter. If you take a clear focusing picture, it is best to use aperture priority. Under the aperture priority, you can completely control the depth of the scene, so that the overall sharpness of the image can be completely controlled. For example, if you want to shoot a majestic mountain and want to shoot all the details from the foreground to the background, then “aperture priority” is an ideal choice. The aperture priority mode is also an ideal choice for shooting static objects, such as landscape and architectural photography.
Because the shooting object does not move, it is usually not necessary to worry about controlling the shutter speed, especially when installing the camera on a tripod.
On the other hand, if your shooting object is moving (the same as portrait and wildlife photography), use the shutter priority.
The shutter priority:
“The shutter priority” allows you to fully control the shutter speed and ISO, and the camera automatically gives suitable aperture.
If you want to fully control the method of shooting in the image (clear or blurred), use the shutter priority.
2. Choose a small aperture
Sunrise photography usually involves photos of shooting scenic spots. Therefore, when shooting sunrise, most photographers choose a smaller aperture or higher F file.
As mentioned earlier, using a small aperture will increase the depth, so that you can clearly shoot most scenes. On the contrary, using large aperture will reduce the depth of the scene, resulting in unclear background. Unless you want to shoot a soft and vague background, it is not suitable for sunrise photography.
Use a small aperture to shoot the effect of the sun star mango often seen in sunrise pictures. To shoot the effect of the Sun Star Mang, it is recommended to start from the aperture of F / 16 and adjust according to the scene. If you use the shutter priority and use a specific shutter speed, you can affect the aperture settings by adjusting the ISO. For example, if you want more parts of the picture to keep clear focusing (higher aperture value), adjust the ISO to a higher value.
3. Skill speed settings
If you want to shoot static objects such as landscape and architecture, the choice of shutter speed usually does not have a great impact. Especially when installing the camera on a tripod. However, if you want to shoot, you can depend on the light in the scene, and the slower shutter speed may be greatly restricted. For example, if you intend to use a tripod to take pictures before the sun rises, you may need to improve the ISO. Improving ISO can make you hold shooting under low light, without sacrificing the overall exposure and clarity of the image. Handheld shooting is easy to blur the image due to the shock of the camera.
To avoid this, you need to use a faster shutter speed. Under the ideal case, do not set the shutter speed to below the focal length. For example, if your focal length is 200mm, it is best not to shoot at a shutter speed below 1/200.
However, under low -light conditions, the use of the shutter speed of 1/200 may be too fast and cannot produce correct exposure. In this case, setting the ISO to a higher value will help the picture. To clarify the subject in the exercise, you need to use a faster shutter speed. The speed of setting the shutter speed depends on the movement speed of the subject. For example, the shutter speed is usually ideal between 1/125 or 1/250. On the other hand, if you are shooting fast -moving wild animals, you need to use faster shutter speeds, such as 1/400 or higher.
4. Use the lowest ISO settings
Improving ISOs can shoot brighter images by enlarging the data recorded in the sensor. However, with the increase of ISO, noise will appear in the image. Therefore, you need to set the ISO to as low as possible. In other words, the closer to the ISO 100, the better. ISO is improved only when the shutter speed or aperture settings cannot be used without sacrifice composition or aperture settings. This means that if you want to use a lower shutter speed or a lower F -gear sacrifice to sacrifice the clarity of the final image, improve the ISO. That is to say, don’t be afraid to improve ISO to obtain the correct exposure. Images with a certain degree of noise are always better than vague or lack of exposure images.
5. Use matrix or point test
Matrix metering:
When shooting sunrise, matrix testing is one of the best choices. Shooting by matrix metering can ensure that you shoot the biggest details in the photo, which is essential for shooting wide scenery. When calculating the exposure of the scene, the matrix metering (Nikon) or evaluating the light metering (Canon) will consider the entire picture. It is exposed through the entire scene and applied it to the entire photo.
Therefore, when using matrix metering, the images of most scenarios are usually exposed correctly.
The matrix metering mode is very simple: set the camera to the matrix metering, and compose the photo. After ready, take pictures.
The matrix metering is not perfect, and it is easy to be exposed correctly in the scenes of uneven light and high contrast. If the light of the daily scene is uneven and the contrast is high, exposure compensation needs to be used to prevent incorrect exposure.
Point test:
Point test uses a single area “point” when determining the exposure of the scene.
Select the “location” according to the position of your focus. If you want to expose the specific elements in the scene, or shoot the silhouette, use a point metering. Of course, you can also use matrix to mete the silhouette, but this is more complicated.
The advantage of using point metering is that you can correctly expose it for specific elements. This is a good way to ensure that your shooting object is always correct.
It is easier to use the point metering of your exposure. For example, if you want to expose the scene over, please select a dark dot, and then the metering table will complete the rest.
The same operation can be performed to over -exposed scenes to shoot silhouettes.
To use the light metering to shoot the silhouette, we need to focus on the brightest point or near the screen. This will ensure that your camera will be exposed to lack of exposure.
After setting the focus, press the shutter button halfway.
Finally, the focus is on the shooting object, and then press the shutter button completely to shoot the image.
As a result, the effect of silhouette in all the darkest areas of the photo.
6. Use exposure compensation in priority mode
Exposure compensation is an essential tool in sunrise photos.
When using matrix metering, the high contrast and uneven light of the sunrise usually causes inaccurate exposure reading. To overcome this problem, use the camera’s exposure compensation function. Exposure compensation is a tool inside the camera, allowing you to quickly adjust these errors.
When using exposure compensation, you can adjust the meter meter to lack of exposure or less than 1-3, without changing priority settings. For example, if your image is exposed excessively, you can adjust the exposure compensation to negative. This will make your metering watch less than the initial exposure. Similarly, if the image exposure is insufficient, the exposure compensation can be adjusted to a positive value.
It is necessary to judge that your scene is insufficient to expose or excessive exposure. The histogram of the camera is a useful tool.
During the sunrise, the light in the scene will present a variety of forms, which will make the reading scene difficult. However, the light during sunrise is usually high -light, mainly characterized by shadows or high contrast. The histogram in the camera is a graphic exposure.
It shows highlights on the right, shadow on the left, and intermediate tones in the central area.
Although the use of images is a good way to judge whether the exposure is accurate. However, there is no specific histogram shape for the correctly exposed image. The appearance of the following histogram can be used as a shooting guidance:
If your scene is mainly composed of highlights, the histogram should be moved to the right.
If your scene is mainly shadow, the histogram should be moved to the left.
Finally, if your scene is in sharp contrast to a large number of shadows and highlights, the histogram should reach the peak on the right and left side of the histogram.
If the lighting and content of the scene do not match the shape of the histogram, the image may not be exposed correctly. In this case, adjust the exposure compensation.
Please consider the following:
Your shooting scene is very bright and there are many highlights, but when the histogram moves left, you encounter problems. Your image may be insufficient, so you need to increase exposure compensation.
7. Strengthen exposure
The light during sunrise is usually difficult to expose correctly. This is caused by high contrast and uneven light scattering. Therefore, the dynamic range of sunrise photos is usually relatively large. This forced the photographer to expose the highlight or the shadow. Both of these methods are not perfect solutions. A way to avoid this dilemma is to use surrounding exposure.
Siege exposure is multiple photos taken at different exposure levels, and then use later processing software to merge these photos together.
You can take the surrounding exposure photos in two ways: manual or automatic.
Manual siege exposure:
You need to take multiple photos of the same scene at different levels of exposure.
It is best to use manual, aperture priority or shutter priority surround exposure.
First, display the scene correctly. Next, the same scene of insufficient exposure and excessive exposure. When manually surrounds, you can adjust the number of shooting and adjust the number of aperture of the exposure.
To ensure that you do not change the composition of the photo, it is strongly recommended to use a tripod.
Automatic surround exposure (AEB):
The second option of shooting surround exposure is to use automatic surround exposure (AEB). I suggest you use automatic surround exposure because it is much faster than manual exposure, and the sunrise time every second is changing.
Automatic surround exposure is the built -in function of most cameras, which can automatically shoot at multiple exposure levels. Most cameras allow you to adjust the lack of exposure and the number of images of the exposure.
The most popular settings are to shoot three automatic surround exposure, but there are also five and seven automatic surround exposure.
Three automatic surround exposure can take three photos, one of which is insufficient, one is exposed and one is correct.
Similarly, two automatic surround exposure was taken to take two insufficient exposure, two exposure and one correct exposure photo. You can also adjust the exposed aperture size. For example, you can set the camera to three automatic surround exposure and set up two gears.
Synthetic image:
The last step of surrounding exposure is synthetic images. You can use the HDR software that automatically executes this operation or processing the software after use. If you want to merge manually, Photoshop and Lightroom are your best choices. Among them, Luminar has a powerful AI function and can merge the best effect of images. HDR software is easier and faster than manual hybrid images. However, this usually requires you to give up some degree of control of the photo.
Manual mixing photos are time -consuming, but it allows you to better control the elements contained in the photo. The use of surrounding exposure and hybrid images is an excellent way to generate a more dynamic range than most cameras.
Now shooting HDR images is easier and faster than ever. The newer camera model now has an automatic HDR mode.
This mode surrounds your image and merged it by pressing the shutter. The new HDR model is most suitable for those who don’t want to edit photos or immediately need HDR images. However, there are some shortcomings in automatic HDR. First, most cameras allow you to take HDR photos in JPEG format. The second disadvantage is to store only the final HDR image. The encirclement images used to create images will not be left.
8. Highlight exposure
If you don’t want to use surrounding exposure or unable to use siege at all, a good choice is to expose highlights. Highlighting highlights will allow you to shoot as many details as possible in high contrasting scenarios. Even if this will make most of your pictures darker or insufficient exposure, it is still worth your to do it. For most modern cameras, you can always use editing software to increase shadow details. Slightly exposure of sunrise images will also make the colors richer and clearer.
If you are fortunate to be able to shoot a colorful sky, exposure to highlights can make your picture look more attractive.
Keep in mind that when highlighting highlight exposure, you may need to expose certain elements to prevent the dark areas in the image from recovering.
Leaving some areas in the image, excessive exposure is normal, and it is expected, especially around the light source.
9. Adjust white balance
Bai balance is a tool that can be used to adjust the color of the photo. This is done by adjusting the temperature of the light source. The image with warm light will have orange tones. The cold image will appear blue.
During the sunrise, the light is warmer. When setting the white balance, pay attention to the following points:
The warm light projected the orange -yellow hue on your scene.
According to your photography requirements, this color may be unnecessary or ideal.
You can use white balance during the sunrise to enhance and reduce white balance.
If you want to weaken the orange in the photo, set the white balance to the automatic mode.
In the automatic white balance mode, the color of the image will be displayed as neutral.
If you want to enhance the orange tone in the photo, use cloudy or daytime presets.
If the color in the photo needs to be enhanced in small quantities, please use the sunlight preset.
If your image lacks a warmth related to the sunrise, use cloud presets.
When you shoot the color of the sunrise, it is really as spectacular as you think about, indicating that you have applied a correct setting.
10. Original format shooting
Unless you do not plan to edit pictures in the later period, it is recommended that you shoot in raw format. Although the 8 -bit JPEG image can only be converted to 16 million colors, 16 -bit RAW photos can have 281 trillion colors. Therefore, the RAW image can better convert the changes in the color tone and color in the scene more accurately into images.
This function is very useful when shooting high contrast scenes (such as sunrise). Due to the wider tone range of RAW, it will more accurately read different levels of brightness in the scene. The color gamut of the original image is also larger than JPEG. Gallery gamut provides greater flexibility for your adjustment of white balance in later processing. In fact, the RAW format is very flexible. Even some photographers don’t care about balance when taking pictures. After that, they only need to use editing software to correct white balance.
Finally, compared with JPEG, the RAW file also has a better editing function.
In other words, using RAW files, you will have greater freedom to adjust the important part of the image, such as highlights, shadows and contrast without causing any problems.
Through the above sharing, you will have a new understanding and improvement of sunrise photography. The autumn and winter seasons are a good time for shooting sunrise, especially in winter. When everything loses the original color, only the sun will sprinkle the glorious earth every day, which is an excellent subject to show your talent. If you have time and are not afraid of getting up early, please take your shot to the first sun!