Don't Fade into the Sunset

Don’t fade into the Sunset!

Have you ever photographed a sunset, with all the rich colors only to view it on your computer (or print it later) to find all those beautiful colors have faded?

“I guess you just had to be there.” You told your friends. But there may be another reason your sunset faded.

Different lights have different colors to them. Normal light bulbs give a yellow light. Florescent bulbs give a green light, while daylight is bluish.  We don’t see the colors because our brains alter the colors that we see so they will “look normal”.  But the colors are there anyway.

Most digital cameras have an “auto color” selection where the camera selects the light source that it thinks is being used and adjusts accordingly.  That is why you can take a photo inside, and then outside and you will not see much of a color shift.

But when you photograph that sunset, if the camera is still on “auto color”, the camera will remove some of the red, yellows etc. that you were so impressed with so it will look (what the camera thinks is) normal. 

The next time the splendor and magnificence of a sunset makes you grab your camera to capture the moment, turn the “auto color” off and tell the camera that you are “outdoors daylight”, and you will be amazed at the colors you get in the photograph.