Film speed for sunsets?

[scubabunny]

I know this isn't really underwater stuff, but I've been trying to get a good pic of the sunset in Guam. My house faces the west and I can see the beach, trees, and ocean. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!

But, all my pictures turn out...well..."blah". I've been using 100 speed. I have a basic "point and shot" from K-mart, so don't even mention Fstops and apperatures and all that stuff. Do I just give up on getting a decent picture until I get a "real" camera? (could I steal my boyfriends Nikonos?)

 

[Rooster]

The problem with "automatic" point and shoot cameras and sunsets, is that they try to expose to normal daylight conditions. This over exposes the sunset (colors are washed out). It probably won't matter what speed film you use, unless it's slower than the camera is suppose to use. If your camera will only take, say 100 iso film, than putting in 50 ISO will under expose the picture and you might get what you’re looking for. If you can get your hands on Marks Nik V with the standard 35mm lens, you can get some great sunset photos. The 35mm lens works really well for scenic type shots, and since the camera has a meter and is adjustable, you can get the shot that “YOU” want, not what the camera wants. Here’s a sunset pic I took a few days ago waiting for a night dive at Fisheye.
http://www.netpci.com/pages/rooster1/Piti.htm
Dive Safe,
Rooster

 

[joewr]

Rooster,

Great photo! I am ready for Guam right now! Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter I once spent was a summer in San Francisco." We are helping to make sure that adage stays intact! Right now I can barely see my neighbor's house!

I,too, have taken some fairly decent above water shots with my Nikonos and the 35mm lens. I do not like to carry my land camera on dive boats--sometimes use a throwaway, though--so,if I want a surface photo, I slip on the 35. Has worked just fine...


Enjoy the warm water and warmer weather!

Joewr

 

[Rick Murchison]

There really hasn't been a film made yet that can capture the beauty that the human eye sees in a sunset - the variation in light is just too extreme. The best luck I've had has been using an orange filter, but to get close to what you see you still have to do some pretty extensive manipulation in a lab. (or these days on a computer)
In the meantime, bracket the shot a couple (or ever three or four) stops either side of what your meter says and you should have an idea of what's possible.
Too bad you can't get Kodachrome 25 anymore.
Rick

 

[TexasMike]

I used to work in a Camera Shop back in high school (too bad it wasn't a dive shop --sigh--) and remember the KodaChrome film. It was excellent stuff for high quality color images.

And the dang slides would last forever! My dad still has slides of me as a 3-year old, buck nekkid in a #3 washtub holding the garden hose that are as clear as if they were taken yesterday

(hmmm...me now, buck nekkid, with an inflatable swimmin pool with the garden hose...{{shiver of horror}})

 

[Rooster]

Here are three more sunset photos. The first two, and the one posted above, were taken on Guam with a Nikon F-100. All three photos were under exposed by about 1 F-stop. The last photo was taken at Truk, waiting for a night dive on the Fujikawa Maru. This one was taken with a Nikonos V and 35mm lens (don’t remember the settings).

http://www.netpci.com/pages/rooster1/FiskBeach.htm
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid28/pd9f2a3a814f346ee64682a3c66914e9a/fdfff716.jpg.orig.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid28/p55ead9954abbed62064af2d46de68b08/fdfff802.jpg.orig.jpg

Dive Safe,
Rooster

 

[scubabunny]

They are GREAT Rooster! Sunsets are one of my favorite things about Guam!

Guess I'll have to have Mark finally teach me how to do the "F-stop" thing! If he doesn't trust me with his "baby"...can I borrow yours??? *wink,wink*

Ummm...Joewr..you probably don't want to head over to Guam right this second. Right now, we are waiting to see if the tropical depression heading this way is going to turn into a Typhoon before or after it hits Guam! Since I'm a "Tyhoon Virgin", I'm a bit nervous...although no one else seems to be. So, I take that as a good sign. But, diving will basically suck for the next week or so.

Oh well...one of the hazard of living in paradise, I guess.

 

[lildiver]

Rooster, those are some very nice pics! Good job!

~lildiver

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

The problems with a sunrise/sunset is various. First the sun hits the earth at just the right angle and splits the prism and you see a wide range of colors. Not to mention the added effects on the human eye which yields more assortment. To a camera this is dim light and it fades everything to a neutral gray color by default.

One great method is to use 50 to 100 speed film and go into 'bulb' mode and definately use a tripod or some ancoring device. You are no using super long exposures here but a few seconds (about 3-25 seconds).

Another thing is the various degrees of light will make your subjects change color so you have several options here. A) use a color filter to fade the off colors to another color b) digital editing or c) color correction.

Ed

 

[Zept]

Scubabunny, if you have access to a scanner, you may be able to fix your sunsets by scanning the photos and adjusting the contrast and brightness -- you probably want more contrast and less brightness. Or you could ask your photo lab to reprint them and make them darker.

Zept