Question about sunsets

Hi, still fairly new to slr cameras, lastnight I was trying to take a picture of the sunset, sky was shades of pink and orange I was taking the photo from the bottom of a pasture hill with a corn field at the top, I tried all different settings to try and get the corn field and pasture to show up green along with the sunset colours. I was taken at 7:30 so it was still pretty light out. If I used a flash then it took away from the sunset. Can someone let me know how this can be done?
This picture was taken on manual.
shutter was 1/125
aperture 8.0
ISO 100
focal length 70.0
flash off

Hi NancyLyn and welcome,

You'll probably find you get better (and more!) help if you can post an example. It can be very difficult to comment on a photo that we can't see.

From your description, I would guess that if you want capture the colours of the sky, you won't have the dynamic range to get the colour of the field - it will simply come out as a dark (or black) silhouette.

This is a fairly common trade-off when capturing sunsets and sunrise.

I highly doubt that flash will be an effective fix for this.

You can try and bring out the shadow detail in Post Processing (using the curves tool)...or you could reshoot and attempt a high-dynamic-range (HDR) shot.

There are plenty of threads here on POTN that explain both. Do a quick search and you'll find a goldmine of info.

But once again, this is all based on what you've described. We can probably help more if we see the pic!

There is likely too much brightness difference to capture both the foreground and the sky in the same exposure - any camera is only capable of capturing a limited range of difference between light and dark, compared to what your eye can see.

One option as mentioned is to try to combine two or more images in post processing - for example a simple juxtaposition of the sky from one shot with the foreground of another, or combining them using HDR software (a big subject unto itself!)

Another option is a "graduated neutral density" filter in front of the lens, which is essentially half clear and half grey and can be used to reduce the exposure of the sky, assuming a relatively straight horizon.

Thanks for the help!! I attempted to attach a photo but it came up to large. Soon as I can I will post it.

Here are my suggestions for sizing images for posting in Critique Corner:
Size your image to not larger than 1024 pixels in either direction (that's the guideline max.).
In Photoshop use Image->Image Size and enable Resampling (this will downsample your larger image to the new smaller size by throwing away some of the information, so save this smaller version under a different name from your original or you may lose your original).

Do not be confused by the dimensions in inches or the DPI value - those are irrelevant. The size of the image on a monitor depends only on the screen resolution of that monitor and the number of pixels in your image. For example, most monitors are set for screen resolution of 70 to 100 pixels per inch. That means that an 800 pixel image dimension will actually be from 8" to 11" on the monitor.

In order to stay under the 100kB limit on file size, use JPG compression quality low enough to get under 100 kB by watching the file size change as you adjust the quality slider. It may be a little in error, so stay under 90 kB to be safe.

If the file size limit poses problems, you may want to host on another site and place a link to the image hosted elsewhere, but the 1024 pixel maximum still applies.

A related issue is the EXIF data. In order to be sure that your EXIF data is available for the critique, do NOT use File->Save for Web. That process removes the EXIF data from the file. Following my suggestions above preserve the EXIF data in the file.