Suggestions or comments for taking sunset shots

I own a Canon EOS10D. I have two canon lenses (EF 100-400 L IS U & EF 28-135 IS U) that I use with this camera. I would think that the EF 28-135 IS U would be better to use in attempting sunset scenes.
I have tried to take sunsets with this camera but the results are not very good. I know that there is probably a mode selection on this camera for taking sunsets but I am wondering what else I should or should not be doing in order to take good sunshots. I live in the Tampa Bay area of FL and have tried to get shots of the sun setting on the Gulf. All I get are black shots with the sun bright and white. Any tips of suggestions would be greatly appreciated

David
St. Petersburg, FL

It sounds like the camera is performing as it should. It reads the amount of light coming in and adjusts the exposure accordingly. When you have the bright sun shining on the lens, the camera adjusts to compensate for the excessive amount of light and underexposes the image, rendering a dark foreground and a bright sky. To compensate for that, you need to use a graduated filter. The filter blocks the large amount of sun in the sky while allowing the foreground have more exposure. I'm sure you can find detailed tutorials either here or online that will help you with the details. Another option is to expose for the sky, and again for the foreground and combine the images in photoshop, but I'm not that advanced in PS to be able to explain how to do that.

I would also add that the white balance should be set to daylight. This will preserve the reds. I know that if you shoot in RAW this can be corrected in PS. However, I believe it is best to get it right in the camera. Besides, if you shoot in daylight the RAW converter you are using will better interpret the scene.

You mentioned that perhaps your camera has a particular mode for sunsets. I would suggest using the manual mode for all landscapes. In doing that you retain ultimate control over what you're doing. Relying solely on your camera's "brain" to pick the settings may be easy, but it comes at a high price - the loss of control and creativity.

Alice's suggestion of using graduated filters is excellent, and I agree with Ed; I leave my white balance set to daylight permanently. Afterall, you can always change it during conversion.

Another excellent way of producing good sunset images is by double processing your RAW files - process once for highlights, once for shadows. You can also triple process if necessary. NPN's Darwin Wigget has an excellent article on double processing in Outdoor Photographer (July 2006 I believe).

if you're shooting the sunset without appreciable foreground, simply spot meter a portion of the sky (don't include the sun in the frame) and in manual exposure mode, set the meter to around +1 (this will set the camera to render the light colored sky light). Recompose (with or without the sun) and shoot. If the sun is in the frame, the meter may give you a completely different reading. If so, ignore it. Resist the temptation to change the exposure, you've already set it for the sky.

You could try pointing the camera on an average area of the sky and locking the exposure by using the * button on the back of the camera, then reframing your picture to include the sunrise.

A reading of the article Photo-graphing Sunsets and sunrises may help

nevilleb

Pleasantly surprised to see you here, Neville! Welcome to NPN. No more viruses, eh?

Ashutosh:

I quit the anti-virus and network security business a long time back. Being ranked amongst the top anti-virus guys in the world was about as far as I decided to take it.

nevilleb