Try bracketing your exposures around the basic meter setting. Bracketing your exposures (adding or subtracting one or two stops of exposure) gives you a margin of error, helps you learn more about your camera’s metering, and provides a choice of images.
There is no “perfect” exposure for sunsets and sunrises. It is a matter of personal taste. As a rule of thumb, if you underexpose from the target areas we’ve discussed (let in less light than your meter reading) the clouds and foreground will be darker and more dramatic and the highlights will hold more detail and richer colours. Conversely, if you overexpose, the sky and clouds will look lighter, brighter and less foreboding. You will also have more detail in the foreground shadow areas.
Shooting the Dark Side Backlighting
The late afternoon, when you are planning your sunset shots, is also a great time to experi- ment with dramatic backlighting. At this time of day, the light streaming in at a very low angle cre- ates great rim lighting on everything in its path. Rim lighting occurs when that very strong light seems to almost shine through and around the del- icate edges of subjects, illuminating areas like cob-
webs, hair and pine needles and creating a halo effect.
As with sunsets, it is easiest to break exposure techniques for backlighting into two categories: Backlit scenes where you limit light, producing black shadows and no detail, and backlit scenes where you allow enough light to include some detail in the shadows.
In the first situation—black shadows with no details—set your camera on manual exposure. Point your camera at the sky or a light area behind the subject, exposing for the light areas in the image. Now using that exposure, re-compose and take your shots. The edges of your subject will now be rimmed with beautiful golden light and your shadows will be a rich black.
When you want to include some detail in the shadows, use the same exposure technique except this time open up your exposure by one to two stops. You can either decrease shutter speed or enlarge the aperture. By opening up the exposure you will show more detail in the shadow areas, such as faces, but still retain some of that great rim light effect.
The secret to sunset and backlighting exposures is deciding what areas of the image you want exposed properly and then making the camera meter work for you to obtain that exposure. Once
you have mastered these simple exposure tech- niques you will find yourself creating not just another sunset snapshot but rich and colour-filled images of the golden hour, just the way you remembered it.
Tips and Hints:
If you are shooting print film make sure the pro- cessing lab prints the film the way you exposed it. If you are not using a good lab, their machines will automatically “average out” your prints and you will lose those dramatic lighting effects. When you shoot slide film, however, the exposure you use is always what you get back from the lab.
You will be shooting into the sun most of the time, so use your lens hoods and be wary of lens flare when you are framing your shots. Sometimes, however, lens flare can add interest to an image.
Many of the newer cameras have very accurate meters, so you may find that you will only have to adjust your exposures by 1/2 or 2/3 of a stop to get the proper effect.
Rick Matthews is a professional sports photographer and avid paddler.
In the tandem kayak shot, I exposed for the sunlit green patch behind the paddlers, opened up one stop and then waited for them to come into the scene. Notice how you still get great backlighting on the water spray off the pad- dles while retaining some detail in the rock face and paddlers.
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 21
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