I stink at sunrises....

I am struggling with capturing sunrise/sunset photos. I have been trying to read about settings for good sunrise/sunset photos but the still seem to be sort of blah for me, especially when I compare them to my iPhone.

These two photos were basically shot within a minute or two of each other. The top photo is iPhone, the bottom is my Canon T3i (which is realize is pretty low on the food chain for DSLR)

The EV for the two images aren't that much different.

iPhone image 1/60 f/1.8 ISO 400 EV = 6

600D image 1/25 f/4 ISO 1250 EV = 7

So the 6 & 7 represent a 1-stop difference.

At sunset sometimes very slight differences in time can make a big difference in lighting. This is a period called Civil twilight, defined as “the period after sunset or before sunrise ending or beginning when the sun is about 6 degrees below the horizon and during which on clear days there is enough light for ordinary outdoor occupations.” It would appear that there may not be enough light for "ordinary outdoor occupations" so you are likely near the end of civil twilight. Just as an example, civil twilight today in Philadelphia is from 4:38 pm – 5:08 pm.

What would you estimate as the time difference between the two images? Which was taken first? Can you approximate when and where they were taken and then check the time for civil twilight in that area?

I believe the 600D can take three bracketed images for later use in processing an HDR image. If you are going to shoot sunsets, you might want to investigate how to use that feature, not to make the HDR image, but to provide the bracketed images. Bracketing is especially important if any portion of the sun disk is in the image.

Also, carefully go through the content at https://improvephotogr​aphy.com …-tips-sunset-photography/ for some tips at improving your sunsets. Note tip #8 to change the white balance. I do notice a significant difference in the histograms for the two photos (see below).

Thanks for the explanation. I would guess that there was less than 2 minutes between the shots. Basically enough time to switch cameras

Too much time between shots. At that time of day 30 seconds is the longest I would go. I would also shoot -2/3 or -1 stop. This also holds for sunrise pans - get all the shots in under 30 seconds.

It might be borderline blasphemy to say this on a photography forum, but I think sunrise/sunset shots are the most overrated pictures taken. They're really hard to do well and 90% of the millions shot daily don't meet that well-done threshold. And even the ones that do (and I'd most definitely include gewb's shots in the post above this one) tend to get lost in the general mediocrity of the genre.

My advise for improving sunrise/sunset shots is to turn around. Right behind you is the best light of the day and you're wasting it on a point-source, silhouette, orange flameout. Right behind you the golden hour is happening.

Photo from drsilver's gallery.
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That is a great suggestion! Thank you for the reminder!

I had thought that the iPhone11 automatically did HDR when it deemed necessary, no? If so, the iPhone image is a HDR photo of several frames, each adjusted for a different portion of the image. Looking close, it sure looks that way. The SLR will no do HDR automatically but as mentioned, you can do so in post by bracketing. Sunrise/sunset pictures just scream HDR as the foreground is rather dark and the sun extreamly bright.

Interesting that you suggested "look behind you" as I always do that. Here are two very wide pans at sunrise. These long/wide pans are used in video pans, I haven't printed them. BTW, thanks for your kind comment.

Another technique discessed at https://www.howtogeek.​com …n-a-photo-with-photoshop/

Spending an equal amount of time thinking about composition, location, and planning, will be just as important as settings. You need to decide what elements you are emphasizing. The phone image has lightly lit the ground, but there is nothing there to anchor the scene. The sky is cloud free, so there is nothing to bring my eye there. If skies were partly cloudy, especially high level clouds that the light can get under to bring out some colors, would go a long way. The silhouette of the trees feels small due to the wide view of #1, and all the black space in #2 also minimizes the trees. Settings aside, a change of framing or cropping can help both images IMO.

I think drsilver also makes an excellent point about turning around. We get a lot of cloud free sunrise/sunsets in CO, which by and large are tremendously boring by themselves, but as gewb showed, turning around to shoot the mountains catching the first light makes for some great light and depth at sunrise. Same thing applies shooting the Denver skyline from the west at sunset.

Planning where you are going to shoot first, even having multiple options, what elements you want to emphasize, how to create some depth with angle of view, how you will do it (silhouettes, reflections, sky/cloud color, etc), and then being ready to be at the location for when the right conditions may present themselves, will help a lot.

Thank you for the suggestions. I appreciate that guidance.

I was not actually out doing photos, was out hunting in the Sandhills of Nebraska but happened to have my T3i and phone. I very much agree that some clouds really help, no doubt.

If you want to do sunsets, the that is your main subject and ought to be the majority of your frame. The two shots that you show are split 50/50 and not only put the horizon in the middle (which many argue is always a no-no), leave the viewer wondering what the subject really is.

Minimize your foreground unless you can get some light into the details, and show-off that sky with the silhouette trees (or clouds in this example) an interesting diversion.

Hit your processing desk and crop into those images to take out half the foreground and see what you have.

Thank you for the tips! I will give that a try

This may not be the best example for my thoughts, but if you use a graduated or hard split ND filter you can even out the sky and foreground so that your foreground can be seen better. I used a CP filter and a 3 stop graduated filter set at the horizon level to darken the sky for this shot.

Also, practice, practice, practice!!!!

This is a better example where I tilted the filter line to follow the mountains. You can see the tips on the mountain outsides are oddly dark compared to the rest of the mountains because the filter isn't perfect This brings the sky exposure down and allows the foreground to brighten up and even out.