Planning sunrise and sunset photos with the sun's direction

A good sunset photo looks spontaneous, but most of the great ones are planned. The sun’s position is completely predictable, which means you can know in advance where it will be, how high, and what kind of light it will give. Here is a method that works for sunrises and sunsets, cities and landscapes.

1. Pick the date and check the times

Look up sunrise or sunset, golden hour and blue hour for your exact location. The golden hour calculator gives all of them, and can export a week of golden hours to your calendar.

Remember that the calculated times assume a flat horizon. If there are hills or buildings in the direction of the sun, it will disappear earlier (or appear later) than the calculated time.

2. Check the direction of the sun

This is the step most people skip, and the one that makes the biggest difference. The sun does not rise and set in the same place all year:

• At mid-northern latitudes it sets in the north-west in summer and in the south-west in winter. The two extremes are more than 60° apart at 45° N.
• It rises due east and sets due west only around the equinoxes.

On the sun position map, drop a pin on your viewpoint and you will see the lines for sunrise and sunset directions on the map, plus the sun’s path through the day. Look along the sunset line: what is in that direction? A lake, a church, a bridge, a mountain?

• June solstice
• Equinox
• December solstice

3. Line it up with a subject

To get the sun right behind a landmark:

1. Stand at your chosen viewpoint and find the azimuth of the landmark (on the map, or with a compass corrected to true north).
2. Find the dates when the sun sets at that azimuth. Around the equinoxes the sunset direction changes by up to about half a degree per day at mid-latitudes, so the alignment window is usually just a few days, twice a year.
3. Check the height: if the landmark rises 2° above the horizon from where you stand, the sun will reach its top a little before the calculated sunset time.

Famous examples of this are “Manhattanhenge” in New York, when the setting sun lines up with the east-west streets of Manhattan in late May and mid-July, and many ancient monuments aligned with solstice sunrises.

4. Watch the weather, but go anyway

The geometry is certain; the colour is not. The best skies usually come with high or broken clouds and a clear gap near the horizon where the sun is. A completely clear sky gives clean, warm light but little colour in the sky. A thick cloud bank on the horizon hides the sun, although sometimes the light breaks through just before sunset.

5. Use every phase of the light

• Golden hour before sunset (sun from 6° down to the horizon): warm, directional light, long shadows. Ideal for landscapes lit from the side and for portraits.
• The sun on the horizon: the most intense colours and the chance for silhouettes. Expose for the sky.
• Just after sunset: the clouds above often light up most intensely 5 to 15 minutes after sunset.
• Blue hour (sun 4° to 6° below): deep blue sky that balances with city lights. Use a tripod.