The most beautiful sunsets and sunrises

The most beautiful sunsets and sunrises
Every person, no matter what pragmatic mask he puts on himself, always hides at least some part of a romantic. We are all prone to sentimental moments, we can all feel more than necessary - in a word, anyone can find a reason for romantic behavior.

But what most often provokes us to exclusively romantic emotions?

Of course, many people may put other people first, but sometimes the reason is completely different. Often the key source of such emotions is precisely nature, because few things can give such unforgettable sensations as various natural phenomena, which often manifest themselves in all their glory.

And the most beautiful of them include sunsets and sunrises. It's amazing how beautiful they can be. But they can be even more beautiful if you know where it is best to observe them. After all, even though there is one Sun for everyone, the overall picture can vary depending on where the observer is located.

Therefore, let's look at 10 places where you can watch the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and who knows, maybe you will want to go to one of them just to see the majestic picture with your own eyes.

Promthep Cape, Phuket Island

At the extreme southern point of this Thai island there is a special observation deck, which for many acts as the main local attraction.

Not only is there a beautiful view of the islands scattered across the sea and the beach, but also the sun in the evenings, in the form of a kind of red disk, beautifully sinks into the sea. The clouds turn peachy. The spectacle is very beautiful and worthy of close attention if you visit Phuket.

Composition

A lot can be said about composition; it is a vast topic worthy of a separate article. Shooting sunset and sunrise is not special, the usual rules of composition apply here. However, it is worth considering common mistakes.

No matter how gorgeous the sunset is, you shouldn’t make the sky the main subject of the frame. The main subject should be earthy, and the sunset should only complement the frame, emphasizing the beauty of this subject. Imagine that there is no sunset, but instead there is a clear blue sky; the frame should remain interesting, albeit less spectacular.

A popular plot among fans: sea below, sunset above. No matter how beautiful it is, the plot is extremely hackneyed. The advice here is simple - include in the composition the foreground, for example, stones on the shore, a pier, a boat - anything that seems personally interesting to you. Aim the camera so that the horizon is higher than the middle of the frame - this will focus on the foreground rather than the sunset.

The foreground makes the photo much more expressive. Lake Svetloe, Ergaki Natural Park, Krasnoyarsk Territory. ISO100 24mm f/16 3.2s - beautiful landscape photos

When shooting silhouettes in backlight, the silhouette should not dominate - its area should not exceed 30-40% of the frame. Of course, the shape of the silhouette should be interesting in itself.

The setting sun behind three spiers: two of the Kremlin and one of the Ukraine Hotel. One frame, no processing. ISO200 300mm f/8 1/4000s - nature landscapes photos

Observation deck at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The Marina Bay Hotel is one of the most popular in all of Singapore. There are many reasons for this. Some people choose it because of its unusual architecture, others like, for example, the swimming pool that is located on the roof and other interesting solutions.

But what many admire most is the stunning sunset seen from its observation deck, set against the backdrop of the cityscape. The interesting thing is that you don’t have to be a hotel client to see it, you just need to pay some money.

Moment of balance

Shooting a sunset in the city has its own characteristics. A big city is full of light sources - building lights, lampposts, car headlights - and this light can be used to take the most effective shots. As the sun sets, its light gradually weakens, while the lighting in the city gradually turns on. When the intensity of sunlight and artificial light are approximately equal (30-45 minutes after sunset), a moment of balance occurs - the optimal time to photograph a sunset in the city. This balance does not last long, 5-10 minutes. At this time, the dynamic range of the scene is minimal, so you can shoot without exposure bracketing.

Sunset, 20 minutes until the moment of equilibrium, the city lights are just starting to turn on. Due to the large DD, a significant part of the image turned out to be underexposed. ISO200 90mm f/11 4min - beautiful landscape photos

At the moment of equilibrium, the brightness of natural and artificial illumination is equalized, the DD of the scene is minimal. Here is one frame, without bracketing. ISO200 100mm f/16 2min - beautiful landscape photos

"Emperor's Throne", Pelekas, Corfu Island

Not far from Corfu there is a small village called Pelekas. Not that it has any other special characteristics, but the views from the local hills are impressive. The nearby island looks simply beautiful, the sea, the mountains - everything is pleasant to admire. But the best thing here is still the sunset, which is best viewed from the platform called the Emperor's Throne, named after the German Kaiser Wilhelm.

Quotes about sunset in English

There are many sunsets, as well as people. Every person loves to look at the fantastic evening skies. All countries of the world have their own sunsets bursting with beauty in different dialects. And let's read quotes about sunset with English translation:

At dawn, when you wake up, remember that sunset will come next, which you are not expecting at all. At dawn, when you wake up, remember that an order will follow, which you do not expect at all (from the film “The Camp Goes to the Sky”).
Each sunset is unique and beautiful in its own way. Each sunset is unique and beautiful in its own way (Jared Leto).
Everything in the world ends with sunset, only every night comes to life with dawn. Everything in the world ends in decline, only every night comes to life with dawn (Vladislav Grzegorczyk).
It’s a pity that I won’t be able to convey this marvelous sunset over the lake. I wish I could! could pass this marvelous sunset over the lake. And I would like to! (Liu Yong).
Sunsets are sometimes sad, because while watching them you realize that this one is beautiful or is leaving me forever. Sunsets are sometimes sad, because, seeing them off, you realize that this wonderful or bad day is leaving me forever (Elchin Safarli).
We look at the sunset that united us, and with it we will remain forever. We look at the sunset that united us, and with it we will remain forever (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak).
When you see off the sunset with your loved one, it is beautiful and precious. When you walk off with your loved one, it is beautiful and expensive (Bones).
They change shades in weird ways, like sunsets and bruises. They change shades quaintly, as it happens with sunsets and bruises (Max Fry).
None of the sunsets will ever be like the others, because the colors of the sky are multicolored and unique. None of the sunsets will ever be similar to others, because the colors of the sky are multicolored and unique

Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor is the ancient capital of Cambodia. What adds to its unusualness is the fact that, in essence, this is a real temple city. Previously, about a million people lived on its twenty square kilometers. And tourists come here not only for the ancient architecture, but also to enjoy one of the most beautiful sunrises in the whole world. For a small price you can even view it from a special hot air balloon, from where the view is especially beautiful.

Features of the occurrence of dawn and dusk

The Earth tirelessly moves around the Sun and its axis, and once a day (with the exception of polar latitudes) the solar disk appears and disappears beyond the horizon, indicating the beginning and end of daylight hours. Therefore, in astronomy, sunrise and sunset are the times when the top point of the solar disk appears or disappears above the horizon.

In turn, the period before sunrise or sunset is called twilight: the solar disk is located close to the horizon, and therefore some of the rays, entering the upper layers of the atmosphere, are reflected from it onto the earth's surface. The duration of twilight before sunrise or sunset directly depends on latitude: at the poles they last from 2 to 3 weeks, in the polar zones - several hours, in temperate latitudes - about two hours. But at the equator, the time before sunrise is from 20 to 25 minutes.

Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle229104.3994

During sunrise and sunset, a certain optical effect is created when the sun's rays illuminate the earth's surface and sky, coloring them in multi-colored tones. Before sunrise, at dawn, the colors have more delicate shades, while sunset illuminates the planet with rays of rich red, burgundy, yellow, orange and very rarely green.

The sunset has such an intensity of colors due to the fact that during the day the earth's surface warms up, humidity decreases, the speed of air flows increases, and dust rises into the air. The difference in color between sunrise and sunset largely depends on the area where a person is located and observes these amazing natural phenomena.

Volcano Teide, Tenerife island, Spain

This volcano has a height of more than 3,700 meters relative to sea level. This allows you to reach a level where the air is especially clean and transparent, and therefore the dawn rising over the Atlantic Ocean looks completely special and unforgettable. Enterprising local travel agencies even sell specialized tours that are essentially focused on climbing to the top and seeing the sunrise. If that's not enough, you can watch the night sky at the local observatory.

Empire State Building, New York

You don't have to go to quite exotic places to enjoy an excellent sunset view. Sometimes this can be done right in the center of a metropolis. It is enough to go up to the observation deck of the mentioned building about an hour before sunset. Due to the abundance of skyscrapers, the sun is not visible very well. But the sky, the clouds, so unusually painted in various fantastic colors, reflected in numerous windows, are a magical sight.

The sun in the frame

An early morning or late evening photo can become much more interesting and dynamic if you include the sun in the composition. Here are some simple tips to help make your shot better.

To get long rays, you need to clamp the aperture to f/22. The tighter the aperture is clamped, the longer the beams. The number of rays will be equal to the number of aperture blades in your lens.
If the sun is in the frame, then the lens hood will not help you; you can remove it.
Any defects or dirt on the optics lead to the appearance of a large number of stray reflections. Therefore, it is better to remove all filters from the lens and make sure that the front lens is clean.
Even without filters, there can be flare caused by internal reflections in the lens. You can get rid of them by putting the camera on a tripod and taking two frames: one normal, and the second with the sun covered with your finger:

If you cover the sun with your finger, the stray glare at the bottom of the frame disappears

Then in Photoshop you can overlay one frame on top of another with a mask, thus getting rid of glare:

Dawn on the Transverse Multa River, Altai (in this place the river flows under the stones). Here two frames with the same exposure are superimposed (see above) to get rid of glare. Then a frame with a lower shutter speed was superimposed to get rid of overexposure in the sky. All frames were taken at f/22 when the sun was just peeking out from behind the mountain. ISO100 20mm f/22 0.4s

There is one difficulty here - the sun can significantly reduce the contrast of the entire frame as a whole, and therefore simple overlay of frames will not work, because they will vary greatly in contrast. This problem can be avoided if you shoot at the moment the sun sets behind some object (for example, behind a tree, mountain or building), when most of the solar disk is covered by this object. Then the application will be painless.

Boracay Island, Philippines

For many, the sunsets in the Philippines are the most beautiful in the world. And the point here is not only a subjective assessment, the point is also that the atmospheric conditions here are unlike any other. The air masses that gather here above the water surface create extraordinary optical effects that definitely need to be seen in person. And sunsets here are a completely unique and extraordinary phenomenon that you just want to admire.

Shooting with gradient filters

In some cases, the DD of a scene can be reduced using gradient filters.

Singh-ray gradient filters (4×6”)

Such filters allow you to darken part of the image. For example, if the top of the image is significantly lighter than the bottom:

When shooting without a filter, a significant part of the sky turned out to be overexposed

then using a gradient filter you can darken the upper part, so that the image will not be overexposed:

A 3 stop neutral gray gradient filter with a soft edge was used to capture this shot. Lake Svetloe, Ergaki Natural Park, Krasnoyarsk Territory. ISO100 20mm f/11 1/15s – Landscape photography

The highest quality (and most expensive) rectangular gradient filters are made by Singh-ray, very good ones by Lee, and good ones by Hitech. Unfortunately, they are almost impossible to purchase in Russia. Good filters differ from cheap ones in their neutrality and workmanship. For example, Singh-ray filters are almost completely neutral; Hitech have a slight purple tint, noticeable when shooting during the day in cloudy weather; Cokin filters available in Russia have a parasitic tint, noticeable in almost all scenes except sunsets and sunrises.

In some cases, a gradient filter allows you to shoot a scene in one frame, without bracketing. That's the beauty of these filters: one press of the shutter button, minimal processing, and the result is a very natural photo. However, gradient filters are not a panacea. In the case of a more or less complex boundary between dark and light areas of the scene, the gradient will darken not only the light area, but also the dark one. This is clearly visible in the photographs presented in this section, where along with the sky, the gradient darkened the mountains.

If you don't know where to start, buy one 2 stop neutral gray gradient filter with a soft border (see the left filter in the photo above). It will be useful in 90% of scenes, and at the same time it will not be visible in the pictures (in the sense that the picture will look completely natural). Filters of 3-4 stops are needed much less often, and you can easily go overboard with them, darkening the top part of the frame too much. 1 stop filters are usually completely useless.

Karelia, Russia

There are also places in the Russian Federation that are truly worthy of attention if you want to enjoy excellent sunrises and sunsets. The local unique nature makes it possible to meet the sunrise or sunset in many different ways - either the sun will sink in the local lakes, or rise from behind the dew-covered grass. A real paradise for a photographer hunting for a good shot, or simply for any connoisseur of beautiful views.

Features of shooting during normal time

One of the main problems when shooting during restricted hours is the lack of light. As a result, when shooting handheld, many frames may turn out blurry due to “shake.” The situation becomes more complicated when using light filters (for example, polarizing or gradient filters), which can increase the required shutter speed several times. The only effective solution to this problem is to use a tripod. If you don't have a tripod, you can try placing the camera on some hard surface; for example, this is how the following panorama was shot (here the camera was lying on a granite slab):

Sunset panorama in Victory Park (Moscow), reflected in a granite slab. — Photo landscape

The main problem when shooting sunsets and sunrises is the large dynamic range (DD) of the scene being filmed. DD depends on the direction of shooting: maximum in backlight (the camera is aimed at the setting sun) and minimum in the opposite direction. Modern DSLR cameras, as a rule, easily cope with DD scenes when shooting scenes with side lighting. But to do this, you need to shoot in RAW and be able to accurately set the exposure. The RAW format stores significantly more information (compared to JPG, for example) and allows, to some extent, to “pull out” small overexposures and underexposures during processing.

An error in determining the exposure can lead to the loss of information and the appearance of serious “underexposure” or “overexposure” in the image, even when shooting in RAW. Therefore, I recommend shooting in manual mode (M) to avoid camera automation errors.

There's nothing complicated about it. Place the camera on a tripod; set the minimum ISO value; set the aperture so that there is enough depth of field (usually f/5.6...f/11); set the shutter speed according to the camera's automatic setting. Even in manual mode, SLR cameras have automatic exposure metering - look into the viewfinder and you will see a strip with the numbers -3,2,1,0,1,2,3+, and above it there is a line - this is the exposure meter (in your camera it may look different):

If the risk is above “0”, then the shutter speed you set coincides with the one chosen by the camera’s automation. If the risk is shifted towards negative/positive numbers, then the camera considers that the shutter speed is too short/long, respectively. First, set the shutter speed so that the risk is above “0”. Then take a test frame and look at its histogram. If the histogram is strongly shifted to the left, then increase the shutter speed, if to the right, then decrease it. Take the next test frame and look at the histogram again. And so on until you get a frame with a good histogram, without overexposure or underexposure. You can read more about the histogram, for example, here.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the histogram of individual channels! When shooting during normal operation, there may be overexposure (clipping) in individual channels in the absence of overexposure in brightness. This leads to color distortion. When shooting sunsets/sunrises, there is often clipping in the red channel, and at dusk – in the blue channel.

Example of clipping in the red channel with slight overall overexposure

Grand Canyon, USA

The most famous natural landmark of the United States is interesting in principle. But the local meeting of the dawn is especially interesting here. There is even a separate separate excursion for this. Within its framework, tourists are taken approximately an hour before sunrise to one of the observation platforms, after which the sun gradually begins to rise through numerous breaks and ledges of the gorge, creating a completely extraordinary, unique picture.

Sapphire Lookout, Istanbul

But perhaps the best way to watch the sunrise or sunset is from the observation deck of the tallest building in Istanbul. From a 261-meter height, the sun, which illuminates the local mosques and minarets as it goes beyond the horizon, looks especially beautiful. And if that’s not your thing, then you can also enjoy the beautiful view from one of the local ferries that regularly ply along the Bosphorus - also an excellent option for lovers of beauty.

Time phases

The sunset itself usually lasts only a few minutes, and is part of the so-called “setting time”, when the sunlight is softest and most favorable for shooting scenes with natural light. Let's consider the main phases of operating time. For simplicity, I will only talk about sunsets; for sunrises everything is the same, only the phases of the operating time are in the reverse order.

As you know, midday light is white, very hard (if we consider summer time at mid-latitude). As the sun approaches the horizon, its rays penetrate more and more of the atmosphere, and the light gradually becomes warmer. The moment when the light significantly changes its temperature compared to midday can be considered the beginning of the regime time. Typically this is about an hour before sunset. This time is good for shooting scenes in which the main subject (for example, a mountain peak or building) is lit from the side. The light is still bright enough, so you can shoot handheld if you forgot to bring a tripod.

The main building of Moscow State University (Moscow), illuminated from the side by the soft light of the setting sun. ISO100 12mm f/11 1/2.5s, panorama from 2 horizontal frames

Then the light becomes warmer - first orange, then red, and then black (when the sun sets below the horizon). Having gone beyond the horizon, our luminary ceases to illuminate earthly objects, but can very effectively illuminate clouds. This is the time to shoot in backlight, with the camera pointed approximately where the sun has set. There is not enough light, you can still shoot handheld, but getting a sharp shot is quite difficult.

The RAS building (Moscow), backlit photography shortly before the sun sets on the horizon. ISO100 11mm f/8 1/20s

After sunset, when the clouds “die”, twilight sets in. Usually this time is unremarkable. There is very little light and shutter speeds can reach tens of seconds (especially when using filters), which makes handheld shooting impossible. But don’t rush to shut down your technique. Because sometimes at dusk, real magic begins - the water in the lake calms down, the sky begins to smolder with purple light, and it seems that everything around is filled with extraordinary calm and harmony.

Evening twilight on Lake Srednemultinskoye, Altai. The 30-second shutter speed smoothed out some of the slight ripples in the water, making for a calmer experience. The colors are real. ISO200 20mm f/8 30s, panorama of 2 horizontal frames - Photo landscape