Nikon D80, Lens Nikon AF-S 18-200VR, 1/40 f:18, ev -1 2/3 in Aperture priority and manual focus, iso 100 - photo taken using a tripod

Time is critical when you [...]]]> I was just sitting at my desk actually working on some photos, when I turned my head around and saw this magnificent sunset over my shoulder.

Nikon D80, Lens Nikon AF-S 18-200VR, 1/40 f:18, ev -1 2/3 in Aperture priority and manual focus, iso 100 - photo taken using a tripod

Time is critical when you live in the tropics, as the sun sets within minutes, so very quickly I got my tripod out and mounted the camera, as I’ve taken a lot of sunsets photos from this location, I knew more or less straight away which settings to apply on the camera, as you can see from the caption I put on some exposure compensation to add that extra amount of darkness to the photo, which gives the scene a bit more contrast.

Important, when you are using a tripod with a digital SLR and a vibration reduction lens is to turn off the vibration reduction, otherwise you might get slight blurry images, also I use a remote control, but if you don’t have that, then a short time on the self timer would do the same job. I find I get better photos, when I put the lens into manual focus, and just set it to the out most ‘infinity’ as the sun is quit far away, and that is in this case where I want the sharpest point in the photo.

You may argue about having the sun in the dead center of the photo, but for sunsets I find this often gives me the nicest photos, because besides from the sky above, there is not much more, where I would like to draw attention to.

More sunset photos from Koh Tao on www.torbensphotos.com/my-places/koh-tao/sunsets/