The sun is probably the most photographed subject in the world, and yet it is one of the most difficult to capture properly. You press the shutter button when faced with a blazing sunrise, only to end up with an overexposed image, lacking in detail, with a sky that’s completely blown out. The disappointment is often just as great as the anticipation.
Photographing the sun does, however, require a bit of method. The right settings, the right equipment and, above all, a good understanding of what the light does to your sensor or film. Without these important basics, even the most beautiful sunset can result in a disappointing photo.
But bear in mind that the most common mistakes are also the easiest to avoid. A few adjustments are often enough to transform a mundane image into a shot that truly does justice to what you saw. Here’s how to achieve it.
What you need to know before photographing the sun
Before discussing settings or composition, there’s one question that always comes up among those venturing into solar photography. Can you point your lens directly at the sun, and if so, what precautions should you take? The answer determines everything else, both for the safety of your equipment and the quality of your images.
Can you take a photo of the sun without a filter?
Yes, you can, but not in all situations and not without potential consequences.
Photographing the sun without a filter is possible when it is low on the horizon, at sunrise or sunset. At these precise moments, the atmosphere naturally acts as a filter by diffusing and softening the light. The light intensity will be sufficiently reduced for your sensor to handle it without damage, provided you use the correct settings. It is, in fact, under these conditions that the most successful photos of the sun are taken.
However, if you point your lens directly at the sun in the middle of the day without any protection, it will be a completely different story. The light intensity is then so high that it can irreparably damage the sensor of your digital camera, literally burning out certain pixels. On a film camera, it is the film that suffers the consequences. In both cases, the resulting image will be overexposed and inevitably unusable.
There is also a risk to your eyes. Looking directly at the sun through a camera’s optical viewfinder, even briefly, can cause serious retinal damage. On cameras equipped with an electronic viewfinder or an LCD screen, the risk to your eyesight is lower, but the danger to the sensor remains just as great.
The rule of thumb is relatively simple. Without a filter, you should only photograph the sun when it is close to the horizon and carefully avoid any direct exposure in the middle of the day.
Which filter should you use to photograph the sun?
Whenever you wish to photograph the sun at times when its light is too intense to be captured without protection, filters become absolutely essential. They reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor, whilst preserving the image’s quality and sharpness.
The neutral density filter, commonly known as an ND filter, is the most widely used in everyday solar photography. It reduces light evenly without altering the colours of the scene. It comes in various densities, expressed in stops. An ND3 filter reduces light by 3 stops, an ND10 by 10 stops. To photograph the sun in broad daylight whilst retaining detail in the sky and surrounding clouds, a strong ND filter, between ND8 and ND16, is generally recommended.
A polarising filter is another option, particularly for sunny landscapes. It reduces glare, enhances the blue of the sky and improves the overall saturation of the image. Its effect is visible to the naked eye when rotating the filter in front of the lens, allowing you to precisely adjust the intensity of the desired result.
For truly extreme situations, such as photographing solar eclipses or observing the solar disc, there are specific solar filters that block almost all light and radiation. These filters are reserved for very specific uses and do not apply to standard landscape photography.
Finally, here’s one last practical tip. Whichever filter you choose, check that it is securely attached to your lens before taking the shot. A filter that is loosely screwed on or poorly positioned may slip at the wrong moment and let in an unwanted amount of light.
How to photograph the sun: settings and techniques
Once safety and filter issues have been sorted out, it’s time to get down to business. Your camera settings play a decisive role in the quality of the final result. In bright sunlight, there is plenty of light—sometimes too much—and each setting must be adjusted precisely to avoid overexposed or flat images. Here’s how to approach the two most important settings.
What ISO setting should you use in bright sunlight?
ISO is one of the three fundamental exposure settings, alongside aperture and shutter speed. It determines the sensor’s sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor, but the more digital noise will be present in the image.
In bright sunlight, natural light is already very abundant. Increasing the ISO in these conditions is therefore pointless and would only introduce unwanted grain into your photos. The general rule is to keep it as low as possible, ideally at ISO 100, sometimes 200 depending on the camera. At these settings, the sensor produces clean, well-defined images with an optimal dynamic range.
This is, in fact, what is known as the Sunny 16 rule, a simple method inherited from the film era. It states that in full sunlight, with an aperture of f/16, the shutter speed should be equal to the reciprocal of the ISO value used. With ISO 100, you therefore shoot at 1/100th of a second, or 1/125th on digital cameras that do not have this exact setting. This rule provides a reliable starting point, which you can then refine depending on the scene.
For those using film cameras, the same principle applies. A 100 ISO film is ideal for shooting in bright light. It produces fine grain and rich colours, which are perfectly suited to conditions of strong sunlight.
How do you photograph the sun without overexposing your image?
Overexposure is undoubtedly the most common mistake when pointing your camera at the sun or in its direction. The sky turns white, the clouds disappear, and the details you wanted to capture will be completely lost. A few adjustments can help you avoid this disappointing result.
The first step is to switch to manual mode. In automatic mode, the camera calculates the exposure based on the entire scene and tends to overexpose as soon as the sun enters the frame. In manual mode, you retain full control over every setting and can make precise adjustments depending on what you wish to highlight.
Exposure lock is another useful technique. It involves measuring the light in a specific area of the image—such as the sky around the sun—and then locking that value before recomposing your shot. On most cameras, this function is accessed via the AE-L button.
Also consider exposure compensation. By reducing the exposure by one to two stops from the value suggested by the camera, you can recover detail in the brightest areas without underexposing the shadow areas excessively.
Shooting in RAW format, where your camera allows it, offers considerable flexibility in post-processing. Unlike JPEG, the RAW file retains all the information captured by the sensor, including in the highlights. This makes it possible to recover detail in a slightly overexposed sky during processing, which would be impossible with a compressed file.
Enhancing sunlight, from sunrise to sunset
As you know, sunlight varies from hour to hour. Between sunrise, midday and sunset, you are presented with three radically different atmospheres. Each has its own constraints and possibilities. Knowing how to make the most of them increases your chances of returning with images that stand out from the crowd.
What are the best settings for taking photos of sunrises?
Sunrise is undoubtedly the most rewarding time for those willing to get up early. The light is soft, the colours warm and ever-changing. The atmosphere is often shrouded in a light mist that adds depth to the images. But conditions change quickly, sometimes in just a few minutes, so you need to be ready even before the sun appears on the horizon.
Preparation begins the day before. Pick your shooting spot, check the exact time of sunrise and arrive at least twenty minutes beforehand. When you arrive, the light will still be dim. You’ll need to use slightly higher ISO settings than during the day—between 400 and 800 depending on your camera—to compensate for the lack of light without excessively lengthening the exposure time.
The ideal aperture will generally be between f/8 and f/11. This ensures good sharpness across the entire scene whilst producing, as the sun rises above the horizon, that characteristic starburst effect on the sun’s disc. The smaller the aperture, the more pronounced this effect is.
The shutter speed should be adjusted according to what you wish to capture. To freeze the clouds and the colours of the sky in their current state, a fast shutter speed is best. To create a slight motion blur on the water or grass, a longer exposure using a tripod will lend a softer feel to the overall image.
One final point to note about white balance. Manually setting your white balance to ‘cloudy’ or ‘shade’ at sunrise enhances the orange and pink tones that make these moments so beautiful. In automatic mode, the camera tends to neutralise these warm tones, which significantly diminishes the final result.
How can you make the most of the sun during the day and at sunset?
Midday sun is often feared by photographers, and not without reason. Its light is harsh, overhead, and casts deep shadows that can make portraits look stiff and flatten landscapes. Yet this light has its uses, provided you know how to work with it.
For highly graphic landscapes, architecture or urban scenes, midday light produces strong contrasts and sharp shadows that emphasise volume and geometry. Shooting with a small aperture, between f/11 and f/16, and a low ISO of 100 will help preserve all the detail in the exposed areas. Overexposure remains the main pitfall to watch out for, especially if the sky is clear and very bright.
Sunset, along with sunrise, is the favourite time of day for the vast majority of photographers, as already mentioned. Conditions are often more flexible than in the morning; the low-angle light creates magnificent volumes and colours can shift from golden to deep red in a matter of minutes.
The basic settings are similar to those for sunrise. You work with an aperture between f/8 and f/11, a low ISO as long as the light permits, and gradually increase the sensitivity as the sun sinks below the horizon. The twilight that immediately follows sunset, which photographers call the blue hour, offers a blue, diffused light that is particularly flattering for landscapes and urban scenes.
Photographing the sun is, above all, about learning to master the light
The sun is a capricious light source. It dazzles, it burns out sensors, it overexposes images and disappears behind the clouds just when you least expect it. But that is also what makes it such a fascinating and challenging subject for any photographer looking to improve.
The basics are actually quite simple to remember. Protect your equipment with suitable filters, shoot at low ISO settings, switch to manual mode to stay in control, and choose your shooting times carefully. Sunrise and sunset remain the most rewarding times, when the light transforms within minutes and every shot can yield something unique.
The rest comes with practice. The more you go out with your camera, the more you’ll develop an instinctive understanding of light and its variations. You’ll anticipate conditions better, react more quickly to changes, and your settings will gradually become second nature.
The sun will still be there tomorrow morning. The question is whether you’ll be ready to welcome it.
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