Exposing for Sunsets - Using Grads Correctly

Jambo_84

Jambo_84

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Rob
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Hi everyone, just wondered if anyone could help me get my head around exposing for sunset shots using an ND grad.

I have read in the past that you should take a reading from the sky and then one from the foreground (filling the frame with either sky of FG each time) then work out the difference in stops and pick a suitable grad to balance the exposure.

My question is, what part of the sky and foreground do you expose for and what metering type? The only way I can think is spot metering off to one side of the sun then spot metering a mid tone in the foreground. This will obviously still give a burnt out sun but surely metering from the sun its self will give too big a difference in exposure between the sky and foreground??

Just wondered how everyone else did it!
:thumbs:
 
Jambo_84 said:
Hi everyone, just wondered if anyone could help me get my head around exposing for sunset shots using an ND grad.

I have read in the past that you should take a reading from the sky and then one from the foreground (filling the frame with either sky of FG each time) then work out the difference in stops and pick a suitable grad to balance the exposure.

My question is, what part of the sky and foreground do you expose for and what metering type? The only way I can think is spot metering off to one side of the sun then spot metering a mid tone in the foreground. This will obviously still give a burnt out sun but surely metering from the sun its self will give too big a difference in exposure between the sky and foreground??

Just wondered how everyone else did it!
:thumbs:
Click to expand...

I've not done this myself, I used bracketing and stitched the image along the horizon (because I STILL don't have an ND Grad!)

You can't meter on the sun or you would just get a totally black image other than the sun! I would suggest you experiment just over and just under the horizon. I it going to be a compromise whatever you do. If you are shooting digital I would try that as a start and zoom in on the preview.
 
I am no expert but using live view on your 40d could come in handy when trying to get the exposure by using manual mode.
 
You could spot meter the sky and the foreground, which, with experience, will give you an indication of how dark a grad you'll need, depending on the effect you want. That's how you'd do it with film.

But with digital, why not just stick on your grad of choice and take a shot? Meter it on evaluative and it cannot be far off. If it's not perfect, you can adjust the strength of the grad quite a bit with f/number (higher f/number effectively pulls the grad line down and makes it appear a bit darker - it's basically pulling the filter into sharper focus, a depth of field effect). Slide the grad up/down. Consider lighter/darker, hard or soft cut etc.

With digital you don't need to worry about all that separate metering stuff, and you'll likely want to tweak things a bit when you see the image anyway.

Do some test shots with your grad filters - shoot a plain wall at different f/numbers and focal lengths and you'll get a good idea of the options available.
 
Jambo_84 said:
Hi everyone, just wondered if anyone could help me get my head around exposing for sunset shots using an ND grad.

I have read in the past that you should take a reading from the sky and then one from the foreground (filling the frame with either sky of FG each time) then work out the difference in stops and pick a suitable grad to balance the exposure.

My question is, what part of the sky and foreground do you expose for and what metering type? The only way I can think is spot metering off to one side of the sun then spot metering a mid tone in the foreground. This will obviously still give a burnt out sun but surely metering from the sun its self will give too big a difference in exposure between the sky and foreground??
Click to expand...

The Lee Filters book suggests the simple method is to put your camera into Centre Weighted Evaluative meter mode, take a reading from the sky and from the foreground. The grad you need is one that will bring the reading to within 2 stops difference.

Just wondered how everyone else did it!
:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Now that we've got the theory out of the way I usually pop my 2 stop grad on and take a shot in Av. Use the Aperture and Shutter as my 'base' setting before moving into manual. Once in manual adjust the Aperture / Shutter to get the exposure just right checking the histogram / highlight warning on the display. If the sky / foreground don't look right I'll change to a 1 or 3 stop grad...

HTH

Mark
 
topcatproduction said:
Is it safe to use live view whilst directly at the sun? (For the sensor not your eyes!)
Click to expand...

I think it's pretty much never safe to point the camera directly at the sun - in the days of film cameras with rubberised cloth shutters you'd burn a hole straight through the shutter! Now it's pretty easy to fry the sensor by doing the same trick.
 
Freester said:
The Lee Filters book suggests the simple method is to put your camera into Centre Weighted Evaluative meter mode, take a reading from the sky and from the foreground. The grad you need is one that will bring the reading to within 2 stops difference.
Click to expand...

^^^ That's pretty much what I do, usually I'll make sure that the sky is brighter than the land but 1-2 stops, as we're pretty much programmed to expect to see sky brighter than ground. Of course, if it's a moody grey sky, and snow on the ground, you'll need it the other way around :naughty:
 
When i've tried filters when shooting a sunset, all i've had is green spots...

I use it on manual now, keep the aperture closed down and and play around
with the shutter speed until i get a nice round sun and a good colour in the sky

.
 
Freester has it spot on. You'll never really be able to expose correctly for the sun but getting most of the rest of the sky within a couple of stops is your best option.

Simon

Freester said:
The Lee Filters book suggests the simple method is to put your camera into Centre Weighted Evaluative meter mode, take a reading from the sky and from the foreground. The grad you need is one that will bring the reading to within 2 stops difference.



Now that we've got the theory out of the way I usually pop my 2 stop grad on and take a shot in Av. Use the Aperture and Shutter as my 'base' setting before moving into manual. Once in manual adjust the Aperture / Shutter to get the exposure just right checking the histogram / highlight warning on the display. If the sky / foreground don't look right I'll change to a 1 or 3 stop grad...

HTH

Mark
Click to expand...
 
Excellent, thanks for all the advice. I'm up in the Dales all this weekend so will put it to the test!

Rob.
 
I hope i got this right, and i think it is similar to what is written above, but for the sky you meter off the glow to the side off the sun... You then meter off the ground (I'm guessing a mid tone as you suggest but I am really not sure, I know if it's water you meter off the reflection of the sky on the water). You then lower the sky using the filter such that it is only 1 stop above the ground.

So, if you meter on the ground and f/8 at 1/50s is the correctly meter exposure and then you meter off to one side of the sun and f/8 at 1/800s is indicated you have a 4 stop difference and so a 3 stop filter would get you where you want to be.

For sunsets don't you need a reverse nd grad though?
 
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