Image: @theluiscon
Sunset pictures should be a vital part of your holiday plans.
There are many summer time essentials that will probably cross your mind these holidays – wearing enough sunscreen, confirming that Airbnb booking, or simply catching up on much needed sleep that was sadly sacrificed throughout the year.
While these are common concerns, nowadays there is also another small yet equally important matter for holiday makers to fret over while on vacation: capturing beautiful (and envy-inducing) images to share with all their social media followers.
We’ve decided ease some of this pressure and share a few tips on how to capture the perfect holiday photo!
Image: @mounir_abdi
Here are 6 tips to get the best shot of an incredible sunset, wherever you are in the world.
1 Use your grid-lines
This will help you compose a shot that is symmetrical and balanced. This will also ensure that your horizon is level.
2 Bring a pair of earphones
Did you know,that the volume button on a pair of earphones can also be used to take a picture when you’re in the camera app on your phone? This is a great trick for when you’re holding your phone at an awkward angle and want to reduce shake when taking the picture.
Image: @chrisrogers
Image: @george_bozouris
3 Don’t use the flash
It is best to make use of natural lighting when capturing a sunset moment. Using the flash will create a harsh reflection on your foreground and leave your background under-exposed.
4 Don’t use zoom
The zoom function is the quickest way to degrade your image quality. Using a digital zoom means you’ll be using less of the image sensor, which will throw your image focus and stabalisation way off. If you want to get a closer shot, the best idea is to walk closer.
5 Use HDR funtion
HDR or High Dynamic Resolution takes three pictures in succession at different exposure levels. One picture will be exposed at a ‘normal’ level, another picture will be exposed for the shadows while the third picture will be exposed for the highlights. The phone will then combine these images to create an image that portrays all the highlights of the bright image and all the details of the darker one. This mode can provide sunset images that are more striking than in the normal mode.
Image: @chrisrogers
Image: @jude_allen
6 Take a lot of pics!
Don’t be afraid to get creative and take a ton of pics from different angles and with different compositions. Try both landscape and portrait orientation, or add different landmarks and silhouettes. Each stage of the sunset will provide unique lighting and colour for you to play with. The more images you take the better your chances of getting a photo that you love or snapping a total WOW moment.
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AUTHOR: Farah Khalfe
