Portfolio 12 of 80

There has always been concern from people new to photography, about shooting directly at the sun. Funnily enough, most of the concern is for the camera and not their eyes!

Within reason, shooting into the sun should not harm the sensor in your digital camera although excessive use could make some "hot" pixels flare up when the sensor warms up from the heat of the sun. This isn't really anything to worry about, most digital cameras have them and they can be removed in Photoshop or a similar editing program.

If you would like more info on this subject, read this page at DC Experiments.

Be aware though, of the effect it has on your eyes. Use a UV filter or better still, a polarizer. This will tame down the brightness of the sun. If you don't have a filter, put some sunglasses on, they won't affect the picture but they will protect your eyes!

When you line up a shot, try not to look directly at the sun but around it, and don't take too long. For this shot I purposely shot with a small aperture and used the "depth of field preview" button to close the aperture. This way the image dulls enough for you to compose correctly.

By using a 200mm telephoto I was able to emphasize the already large setting sun. Plus use of the "rule of thirds" meant I kept the sun away from the centre of the image. The cameras meter took care of the exposure. I just aimed and fired and with a little work in Photoshop, I got the desired result.

As I shoot a lot of stock photography, I wanted to leave areas free of clutter so that wording could be added for, say, a holiday brochure.