Camera Settings for Sunset Pictures: Twilight Time

Hi everybody,

It's hard to beat twilight for great light and great colors. In fact, many "night" photographers prefer the period after the sun goes down and before total nighttime ... due to these excellent reasons: There's beautiful color in the sky, there are no big expanses of blackness, and the artifical lights of buildings or monuments are on.

Getting the right exposure at twilight just might be easier than you think. For instance, the camera settings for sunset pictures can definitely be a challenge - due to the bright areas of sky vs. the shadowed areas of land. But during twilight, things really turn magical ... assuming you hit the "peak" of the visual action. Typical is the Seattle skyline scene below, in which there's an even balance among sky color, artificial lights, and land/building tones. Thus, an overall or averaging exposure (i.e., matrix or evaluative) worked out perfectly.

That's it for now ... have a great week!
Kerry Drager

Seattle Skyline at Twilight ... shot during the BetterPhoto Pre-Summit Photo Tour ... by Kerry Drager

Comments

[barbara]

Some cameras have a twilight setting but not a sunset setting. Can twilight settings be used to take dramatic high contrastic sunset pictures? I'm looking at the Sony Cybershot which only has the twilight setting. Thanks.

[art painting]

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.