need some help for tonight

[canon510]

hey guys. i want to capture a great sunset today and im wondering if you guys can help me set my camera so i can get it right. im just into photography but i know most of the settings. i just bought a canon 510 digital camera. can any of you guys help me out? i will be taking the pic from the lake also. thanks alot guys. ill post pics of it tommorow.

[neil_r]

I took these sunsets recently. If you follow the links there is full EXIF data under each picture. I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing your results.
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1795 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1795)
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1787 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1787)
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1788 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1788)
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1806 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1806)
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1808 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1808)
http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1807 (http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=1807)

N

[canon510]

thanks alot man. those are very well taken shots. im wondering if anyone here has a digital camera like mine that has similar settings that could help me out here???:)

[CyberPet]

I read this book about understanding exposure and was suggested to meter from the reflections in the water, or in the sky if there's no water; not on the setting sun, but next to it; to give you the right shutter speed for the aperture you've chosen (say f/22), then dial in that in the manual mode (shutter and aperture) and compose your image.

Give it a try and see what happens.

[jscotti]

I have a Canon A75 (I almost said "had," since I recently got a Canon 20D and have almost stopped using my poor little A75) which is very similar to your A510 (4 AA batteries instead of 2 and because of that a bit bigger and heavier, but basically the same camera). I would say that you should take a variety of images, metering (press the shutter button halfway to set the exposure, then recompose your image before pressing the shutter the rest of the way) on the sky at varying distances from the sun in some and even metering on the sun. Depending on clouds and other things in the field of view, the different exposures will give you a lot of different effects - some will work and some wont. You can even shoot in manual mode, but use the cameras meter to get the exposure in the ballpark. Also, vary the zoom, particularly if there are clouds around the sun. Neil's photographs also show off an excellent example of composition - make use of the foreground. His images have boats and so on in the foreground while mine (in the desert) might have cacti or trees or even mountains in the foreground. You can get a nice silhouette by exposing for the sky behind a foreground element. Digital photographs are free, so take plenty of pictures and see what works for you. You don't need to print anything that didn't work!

Good luck!

Jim.

[canon510]

well here they are. i took a few of the sunset but the clouds were always in the way. i also got a great shot of my wife where i tried to add the suns rays to the side and i think it turned out great. but you guys tell me what you think.

[canon510]

a few more.

[canon510]

one more