[biz-engineer]

I've been fact checking while aiming at producing the best sunset photographs ever, and I came to some conclusions, your mileage may vary. Let's get straight into it.

First, about planning sunrise and sunset shots: You don't need apps such as TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) or Photopills to plan your sunrise or sunset shots;
I use timeanddate.com is completely free and provides plenty of useful information about sun, moon and even the location of stars in night skies. For knowing where the sun will rise and set, it's easy, sunrise and sunset times are provided, as well as its relative direction, a compass is enough to locate where the sun will rise or set before it happens. The site also provides the civil and nautical twilight times when the sun is within 6 degree below the horizon line. There is also suncalc.org, which combine map and sun directions, also free.

Second, obvious and very important consideration: the earth is rather spherical (yes!) and this has some implications for sunset photography.

A few facts worth considering when planning for sunrise/sunset photos:
- People living closer to the equator are the least lucky, as the sun crosses the horizon vertically, twilight duration is shortest
- People living near polar regions can enjoy better sunset light depending on the season. Winter time is better for sunrise and sunset photos, thanks to longer time for the sun to cross the horizon line
- Earth regions that are continuously flat for more than a few 100kms are better for sunrises/sunsets, absence on mountains peaks protruding above the horizon line allows for maximum light scattering though the atmosphere
- Absence of urban pollution within a few 100kms (or miles if you wish) is also better

What does it mean? Not everyone is lucky enough to live near some of the best places on earth for sunset photography.
In Europe, some places are excellent for sunset photos, for example, the coasts of Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands, and even Scottland can produce lasting and stunning sunsets in winter times; Other places in Europe such as the Alps, no so much, in mountain areas sunset light is much harder as when the sun disappear it is still well above the earth horizon line without much light scattering taking place. In the Alps, better go up onto a mountain peak to hope see some decent sunrises or sunsets. Yet, the Adriatic coast around Venice (Italy) and Croatia are excellent for winter sunrises and sunset, because it's a very flat region, still far from the equator, good to know. The Netherlands is rather flat country, with coast to the west, also nice for sunsets photography. I can tell for you guys living in the USA, Canada, how about Alaska?

Any other tricks worth sharing welcome. Thanks.

[ProfessorBuzz]

Nice synopsis. One other thing - know whether the directions are True or Magnetic, and if Magnetic, then you can use this handy tool to figure out your local magnetic deviation:
NCEI Geomagnetic Calculators

[ramseybuckeye]

Weather is extremely important, clouds, or moisture in the air produces color with the sunlight, of course it can also totally obscure it. The best colors are usually during twilight, in my opinion. And contrary to what the experts say, during harvest time crop dust in the air can enhance a photo.

[swanlefitte]

I have used an app to find the direction of sunrise then went to google maps to see what places near me will give me a clear line of site. To get a moonrise over a lighthouse, I learned where on another peninsula to be set up ahead of time.

[normhead]

Our sunset protocol on canoe trips is pretty simple. Turn up, pitch camp, wait to see where the sun goes down.
As for the most important elements, cloud colour etc. they are extremely variable. Where Ilive I always check to see if I should drive to a local beach. Most nights do not inspire me to too do that. Maybe one in 7.

Once there and set up, take a pile of pictures. The sunset will be at peak for 15 minutes, but you won't know which 15 minutes. Sometimes it's 20 minutes before what the GPS is sunset, sometimes it's 45 minute after that time. I travel with GPS so I know when the official sunset is, but you need to be completely set up 15-30 minutes before. The quality of the sunset depends on cloud positions and atmospheric conditions that can simply not be anticipated. Many times, I've started for the tent to go to bed and run back to capture a new look after the first shots have been taken.

In this case my camera is pointed away from the sunset. Sometimes the most compelling part of a sunset is taken with the camera pointed away from where the sun went down.

In these images, my camera is pointed almost directly away from the sun's position.






Sometimes you just have to hang in there. This was not looking like a good sunset night, but for a few minutes it was special.


I have many great sunset shots that were taken long after the other togs had packed up and left.
We tend to shoot sunsets when possible near water.
Keep an eye out for awesome reflections.






Spots that aren't wide open spaces can still produce stunning images.


Always use the base ISO, in sunsets, dynamic ranges is extremely important. Especially for shadow detail.

Anyway, enough rambling on.

[biz-engineer]

Sunrise over Neusiedler See, Pannonian plain, 150km flat region to the East.




Sunset over lake Balaton (length = 79km) from Balatonvilagos (South-West end of the lake).

[StiffLegged]

In Europe, some places are excellent for sunset photos, for example, the coasts of Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands, and even Scottland can produce lasting and stunning sunsets in winter times...

Thank you for the ringing endorsement.

You don't need apps such as TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) or Photopills to plan your sunrise or sunset shots;
I use timeanddate.com is completely free...

For planning, TPE is still available for free on the web.

The Photographer's Ephemeris - Web App

[photoptimist]

Second, obvious and very important consideration: the earth is rather spherical (yes!) and this has some implications for sunset photography.

A few facts worth considering when planning for sunrise/sunset photos:
- People living closer to the equator are the least lucky, as the sun crosses the horizon vertically, twilight duration is shortest

The flip side is that equatorial sunset shooters have an easier time lining up the drop of the sun on to or next to objects of interest (e.g., distant buildings, valley notches). They also can more easily get aligned shots at different sun disk conditions (above, touching-the-horizon, half-down, sliver-showing, etc.). Photographers in extreme latitude have to deal with the sun skittering sideways as is drops and having to reshoot the image on different days to get the desired sun-object-horizon combination.

- People living near polar regions can enjoy better sunset light depending on the season. Winter time is better for sunrise and sunset photos, thanks to longer time for the sun to cross the horizon line

The flip-side is that summer (and equatorial regions) have lots of convection that create huge puffy cumulus clouds which either ruin the sunset or turn glorious colors at the appointed hour.

- Earth regions that are continuously flat for more than a few 100kms are better for sunrises/sunsets, absence on mountains peaks protruding above the horizon line allows for maximum light scattering though the atmosphere

That's a great rule for images with the sun's disk in the frame (without the disk burning a hole in the photographer's retina or sensor).

The flip-side is that mountains create interesting patterns of crepuscular and Anticrepuscular rays - Wikipedia. That's true of clouds, too. If ever your sunset shot is being ruined by a few clouds, turning 180° might reveal something interesting (or not .. such are the fickle fates of photography! ).

- Absence of urban pollution within a few 100kms (or miles if you wish) is also better

That's true if the goal is sun-at-the-horizon shots which are ruined by too much low-level junk in the air.

However, in Beijing, the sky, lighting, and sun's disk become amber-orange quite early in the day enabling sunset-like reflections off of ponds earlier in the day than right at dusk. Urban pollution extends the "near sunset color" period even if it ruins the sunset as the sun sinks to the horizon. Here in the Western US, smoke from forest fires have created awesome sunsets and sunrises although the sun's disk might be obliterated by smoke near the horizon.

What does it mean? Not everyone is lucky enough to live near some of the best places on earth for sunset photography.

Although it is true that some locations are blessed with higher percentages of photogenic sunsets, every place has some nice sunsets on some days. Even if the sun's disk is blocked by mountains, pollution, or tall forests, the sky will sometimes put on a show around sunset. My watch (a Garmin Fenix 6X) has a feature offering a daily alert some minutes before sunrise and sunset (I use X=4 minutes) which reminds me to glance at the sky at that time.

Any other tricks worth sharing welcome. Thanks.

- use Daylight" white balance instead of AWB to get stronger colors in JPG images. You can try setting the white balance to CTE ("Color Temperature Enhancement") but the results can be too strong.
- look up and behind you occasionally -- the sun's effect on the clouds and opposite horizon can be interesting, too.
- don't leave the instant the sun's disk drops. Sometimes the sun is still lighting the undersides of the clouds, especially if they are a high layer. There's also the Belt of Venus - Wikipedia to enjoy if the opposite horizon is visible.
- full moons provide a double opportunity -- sun set and moon rise (on the opposite horizon). On days just before a full moon, the moon rises somewhat before sunset. On day's just after a full moon, the moon rises somewhat after sunset. (The shift in moon rise is about 50 minutes per day.)

[jatrax]

- while apps like TPE and Photopills are not necessary I do find them useful, Photopills in particular can be a real asset and is well worth the price
- show up early, set up early. Look for good foreground interest. It's not just about the sunset
- stay late, sometimes the best shot is the one after you think its all over. Learned that after seeing the best shot 10 minutes after driving away
- look around, sometimes the best "sunset" is behind you
- sadly wildfires do have one plus, they create awesome sunsets
- try to use a slower shutter speed, that allows the constantly changing colors to record a bit better
- bracket, bracket, bracket. You never know which exposure is 'right' and having the brackets means you can blend or HDR in post if you want

[normhead]

- bracket, bracket, bracket. You never know which exposure is 'right' and having the brackets means you can blend or HDR in post if you want

I take three to five bracketed exposures on every image, until something works. Then I may cut it back to one. But you still have to recalibrate every few minutes. After the first bracketed exposures I can often go back to three shot brackets 2 stops apart, with the expected shot in the middle of the bracket.

The 15 stop EV of the K-1 means I almost never have to use HDR. I haven't done one since I got it.

[ramseybuckeye]

This is a very interesting and entertaining topic. In Western Ohio, which is pretty flat, colorful sunrises happened quite a bit.




Now I’m in Coastal North Carolina, also pretty flat, there does not seem to be as many, but maybe that is just a bad perception since there are just fewer good spots for a sunset near where I live.


I’m one that likes to have some type of feature in a sunrise or sunset, Sunrise on the Ocean sometimes does not need it with the rays


Those rays can also appear a few miles from the Ocean


Sometimes when a sunset isn’t that colorful, look around and work quickly.


After storms can be a colorful time, this is not a lake but a flooded farm field,