[sandyeggo325i]

okay i'm a super newbie w/ a d90 and the 18-200mm lens and i hope someone can help me "set" my camera for nice sunset shots? what do you guys change, set, etc?

obviously the auto shoot mode gets too washed w/ the brightness of the sun...is it possible to filter some of the white out? stupid question i'm sure.......but a good into to photo site would be greatly appreciated.

tia

[BillLee]

this might help a bit.
http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/Ho...t_photos.shtml

[sandyeggo325i]

actually have that one bookmarked...is it as simple as that?

[E90SLAM]

Trial and Error....films are cheap now...i mean...memory...

[Septro]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

Trial and Error....films are cheap now...i mean...memory...

+1000 Shoot shoot and do some more shooting. Get a tripod, shoot as low an ISO as light available and work quick - most good sunset light lasts like 10-15min max

[john0213]

for sunset, there are a few things you can try:

1. if you really want to show the sky and not worry about the lower ground, an exposure figure of -1 to -2 is a good place to test.

- however, with such exposure, it will usually underexpose the lower part of the image too much. if the detail of the lower ground is not of concern, then this exposure should provide some nice color for the sky.

2. Use Manual mode

3. keep your ISO within 200-400 as you are using a D90, which is a crop frame

4. set your aperture at f/8-11 to get the enough DOF without introducing diffraction that affects the sharpness of the picture.

5. adjust your shutter speed accordingly, use the first point i mentioned in this post(exposure of -1 to -2) as reference and set the shutter speed.

If you want both the sky and ground to exposure correctly, then you will need some shot bracketing + post processing work. here is how you do it:

1. take a series of shots with aperture unchanged, adjust the shutter speed and take 5 shots: EV-2, EV-1, EV0, EV+1, EV+2

2. In Adobe Lightroom, select the middle of the 5 images that gives the sky that's not too bright and the ground that is not too dark.

3. Use Gradual Filter option in the develop tab, apply the a layer for the sky and a layer for the ground, adjust each the exposure accordingly.

[rodi]

or you could just get a graduated ND filter.

[sandyeggo325i]

no idea what a graduated filter was...so i googled it. that seems like it's cheating.....i like it! is this pretty typical? i would assume so since they make them...

rodi, i assume you get some coloration issues at times until you get the hang of the graduatedness? i know...stupid word, but i think you get my drift...

[BOOSTFTW]

trial and error. take as many shots as possible using different settings.

Are you going to the cliffs in La Jolla?

[john0213]

if i am to get nd filter, i would rather get the ND glass instead as it gives better flexibility.

[rodi]

cheating? not at all.
we use them in video all the time for landscape beauty shots.
and what do you think they did before RAW or exposure bracketing/blending? they used modified glass. and vaseline. ;]

[sandyeggo325i]

hmmmm vaseline? no comment

[rodi]

on the glass/lens. freak.

[rodi]

:]

[sandyeggo325i]

did you intentionally add the GL to glass to throw me off???