Here's how to photograph a sunset: arrive about 45 minutes early with a tripod, set an aperture around f/8 to f/11, keep ISO low and expose for the bright sky so colors don't wash out. On a phone, tap the sky and drag exposure down. Stay after the Sun sets, and never look at it through a viewfinder.
Below: safety, timing, settings and composition. For the difference between the warm light around sunset and the blue light that follows it, see our guide to golden hour vs blue hour.
A sunset feels gentle, but the Sun is still the Sun. B&H Photo's guide to photographing the Sun sets out firm rules:
Do not look at the Sun with your naked eyes. B&H warns that permanent damage to your eyesight, and even blindness, may result.
Do not look through the optical viewfinder of an SLR or rangefinder camera when it is pointed at or near the Sun. A dark ND filter does not make an optical viewfinder safe.
Optics can magnify sunlight enough to damage equipment, and B&H warns that unfiltered sunlight can damage a digital camera's sensor when you use live view or an electronic viewfinder.
In practice, compose on the rear screen rather than through an optical viewfinder, keep the time your lens points at the Sun short, and lower the camera between shots. Never let children look at the Sun through a camera or long lens. On a phone, look at the screen, not the Sun.
Look up the time and direction. The NOAA Solar Calculator gives the apparent sunset time for any place and date, plus the Sun's azimuth (its compass direction) and elevation, and it can draw the sunset direction on a map. NOAA notes that observed times can differ because of atmospheric conditions, so treat the minute as a guide.
Match the direction to your scene. The Sun does not set in the same spot all year, so check the azimuth for the exact date you plan to shoot.
Scout in daylight. Visit the spot beforehand. Look for a foreground, safe footing and a clear path back to the car in the dark.
Arrive early. Nikon ambassador Deborah Sandidge gets to her sunrise locations about 45 minutes ahead, makes test shots and has everything ready, because "once the light begins to appear or fade, the changes will be quick and the opportunities fleeting." Give yourself the same head start at sunset.
Watch the light, not just the Sun. For sunsets, Sandidge says she looks at "the quality of the sun's light as it changes" and how it is affecting the scene.
Stay after it sets. One of her Melbourne Beach photos was made just after sunset: "Catching both the afterglow of sunset and the pier lights makes for a more dramatic photo."
Mode: Sandidge works in manual exposure and almost always sets the f-stop first to control depth of field. Aperture priority is an easier place to start.
Aperture: Canon suggests f/8 to f/11 for landscape depth of field, and most of Sandidge's example shots use f/11. For a sunburst, she stopped down to f/22 with just a bit of the Sun in the frame.
ISO: Keep it low for clean images and raise it only when you need both depth of field and a fast shutter. Sandidge's example settings range from ISO 64 to ISO 500.
Shutter speed: When you shoot straight into the Sun, Canon advises exposing for its brightness with a fast shutter. As the light fades, slow down on a tripod. Her after-sunset pier photo used a 30-second exposure, which smoothed the water.
White balance: Instead of auto white balance, Canon suggests the Shade setting to bring out golden yellows and oranges. Sandidge switched to Cloudy for a warmer feel in one shot and set 4750 K for a cooler blue tone in another.
Test and adjust: Take a frame and check the screen. If the sky looks white and washed out, shorten the exposure until the color returns.
Tripod and remote release. Nikon's article states that "A tripod is essential for sunset and sunrise photos," and Sandidge pairs hers with a remote cable release.
Wide lens for big skies. She reaches for 16-35mm or 24-70mm zooms to include as much sky as possible. B&H notes that with a wide-angle lens the Sun looks very small in your frame.
Telephoto to isolate. A long zoom picks out one part of the landscape, like the sidelit hills in her Steptoe Butte photo.
Filters. A graduated neutral density filter can "hold back the sunlight at the top of the image," and a polarizer cuts down glare.
Turn on the grid. On iPhone, open Settings, tap Camera and turn on Grid and Level to keep the horizon straight.
Set focus and exposure. Tap the screen where you want to focus. Next to the focus area, drag down to darken the image until the sky keeps its color.
Lock it. Touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock, so the camera keeps your settings for the next shots. Tap the screen to unlock.
Use a longer lens if you have one. A telephoto camera makes the Sun and clouds fill more of the frame.
Steady the phone. As the light fades, brace it against a railing or use a small tripod and the self-timer.
Make a silhouette. Expose for the bright sky and let a person, tree or boat go dark against it.
Keep the horizon straight and off-center. Canon suggests a viewfinder grid to keep the horizon straight and to use the rule of thirds. Place the horizon low for a dramatic sky, or high for a strong foreground.
Add a foreground. Sandidge framed one beach shot with a canopy of trees and foreground rocks, and used rocks and rushing water in another.
Tell a story. A person, pier or boat gives the eye a place to land. Of one sailboat photo she says, "Take the boat away and there's no story."
Try silhouettes. Backlit people, animals and trees become strong dark shapes against a bright sky.
Turn around. "The sun doesn't need to be in the photo to show its influence," Sandidge says. Canon also suggests using the golden light for portraits, landscapes or architecture.
Sunset time and direction checked for your exact spot and date
Cloud forecast checked
Battery charged and memory card cleared
Tripod, plus a remote release or self-timer
Starting settings: f/8 to f/11, low ISO, Shade or Cloudy white balance
Arrive about 45 minutes early and take test shots
Stay until the afterglow fades
Flashlight or headlamp for the walk back
A good starting point is f/8 to f/11, a low ISO and a shutter speed chosen from a test shot so the bright sky keeps its color. Try Shade or Cloudy white balance for warmer tones, then adjust as the light fades.
Plan on about 45 minutes. That gives you time to set up, take test shots and settle on a lens and settings before the light starts changing quickly.
The camera is probably exposing for the darker foreground, which overexposes the sky. Expose for the sky instead: on a phone, tap the sky and drag the exposure down, and on a camera, use a faster shutter speed.
Look at the screen, not at the Sun, and keep the time your lens points at the Sun short. Never look at the Sun directly or through a camera's optical viewfinder.
Asterfold: Sunset Planner shows the Sun's path for a chosen place and date and can turn you toward your shot on a first-person horizon. Save a shooting spot, pick a lens from 14 mm to 200 mm or the phone camera, and it shows the dates this year when the Sun sets or rises inside your frame. Its Tonight view adds a Sunset rating, best treated as a rule of thumb, and hour-by-hour cloud data from MET Norway, while the sun path is calculated on your iPhone, so it works offline.
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