The sunset photo is a must-have for a summer vacation. Here are some tips to become master in the art of photographing these moments of splendor.

The good moment

Leave an hour before sunset or sunrise, just to find the best place possible (remember that the sun sets in the west). To avoid damaging your eyes, use your preview screen rather than looking directly at the sun. The sun is gone? Stay anyway! The 20 minutes after sunset often provide a magical light show.

The sun is secondary

The trap of the sunset is to make the same picture each time. Here are some composition tips for taking unique photos:

  • Your main subject is not the sun, as beautiful as it is.
  • Never center the sun.
  • Play on shadows, backlit and foregrounds.

Shown against the light, the silhouette of a boat, a fisherman or a palm tree will stand out clearly in your photo, giving it a lot of relief and making it more interesting, especially if you respect the rule of thirds. If you want to highlight something close to your lens or show details against the light, use your flash.

Sunset mode

Many devices offer a “sunset” mode whose settings are made to preserve the shimmering colors of these moments. Try it and, if the result is too dull to your taste, go back to the manual settings below.

Good manual settings

Here are the perfect settings for your photos to make all the beauty of these golden hours:

  • Exposure: to achieve a beautiful against-day, put the sun outside your frame and point your device on the sky, near the place where the star was. Hold the shutter button down halfway, and frame your subject with the sun before taking the picture.
  • Exposure time: do different tests. The longer the exposure time, the more the sky and clouds will matter in your photo.
  • ISO: choose a low brightness setting (100 or 200 ISO) when the sky is bright. Increase it as the brightness decreases.
  • White Balance: Set it to “daylight” to keep warm colors or “cloudy weather” if your photos look dull.