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No photographer can resist taking pictures of an exceptional sunset,especially if he happens to be in a place that offers an interesting foreground or knows where to find one.Sunsets seem stationary but actually develop,change and then disappear in an amazingly short space of time.You must have your camera handy and react very quickly to get them at their best.

Against a sunset,most features appear as silhouettes,but the sky is beautiful when reflected in water which break up the colours into its own pattern.You need to photograph a sunset in colour;it really only works in black and white if the clouds or foreground subject matter are particularly interesting.Colour film is very responsive to these colours,and subjects photographed by evening light are tinged with its red-gold hue.If the sun itself is obscured by cloud take your exposure reading directly from the sky.If the sun is visible,take the reading from a bright part of the sky,but be careful to exclude the sun itself.Bracket all exposures.

To compensate for the reddening effect of morning and evening light you can fit an 82A filter over the lens(add half a stop).Often,however,it is batter to have the tull,exaggerated colour in the picture.

Twilight is one of the best times of day for taking pictures in urban areas as the street lights and shop lights contrast strongly with the deep blue or after-sunsets colours of the fading sky.Again this period does not last long,and as you have to work quickly it helps if you have a pre-planned location where you know of promising foreground matter.Typical exposures with medium speed film could vary between 1/15 and 1/60 sec.at f4,according to the effect you want; whether lights only or greater shadow detail.