Sunrise photos? Canon EOS T7

[Tintype_18]

I have an opportunity to get some great sunrise photos. We have too many power lines, trees, etc. that get in the way around the house. I can get the photos that are clear without having to edit them. Our church parking lot faces east so the sun will come up over a ridge about 300 yards away. My question: As noted below, I have the T7 and the listed lenses. What can I do or set the camera to prevent frying the insides? Thanks. Will share a photo or two.

[stevet1]

John,

Try catching the sky before the sun breaks the horizon. If you can't do that, try putting something between you and the sun like the trunk of a tree or some bushes.

Here's one I took last year.:

Steve Thomas

[zakslm]

Tintype_18,

I have the same camera and shooting sunrises and sunsets can be challenging.  First of all, I don't think shooting into a sunrise will damage the camera or the sensor unless you do so on Bulb for very long exposure.  A series of exposures for a fraction of a second each should be OK but perhaps others who are more knowledgable can provide more insight into this.

There is a previous thread that I replyed to here: https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-DSLR-Mirrorless-Cameras/EOS-T6-Trouble-with-bracketing/m-p/43... .  On that thread others replied and offered some very helpful advice and tips.  

With the camera on a tripod, I would suggest using exposure compensation and auto-bracketing as was discussed in the above reference thread and then (I have yet to do this for sunrise/sunset photos but I will soon), using the HDR Composting Tool in Canon DPP4 to combine the bracketed sets into one HDR image and see what happens. 

 The advice from ebiggs1 on that thread was an "Ahah!" moment and in playing with DPP4, I've found you can use the HDR Composting Tool for bracketed JPEG or RAW images straight out of the camera (I've played with HDR composting 3 JPEG images or 3 RAW images, but not a combination of JPEG and RAW images, but that may work as well - who knows?). ebiggs1 highly recommends using RAW images, but I'm still trying to teach myself how to do so in DPP4 and learning DPP4 in general.

Good luck!

[Tronhard]

John what lens are you planning to use for  your images?

What mode are you planning to shoot in?  If you choose something like Av mode, the camera's exposure will likely under-expose the image, which can be effective, but you can increase the exposure compensation gradually to brighten that up with follow-up images.

Normally, shooting a sunrise and sunset should not pose risks to your camera sensor because at a low declination there is much more atmosphere between you and the sun. Secondly, well before you burn out the camera sensor, you should have overexposed the image, hence my suggestion about using Av mode.

Normally risk to a camera is a challenge when shooting at higher angles using a super-telephoto lens, the worst case scenario being when shooting a lunar eclipse when the sun is completely dark and suddenly becomes very bright again.

[Tintype_18]

Thanks to all. Lens: I tend to experiment with the lenses I have listed; likely the 75-300mm and/or the 150-600mm. Experiment with camera settings. I could let my wife take the photos as she is locked in at Auto.:D The church is only 2 miles away so it's easy to set up. A tripod is a must as I don't feel that hand held shots would be good. Plus, i could take multiple photos as the sun rises. Some clouds show up as pink. The tree line would serve as a sort of horizontal border; shoot as the light becomes visible to a section of the sun as it rises. Right now, the sun becomes visible before 8 AM, Eastern time. Thanks as I plan on a few visits. Will see what happens and share the photos here.

[Waddizzle]

When shooting sunrise or sunset photos, don’t forget to look behind you.  Sometimes the best shots are with the sun to your back!

[ebiggs1]

Every photographer goes through the sunrise sunset period. The best advice is to get up close and friendly with Photoshop. A red Sun won't harm your camera. HDR is your friend.

A quick shot of a yellow Sun won't harm your camera.

[ebiggs1]

BTW, learning HDR can be quite interesting for general shots. They don't always have to be that tough dog of a photo. But, remember sometimes less is more.

[Tintype_18]

What is HDR? A book I have speaks of the golden hours...just before sunset and just after sunrise. I plan on taking my camera kit and try different lenses.

[FloridaDrafter]

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@Tintype_18 wrote:

What is HDR?

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"High Dynamic Range". Look in your cameras manual for AEB (auto exposure bracketing). PSE should have an HDR routine to combine the bracketed shots, if not DPP 4 does.

Newton