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Local shutterbugs share their tips for the perfect shot.

Jennifer Marie Griffin
A Railroad Town Sunset, by Jennifer Marie Griffin. Griffin was located at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge when she captured this unplanned shot. The downtown pedestrian bridge is a great spot for sunset photography.
Perhaps the holy grail of photographs is the perfect sunset – gold sun shattered by dark tree limbs, or a city skyline on fire. These can be tricky shots, though, created through a combination of creativity, skill and being in the right place at the right time. That’s why we asked seven local photographers to share their favorite sunset shot … and their tips and tricks for getting one of our own. Here’s their advice.
1) Make a plan.
Kristina Love has a knack for capturing sundown stunners—her Instagram feed is full of them—and much of that can be attributed to good planning.
“For me, I love having a weather app on my phone and a sunset app that tells you the sunrise and sunset times for any day,” she says. “Possibly also scout out your location ahead of time.”
She recommends arriving an hour or two early so you can you can wait for that magical alchemy of sun, cloud and scenery to set your shot ablaze: “That golden hour when the sun’s getting low on the horizon? It just lights everything up with such beautiful color.”
2) Get to know your camera (even if it’s just your iPhone!).
Believe it or not, the tool you’ll use to shoot your best sunset might already be in your back pocket.
“I don’t think you need top-of-the line cameras or equipment to take a great photograph,” says Kent Gugliuzza of Roanoke Photo Co. “Use what you have, whether it be a phone or camera. Keep mastering how to use it in different situations.”
If you’re just getting started with a DSLR, Chris Tribble of SnapKraklePop Photography recommends making shutter speed, ISO and aperture the first three tools you learn and then moving from there. “Don’t be afraid to shoot in manual,” he says. “You’ll have more control.”
3) Look in your own backyard.
You might think you need to be a jetsetter to capture an amazing sunset, but the opposite is often true.
“The most amazing images you will capture, from a beginner or advanced, will be no more than 20-40 miles from your home. The reason is because you have allowed yourself to understand your environment,” explains Jason Rinehart of HartLight Photography in Botetourt. “Learn your surrounding; understand what weather creates what type of light at different times of the day.”
4) Be ready for the unexpected.
Sometimes the best shot happens when you least expect it, and a seasoned photographer knows when to drop everything and go after it. Take Rinehart’s stormy sunset from Purgatory Mountain Overlook, for instance, which he snapped just after a tornado touched down across the valley. “After seeing the sky out my back door, you should have seen me running through the house grabbing my camera gear,” he remembers.
Jared Ladia vividly recalls the day when his perfect shot unfolded at Center in the Square, where he was photographing a wedding at the time.
“It was certainly a ‘right time, right place’ moment and stopped all of the wedding guests in their tracks to take photos with their phones,” Ladia says. “The light and color that filled the air around us were magical.”
The lens Ladia was using wasn’t wide enough to take in the full view, so he improvised his way to something unique: “What makes this photo so special is that I created it using 39 separate photos and stitched them into one panorama,” he explains.
5) Never stop learning.
If you’re using your sunset shot as a way to get started in photography, almost every one of our photographers had the same advice: keep going.
“I think you can always grow and learn,” explains Jennifer Marie Griffin of Jenny Marie’s Photographie. “I’m all self-taught, getting experience from other photographers, other people, or watching YouTube videos.”
Beginners will also absorb a lot simply by repetition, Kristina Love says:
“As a new photographer, what I did in the beginning was I practiced all the time … every day, in different conditions, and got to know my camera and the settings,” she explains. “Take lots of shots, lots of angles … Experiment and have fun with it!”
Most of all, don’t give up.
“Even as a photographer with a little bit of experience, I still have those days where I look at some of my photos and say, ‘This is all garbage,’” admits Chris Tribble, owner of SnapKraklePop Photography. “So, don’t stop shooting!”
The story above is from our March/April 2022. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!