Can somebody please assist me?

[Shooter]

Hi,

I have an acquired an interest for taking shots of sunsets of Sydney Harbour and various beaches. I have a Pentax MZ30 with a 55 & 300mm lens. It takes print shots. I used a "versatile" film (Kodak 400). The shots were taken at sunset and they came out quite dull and gloomy. It was a picturess evening, with no clouds.

Could somebody please give me some direction or feedback whether the tools or whatever the case maybe.

Thankyou kindly for your time

 

[markc]

could you post some examples? it would be a lot easier to help if we knew what your starting point was.

 

[mrsid99]

I have an acquired an interest for taking shots of sunsets of Sydney Harbour and various beaches.

Kinky!
Seriously though, do as Markc suggests and post some examples.

 

[drlynn]

Yeah, it would be best to see some shots.

If I had to make a blind guess, I'd say they were underexposed. Your meter exposed for the sun, and the rest of the scene was underexposed.

Or at least that's the most common problem with sunsets that I've seen.

 

[GerryDavid]

So Dr Lynn, say you meter the sun and the ground, and the sun is 2 stops above the ground, what setting would you use? You would want detail in the ground, but you dont want to blow out the sky, and vice versa but reversed. Or would you take 2 pictures, meter for the ground, and for the sun and take the 2 pictures and then put them together in photoshop? :0)

 

[Shooter]

I am unable to post these photos as i do not have a scanner.

If anything i wish to learn through trial and error, however i want to make sure that i am using an efficient film. Any suggestions?

Further to this, are sunset shots attractive on a black and white film?

 

[Big Mike]

When taking sunset shots, I like to bracket and try a few different metering methods.

I think that one of the best ways to meter for sunsets is to point your camera at the sky, close to the sun but don't include the sun in the frame. Now keep that exposure value and recompose to include the sun and whatever else you want. Bracket a few shots from there.

(Don't look directly at the sun, especially through a camera)

I also try a few shots metering with the sun, metering just the foreground & metering other areas in the scene.

Unless you take two shots and later combine them, you will not be able to get as much range as how it looks to you. Film can only capture so much. If you get detail in the shadow, the bright parts will be blown out. If you get detail in the bright parts, the shadows will be too dark.

You could get a split filter that is dark on one side and clear on the other.

Also, where are you taking your film for prints? Try taking it to a good photo lab and not just the booth at the supermarket.

 

[Walt]

Bracket, bracket, bracket! Also it may help to make notes on what exposures you made and what you metered off of. From there you have a base to work from in subsequent outings.