The perfect end to a day- a beautiful sunset. Whether it’s been a good or a bad day, a colorful sunset is likely to catch attention and have us reaching for our phones to snap a photo.
All sunset photos aren’t made the same, though, some are awe-inspiring to look at and some are just blah. There are a few things to keep in mind to help every sunset lover get the perfect photo.
Ideally, a perfect sunset will be planned, and there are signs to look for to know if today is the day for photos. If there are clouds on the horizon, that’s a good sign there will be watercolors in the sunset.
Once the determination that the sunset will be a good one is made, where to take the photo from becomes the question. Putting something between the camera and the sunset adds more visual interest. Trees, a person, a body of water- any of these make for a more interesting photo.
With someone or something in the photo it’s important to get a silhouette effect rather than the object being brightly lit if the sunset is the main focus. To achieve this tap on the screen on the light from the sunset rather than on the subject. This will pull the focus to the colors of the sunset and off the subject being the lit object. For reflection photos in a body of water click on the water rather than the sky, that way both will be evenly lit.
The last thing to consider is the rule of thirds in photography. Rather than having the trees, boat, person, whatever is serving as the subject of the photo as smack in the middle of the photo pull the camera so the object is to the left side or the right side. This causes the eye to travel all around the photo.
Knowing when the sun is going to set, getting in a position, and readying the camera will allow anyone to get a gorgeous sunset photo every time! These same tips work just as well for sunrises! Once the sun starts setting or rising, stay ready, it’s hard to tell what beauty awaits and what colors will form as the day begins or ends!
