Africa is often characterised by its iconic sunsets. There are few places in the world that can rival the colours and the feelings that this wondrous daily event brings. To capture this beauty is however not as easy as it seems. Composition and exposure are just some of the pitfalls one faces when trying to recreate the ambiance of the scene.

In this photo I used the aperture priority mode on my Canon EOS 60D and EF70-200mm f2.8 lens to capture the sunset and used a Fork-tailed Drongo in the foreground to add depth to the picture. I tried to compose the photo using the bird and the sun at opposite corners to complement each other and to act as anchor points for the picture. I took the light metering from the brightest point of the sun to ensure that the foreground was completely blackened due to the faster shutter speed (1/4000sec) and also metered down 1⅔ to reduce glare. Due to the fast shutter speed I was able to reduce the ISO setting to only 100 and therefore got maximum quality from the image. I hope you agree it worked!

Stay composed!

Ben Coley

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