Flashback Friday: Beach Sunset

Here is another one taken with the Canon A80 back in 2005. It seems that everyone with a camera and a shutter finger feels the urge to photograph sunsets. Seriously, Americans alone must spend tens of thousands of clicks every clear night. Yet most of us are disappointed the first time we try. The sun is much, much, much, much, much, much, much brighter than everything surrounding it. It throws off the meter of the camera and everything else is severely underexposed. When adjustments are made, everything else may be exposed correctly, but a large, boring circle dominates and everything else loses detail. One day I realized that perhaps it's typically not in my best interest to include the sun in the frame when photographing sunsets. (As a good general rule, it's best not to include the main light source in the frame.)

This was my first photo to be published in a magazine: Milford Living.

(Click to see larger.)