Sunset Shed

Sometimes people ask me what camera setup I use. For HDR landscapes like this one, I autobracket from +2 to -2 and shoot in aperture priority mode. I typically go for the smallest aperture (biggest f-numbers) relative to the focal length. I can give you at least three great reasons for doing so:

#1. It will make sure everything is in focus.

#2. It will lengthen the shutter speed. This takes care of many ghosting problems (people or cars passing by, leaves moving in the wind, and so on). Just remember to bring a tripod.

#3. It will, depending on the angle, create beautiful stars of local light sources. This could be street lights, or if you shoot directly into the sun.

I'm a bit compulsive about ISO, so I always keep it at 100 for these things. Noise is never (at least very rarely) your friend. If you don't have a remote (I don't), use the camera's timer. I have it set to 5 seconds just to be sure. Some people refuse to look at their shots through the viewfinder in order to save battery time, but my advice is to refuse such refusal. You need to know if your exposures contain all data. Your darkest exposure shouldn't have anything white in it, and your brightest exposure shouldn't have anything black in it. Pay attention to your histogram. If you didn't get the entire dynamic range, use exposure compensation and go again.

I had to shoot this sunset shed twice. The brightest part of the sky was blown out in my first exposures, so I had to compensate. As an aside, my good friend Károly was standing on the other side of the shed, taking his own photos.

Shot on August 12th 2011. HDR. Eskilstuna.
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