Many photographers use the light at sunset and sunrise to create magnificent photographs. The angle of the sun creates gorgeous sidelight, the colors are warm, the air is often still, and it's simply just a great time to be outdoors. But more often than not, right after the sun goes down, the sound of collapsing tripods permeates the surroundings as does camera bag zippers being closed in addition to the pitter patter of footsteps as the exodus from the scene occurs. While it's great that everyone captured the late light, each and every photographer who exits doesn't realize that the best possible fifteen minutes of the day has yet to arrive.
Ordinary scenes shot at twilight take on extraordinary drama. You often wind up with results that are not discernible to the eye. Colors you don't even realize are there get etched onto the sensor. All this occurs during exposures lasting up to one minute and possibly more based on the circumstances. An obvious given is you need a sturdy tripod to prevent camera movement during the exposure. Set the camera to a low ISO. It will produce the best quality. Given the fact it's on a tripod, shooting at a high ISO doesn't benefit. Go to your Record or Custom menu and make sure you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned ON. The drawback is it takes a while for the image to be "processed" in the camera, but the trade off is an image with much less digital noise. I highly encourage you to use a cable release as opposed to having to keep your finger on the shutter. Inevitably, camera movement will be recorded if you use the finger method. Finally, in that proper color balance may be tough to nail given the mixed lighting conditions, it's essential to shoot in RAW mode so it can be tweaked in the computer with no image degradation.
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto's Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.
