How does landscape photography predict beautiful sunset?

It is believed that every child has been curious: “Why is the sky blue? But why sometimes the sky at sunrise or sunset turns red again?” The key factor of all this is actually the sunlight, which brings all the colors (such as rainbow). When the sunlight enters the atmosphere, the dust in the air will scatter the sunlight. This scattering will disperse the blue light with the shortest wavelength, forming a blue sunny day.

At sunrise or sunset, light travels farther in the sky because the sun is at a lower angle. At the same time, it also makes the light with blue wavelength blocked and scattered farther, leaving the red and yellow with longer wavelength in the sky. As a photography enthusiast, you must hope that you can have a super ability: for example, Zhuge Kongming watches the sky at night and speculates about the beautiful sunset or sunrise the next day. In the past, I’m afraid this could only be wishful thinking. But now, some strange skills and tricks discovered by the Wave Photographer Sect can help you realize this wish.

The secret script of the factor actually comes from a proverb: “The morning glow does not go out, and the evening glow travels thousands of miles.”

This proverb can help you judge the weather in advance. Because there is a high probability of thunderstorm after the dawn, and the sunset is a good weather after the thunderstorm. After knowing the rule that can predict the sunset, you need a good weather forecast app or website, such as: https://Intellicast.com It will give you a detailed hourly weather report: cloud cover, air quality, humidity and wind speed.

★ Cloud and cloud amount

Clouds are the key elements of a magnificent glow. Without clouds, the glow will not work. Although the existence of cloud is important, at the same time, most people have a misunderstanding that it is “cloud” that creates color. In fact, it is not. Here, clouds are like a canvas, with diffuse sunlight showing colors. High-level clouds and medium-level clouds are the most practical canvases. They can reflect the red and yellow colors of sunrise and sunset.

Cumulus clouds may not be able to let the setting sun on the horizon penetrate them, thus gradually fading the color. Low clouds (such as dark clouds) are the most unfavorable for sunlight scattering, because the clouds are low and thick on the horizon, and it is difficult for sunlight to penetrate them. Of course, too much or too little cloud cover is not conducive to shooting beautiful rays. Therefore, you should be patient to check the detailed weather forecast data.

When the cloud cover is between 30% and 70%, the conditions are good.

In the afternoon, you can start to observe the situation of clouds. If the sky looks good at this time, you should also hope that the clouds will appear sunset. Undoubtedly, if there is no strong wind, these clouds will probably form a beautiful glow.

Cloud overview and impact

Volcumulus cloud: It looks like water ripples, usually blue sky.

Altocumulus (ichthyosis): It often occurs in sheet or patch wavy, round blocks or rolls, like small cotton balls. They are usually white or gray, and usually appear after a storm.

Cumulus cloud (easily recognizable): large and white.

Cirrus cloud: generally, it looks slightly light and thin with thin silk. These clouds are often accompanied by frontal systems, indicating that meteorological conditions may soon deteriorate. But this will be the most suitable cloud for shooting.

★ Fresh air

Fresh air can scatter blue light very effectively. For this reason, the best time to shoot the glow is after the storm.

Generally speaking, lower clouds scatter less bright colors. However, the exception is that in the tropical area of the open ocean, the particularly clean lower atmosphere can also scatter more bright colors. This is the reason why so many colorful sunset works were taken in the adjacent tropical areas. (such as Phuket, Madagascar, Mauritius, etc.)

★ Air humidity

The humidity content of the air can affect the color of sunrise and sunset. Lower humidity will lead to brighter colors, because the water in the atmosphere will absorb part of the light and lose part of the color. Therefore, lower air humidity in autumn and winter is usually more conducive to the appearance of the glow than in the warm season.

Wind is a factor that can enhance or annihilate a cloudy and beautiful sunrise or sunset.

Changes in wind direction and volume may lead to the formation of wavy or billow clouds. Sometimes wind energy creates an appropriate effect, reflecting more beautiful red light. In addition, before sunrise or sunset, a little breeze can also help reduce dust in the air.

Of course, the wind may also create adverse factors, such as: bringing thick clouds or blowing clouds with good shape away, leaving only a bare sky, which is so embarrassing. So at this time, a good weather application or website can tell you how the cloud changes in your location like radar.

Summarize the skills of predicting the glow: ➀ medium or high level clouds; ➁ 30% to 70% cloud cover; ➂ Fresh air; ➃ low humidity; A breeze.

Finally, a friendly reminder to photographers who take pictures of sunrise and sunset: before sunrise and after sunset, the afterglow of the sun within 15 to 20 minutes after the horizon may be more magnificent than that of the sun above the horizon or after sunset.