Sunset Silhouette

As a landscape photographer I am always watching the sky. An interesting sky can really add to an image. Sometimes it is the image. Such is the case here.

Something I have learned through the years is to always be prepared. If you don’t have your camera, you can’t make the photograph. I was on vacation, staying at my brother-in-laws house when I stepped out on the balcony and saw this incredible sky. Fortunately I had learned to keep a camera with me. I quickly set up and captured this scene.

When photographing the sunset, one tip is to make sure to not overexpose the image. Your in camera meter will ofttimes tell you to do just that. You must be in control and tell the camera what to do! To get really rich colors, I will often reduce my exposure by one to two full stops. That will also create the silhouette in the foreground which helps to simplify the composition. I am often asked if I manipulated the color in this photo, and the answer is no. It was all done in camera. Shooting the scene correctly will allow you to print larger and higher quality prints. The more you manipulate an image in Photoshop, the more degradation that occurs to the image, thus reducing the overall quality of the finished print. That is why it is so important to master your camera before learning Photoshop.