What kind of settings should I try to capture sunrise and sunset photos on my cruise?

[SAWYER]

I will be gone next week and will be using a Canon XTi with an 18-55 mm IS lens. What kind of settings to use as to get great pics, and also pics of the oceans, waves etc?

 

[kyzen]

You're going to have to figure it out for yourself I'm afraid, as there's no magical universal setting. Looking around online, or some folks here, might be able to give you some basic ideas, but it'll be damn near impossible to tell you exactly what to do. Just bring a laptop, or lots of memory cards, and you'll get it figured out

All I can say, with my wildly limited experience, is that if your boat is moving - forward, up and down, side to side, whatever, you aren't going to be able to do any sort of prolonged exposure.

 

[bobdole369]

having been on a cruise I agree with Kyzen. It's not possible to shoot much slower than 1/60. Also depending on your locale, the sun is MUCH brighter and tends to reflect off the water in odd ways.

In general - use manual focus for sunsets, don't stare at the sun! Much easier to shoot and review, then shoot again, don't stare through the viewfinder at the sun!

prefer smaller apertures for more depth of field (larger numbers like f/11 f/14) and shoot in Av mode. Use slightly higher ISO to reduce the shutter time.

Your mileage WILL vary, so experiment.

 

[Triumph]

don't be surprised if you can't get exactly what you want, meaning the darks are going to be too dark and the sun and surrounding corona are going to be blown out. digital cameras just don't have the dynamic range to capture something with such a large light to dark contrast like a sunset. i suggest you meter for the bright areas and lighten the dark areas afterwards in photoshop. the dark end of the histogram actually contains more information than the lighter end.

 

[magomago]

maybe use a ND filter that changes horizontally?

 

[shocksyde]

Originally posted by: Triumph
don't be surprised if you can't get exactly what you want, meaning the darks are going to be too dark and the sun and surrounding corona are going to be blown out. digital cameras just don't have the dynamic range to capture something with such a large light to dark contrast like a sunset. i suggest you meter for the bright areas and lighten the dark areas afterwards in photoshop. the dark end of the histogram actually contains more information than the lighter end.

This.

Take a bunch of exposures at different settings, expose for the sky and then for the water, and then give HDR a whirl!

Or, as the post directly above me states, try a ND Filter.