sunset over river

This was taken in my backyard. One is with a tree in the foreground with fill-flash. I like the clouds and colors, but I think they could have been better otherwise. I took these handheld, but I will try this shot again with a long exposure when the sky cooperates with my new tripod.


edit: Rebel 350XT, Tamron 28-80 f4-5.6, @ 28mm, ISO 400, f4, 1/60

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Yes- a longer exposure will help. Get the tripod out and try for a much smaller aperature to get as much in focus as possible.

I love the one without the tree. If you do decide to have another go with a longer exposure, yes use fill flash, but put a person(s) near the sunset instead of a tree (They'll have to stand very still)

Thanks for the feedback. I will try the shot again tonight. I was fooling around with long exposures last night (tripod just came in) and I think I have the hang of it. I will also try to do the shot just slightly earlier. The sky is sure to be BLAH tonight. You just can't plan sunset shots.

Anybody got any tips for taking long exposure shots? I have read where it is a good idea to bracket exposures then overlay them. anything else i should know?

love these!! i like the first one best because the tree makes it spooky. i love it! the sky is gorgeous

lhoney2 wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. I will try the shot again tonight. I was fooling around with long exposures last night (tripod just came in) and I think I have the hang of it. I will also try to do the shot just slightly earlier. The sky is sure to be BLAH tonight. You just can't plan sunset shots.

Anybody got any tips for taking long exposure shots? I have read where it is a good idea to bracket exposures then overlay them. anything else i should know?

I'm not sure whether you need a "long" exposure. Rather, just a bit longer than you already have. I'm no expert at this technique, but if you are going to include a tree/person in the foreground and have them exposed correctly too, you need to do "slow sync flash photography".

Put your camera on a tripod. Meter the sunset (not including the sun in the viewfinder). Set the exposure manually. Put your flash onto ETTL or TTL or whatever. Bring your tree/people into frame, (recompose). Fire. The flash should go off and the shutter should close shortly afterwards (when it's exposed the sunset). Your tree/people should stay still