To Shoot Sunsets & Sunrises Or Not To Shoot. Inquiry RE: Sunshots.

That was news to me! I often TRY to shoot sunset photos but they never turn out as well as what I'm seeing.

Aww, and to think that it's the same sun that I see.

Sunset shots can be hard to get.. it's a split second timing thing. I've managed to have success when I sat for the whole sunset taking photos pretty much the whole time.

The photo above is a result of that effort. It often looks different to the camera as it does to the naked eye as when I shot this it did not look this dark and golden at the time.

I was just outside playing with the sunset setting on my new camera

Oh, I hope to see some wonderful shots from you soon, Flit! :)

Lindy, thank you. It's one of my best sunset shots, I believe.

I would love to know how to use all my settings on my camera also

I still haven't figured out my daughters digital camera.

Great question though.

I'm interested to see what people have to say, what the answer is. I can use all the help I can get....lol

BTW - The purple flower is pretty. Purple is my favorite color :-)

I don't know, Jennifer.

The following is from malektips.com which has a wealth of information and tips on using digital cameras: Be very careful when pointing your lens towards or at the sun! The sun can damage your camera lens, so after taking your photographs, immediately place a lens cap on your digital camera.

Also, a CCD is, according to crutchfield.com: CCD (charge coupled device)
A digital camera's image sensing element, or as it's often referred to, its image sensor. The CCD's job is to convert light to electrical energy, which can then be stored in digital form in the camera's memory. A CCD's photo-capturing power is measured in pixels, and will usually be seen expressed in megapixels. Sometimes, you may see two slightly different pixel counts listed for the same camera's CCD. These numbers represent effective pixel count and actual pixel count. For an explanation of the difference, see our Digital Cameras FAQ.

I don't know the answer, but that sunset looks like a fiery eye in the sky. It's absolutely gorgeous. I hope it doesn't mess up your eyesight or your camera.

Thanks for asking this question and Corina, thanks for the answer. I love taking sunset and sunrise photos also. I've never taken a photo with the camera pointed directly at the sun though. I guess I won't now for sure.

CCD stands for charge coupled device. It's a chip or wafer segmented into light-sensitive cells (think, pixels) that, together, form your picture. If my understanding is correct, a damaged CCD can cause distortion in your images. I think these are often used for astronomical photography and microscopy. In fact, I first ran into the term CCD while editing articles for a medical journal discussing microscopy.

I never knew this was a problem but now I'll think before I point the camera at a strong light source.

Interesting Corina and thank you everyone for your comments and help!

I wonder what happens when you don't have a lens cap for your camera (mine just goes back in and closes lens off.)

Looks like only 5mp sunset pics.. since that one has a sunset mode I think it's okay to use. I don't have a viewfinder on that camera so I don't look at the sun directly but rather glance at it through the LCD screen.

Also thank you Jennifer for the additional info. Wow, you learn something new with each new camera, huh?

I don't know much about the camera, but I like these pictures. Very unique with an artistic flair.

I have never used a "sunset" mode on a camera -

Thanks for posting this to...

The Photographers Review

interesting.. I dont know!

This is beautiful

It's a great picture -- hope it didn't hurt anything!

Sometimes those horizontal streaks produced by the CCDs are actually pretty and add to the photo.

I took a photo of the sunrise from on top of a volcanic crater in Hawaii at 10,000 foot plus elevation. One of the photos had those horizontal streaks but it really added to the whole feel of it. Nothing happened to the camera, either. Of course I didn't keep it poised at direct sunlight for too long; just long enough to focus and snap!

Thanks Spartan. I've seen those streaks a couple times in the old camera but didn't know it was a cranky chip causing it. Good to know.

The camera is fine, but still very good to know. :)

Good question and what a beautiful shot!

You should never look through the viewfinder into the sun - after that, I can't say. I have a canon 540 and love it. Experiment with it to see how it works for you. Muted filtered sunrises and sets shouldn't be the same as a high noon, head on sun shot. I wouldn't recommend taking one of them, but didn't know it could damage the camera. Good Luck!

This is a good question. Someday I'm going to get a digital camera, and I'll have to keep this in mind. Great picture by the way.

Thanks Arlene!

Richard, thanks for the info. I'm really loving my Canon too. Eventually I'll be trying full-on manual settings. Maybe this spring I'll try that.

Good luck shopping for your camera, Sarah. It's a tough thing to choose one.

Interesting discussion! I'm not prone to direct sunshots--hurts my eyes. Now I know it hurts the camera's eye too

Interesting subject.
I did not know this. Now, I wonder if all digital cameras have a CCD?

I hope I haven't hurt my camera. I have pointed it at the sun many times. Yikes!

Interesting discussion. I had also read about not pointing directly at the sun with my camera manual.

Bobbi I wonder that too. I'd never seen not to shoot into sun before this camera.

gee i don't know... sorry... nice pic you got ... Blessings...