Warmer evenings are the perfect excuse to stay up late and use these photography tips to catch some of the best photography treats of the season, sunsets.

The setting of the sun makes a great subject for a photo canvas, with so much versatility of colour in each one. This is why a study of the sun as it sets looks simply stunning printed on canvas. To be on hand for just the right moment, we recommend that you don’t leave things to chance. You can look up sunset times online or even download handy apps that deal with all the technical things like positioning, including this one (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.solocrowd.android.sunrise).

One of the things that makes sunsets so interesting to photograph is the fact they change so quickly. So, if you want the perfect photograph, be prepared to settle in with your tripod and enjoy the show.

Finding the right composition

Photographing sunsets is about the light rather than the sun itself. Try and capture how rays fall elsewhere, particularly on clouds and water. When the sun is high in the sky there's likely to be a lot of glare to deal with, so try shooting it a little behind a large building or another object. As a general rule, the sunset will become much easier to photograph as it nears the horizon. Check out our other blog for all of those hot weather photography tips.

Snapping the sun - photography tips

Looking directly at the sun isn’t good for your eyes, so switch to live view if you have it, and spend a bit of time setting your scene on the LCD monitor. The main decision you have to make is whether you want the sun to be most of your photograph or a smaller part of it. Set a wide-angle photo length, around 24mm-35mm and you’ll find your sun is a fairly small part of the photograph but you’ll be able to capture the impact of the light elsewhere.

A telephoto lens should be your choice if you want the sun to form the largest part of your image. However. Shooting at a longer focal length from a well-chosen spot will give you more control. To keep control over your depth of field, set your aperture to priority mode and keep shutter speed as low as you can for the light; if it’s cloudy you might need to up it slightly, but start about 1/30 second increasing gradually until you’re happy.

From now on, you may find your quest to photograph the sunset turns into a battle with your camera as it tries to ‘correct’ things. Capture everything as it really is by using the ‘direct sunlight white balance’ preset or to make things warmer, richer and deeper switch to the cloudy setting. To stop your kit from turning up the brightness, review your photos as soon as they have been taken and use exposure compensation to dim things down if you need to. Finally, stay snap happy and enjoy the show.

Upload your gorgeous sunset photo here, and create the ultimate quality photo to canvas print!