Where do you meter when shooting sunsets?

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eurotrash

Senior Member
Sun is going down in a few. Hope to go shoot. Just want to know your preference. If you need your on the sun wouldn't that under expose everything else? Conversely if you meter on everything else wouldn't that over expose the sun? Thanks!
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
Yes & yes...

I usually focus on the dark parts...I also focus on the clouds and shoot raw and basic, you are able to find a lot of detail in the shadows...Sometimes after the sun goes below the horizon the clouds {catch on fire}...

I've started to pack up at times and noticed the clouds start to change...I think it might be the sun being blocked by clouds out of sight then reemerging...Try things for youself
 
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Eye-level

Banned
You could maybe meter for the sky remember the exposure value then meter for the ground and average the two values.
EV 15 is equal to Sunny 16.
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
eurotrash said:
So do you spot meter on a part of the sky you want properly exposed and then lock/recompose?
Click to expand...

I spot meter and just focus and shoot...I use manual mode and an aperture F7.1 to F22

I sometime shoot the [clouds correct expose] and [darks I over expose] to photomerge the images in photoshop
 
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N_Addy

Senior Member
Kinda depends on what your goals is (do you want to bring out other parts of the photo)?

For just a sunset I meter on a spot close to, but not directly on, the sun. If there are clouds in that area I would meter on the brightest spot of the clouds.

Even after doing this it's often necessary to stop down a full stop (or more). I take a shot and check highlights to decide whether this is necessary.

dsc_7631.jpg


If other parts should be visible I meter on them and adjust accordingly.

dsc_7660.jpg
 
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eurotrash

Senior Member
Wow, jeez, thanks guys! My photos turned out ok. Too much weird cloud cover however. Those shots look quite impressive, N_Addy! Really like the one on the cruise ship!
 
Pierro

Pierro

Senior Member
You could just bracket the shot with 3, 5 , 7 using 2 EV for a 3 shot, 1EV for the 5 and 0.7EV for the 7 and then merge in PS or something like CombineZM
 
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