Advanced preparation and patience are key
Tips for taking
great sunset photos!

here really are only a few tricks to taking great sunset photos -- patience, a steady base for your camera and lots of film or available space on your digital camera's chip.

You'll want to get prepared well before the sun starts to go down so you can capture the most colorful moments.

Advance preparation will allow you to concentrate on composing your photos rather than on routine technical matters as the sun paints its way into evening.

Digital camera or conventional film camera?

The type of camera you use will determine what steps you'll need to take to prepare for your sunset photo session. If you're using an "old-fashioned" non-digital camera, you'll want to make sure you have plenty of film. Even though you'll be shooting in low-light conditions, stay away from "faster" rated films designed for lower light conditions as you'll be limited in how much you can enlarge your photos.

You're most likely using a digital camera, so you'll want to be sure the batteries are fresh. Take an extra set, just to be safe. Take a few moments to do some housekeeping if your camera's storage media is filling up. Allow yourself the luxury of sufficient capacity to shoot at least a couple of dozen higher resolution photos. You'll be glad you did.

Consider your foreground and have a good tripod

If your camera has an automatic flash feature, make sure it is turned off, unless you have a foreground feature you want to light up. You'll want to use your camera's self-timer feature and mount the camera on a tripod for a stable base. There are many types of portable small tripods that will work nicely -- you want sturdiness and portability so you can move around easily.

If you don't have a tripod, you can always set your camera on any stable object -- a car hood, a rock, a chair, etc. You want stability as your camera will be taking longer exposures, and any movement will blur your photos. The little fold-up portable tripod's are great.

Compose your photos using your surroundings

With your camera and tripod set up, this is where your artistic eye takes over to compose your photos. You will want to take advantage of your surroundings to accent the main feature -- the sunset! Try to pick a spot that allows you to frame the sunset with trees, plants, perhaps some architectural features and even humans or pets. Get creative and take advantage of often wasted foreground areas to capture reflections. Plan on moving around and experimenting with different scenes.

The fun part always is sharing your photos with friends and family, and be sure to send us one of your favorite shots to include in our Guest's Gallery!