sunrise/sunset

[puyjapin]

I have just been out to shoot a lovely sunset. Admittedly I didnt have a tripod as it has not arrived in the post yet. It seems i can only get orange with the fore/middleground completely black. Is the only way to compensate this with a ND grad and a tripod for a lnger exposure?

 

[tirediron]

Exactly right, however instead of, or perhaps in addition to a regular ND Grad, consider using a Graduated sunset filter (Cokin 197/ 198). This will give you a bit of a colour boost, although sometimes too much so.