How many times have you gotten all your camera gear together and headed out with the hopes of capturing one of those amazing sunsets only to get skunked? If you are like me, than I am guessing this has happened to you plenty of times.
But as the years have passed by, I have started to develop a sense of what makes for a good sunset, and what factors help a sunset develop. I dont always get it right but I am better at predicting if their will be a great sunset than I could when I started learning photography.
These are the things I look for when I am trying to decide if its going to be a nice sunset or not. When I see the right conditions, I grab my gear and run the door out to see what I can capture.
What Time is Sunset at?
The most important thing about capturing an epic sunrise, is to be at your location ready to capture the sunset when the sun is setting. The easiest and fastest way to figure out what time sunset is to ask Siri on my iPhone. Hold the home button on the iPhone and ask Siri “what time is sunset tonight?” and it will tell you what time its at and the local weather. I do not own an Android phone, but I assume you can do the same thing on your android device.
Check the Weather
Check the weather before you head out to see if the forecast calls for rain to move in ruining any chances of a sunset. Or maybe the clouds will disappear in the afternoon leaving just a big blue empty sky. Check the radar map to see if their is any clouds or rain in the area, and what direction it will be moving.
Clouds
There needs to be clouds in the sky for their to be a good sunset. The clouds provide an object to shine the colors of the setting sun on. If you have too few clouds, their wont be much going on up in the sky besides a small area of color. If there are too many clouds, the sun wont be able to peek through and shine on the clouds. I usually look for anywhere from 25%-80% cloud cover in the sky.
Cloud Altitude
The altitude of the clouds can also play a huge role in how the sun shines on the clouds. If you are standing on the ground and you just watched the sun disappear below the horizon, it doesn’t mean that the clouds way up in the sky cant still see the sun. The higher the clouds, the longer after sunset those clouds can still see the sun.
The Changing Colors of a Sunset
As the sun sets or rises, the light has to travel further through the atmosphere. As the light shines through air, particles in the air scatter the blue light leaving mostly reds and yellows. This is why the final moments of a sunset are the most colorful. This is the moment when the clouds will light up red and pink just before the light fades into twilight. The higher the clouds, the closer to twilight they will be lit up. The low level clouds fade first because the earth shadow falls on them before the higher clouds.
15 Minutes After Sunset/Before Sunrise
When you go to a popular view-point to watch the sunset, there are usually all sorts of other people there taking pictures. But just as soon as the sun dips below the horizon, the place clears out. Everybody thinks that since the sun has “set”, that the sunset is over. This is wrong. wait 15 minutes and you will see all the high altitude clouds starting to turn pinks and reds until twilight sets in. The same goes for a sunrise, the best light is usually about 15 minutes before the sun rises.
Just Before/After A Storm
Storms bring some very interesting clouds when they are rolling in. And if the timing is right, you can catch the sunset just as the clouds are clearing out or moving in. The sun will be low on the horizon and sometimes there is a gap between the horizon and the clouds above where you can see the sun. This gap allows the sun to shine in and light up the bottom edges of the storm clouds and really create some fantastic sunsets. But be quick, the sun quickly moves through the gap and you missed your chance.
Time of the Year
As the seasons change, so do the sunsets. In the Pacific Northwest some of the best sunrises and sunsets are during the Winter and Spring. As summer sets in the atmosphere has much fewer clouds than those other parts of the year, and when there are not any clouds in the sky, the sunset is just that. The sun sets over the horizon and the sky just gets dim and eventually dark. But in the other seasons with a bit more cloud cover, you are way more likely to get those clouds a lit up all different colors just after sunset.
Turn Around
When most people watch a sunset, 99% of the time they will be looking directly West at the setting sun, but it is not always towards the sun where the best light and colors appear. As the Sun moves to the west so does the color in the sky. If you time it right you will have the sun setting to the West, but to the East will be all the pinks and oranges as those clouds pick up the last sunlight of the day. If you watch for long enough, you will watch all those colors move West through the sky until it dips over the horizon.
Zoom In
Sometimes it will be an epic sunset but only in a small part of the sky. In this picture above, the sky on the horizon is on fire but the sky above me is drab and gray. Zoom in on the small band of the sky that is erupting with color and fill the frame with the sunrise. This might also be a good time to shoot a panorama image.
Go Someplace that always has a great sunset
You can always travel to someplace like Hawaii or Florida that has incredible sunsets all the time. The tropical weather in these locations is always changing and brings together storms followed by sunshine. The perfect ingredients for a great sunset.
Other Resources:
Another source I use is SunsetWX which is a website that uses various factors like Humidity and cloud elevations, etc to predict if their will be a nice sunrise or sunset.
There you have it, these are the things I keep in mind when I am looking out the window deciding if I want to head out and capture the sunset. There is no guarantee that I will catch a spectacular sunset but using these tips usually means it will have some color. So get out there and witness every sunset and sunrise because if you never go out, you are guaranteed to miss every single one. I also want to see your epic sunrise and sunset photos. Head on over to the Photo Lowdown Facebook Page and share your images.