Phone sunset photos: keep the colors you see
Phones often wash out sunsets. Exposure, HDR and composition tips to capture rich sunset colors with a smartphone.
A phone often overexposes sunsets, turning glorious color into pale yellow. A few adjustments fix that.
Lower the exposure
Tap on the bright sky near the sun, then slide the exposure down until colors look rich.
Use silhouettes
Let palm trees, piers, people and buildings become black shapes against the sky.
Avoid zooming at the sun
Digital zoom into the sun produces blurry, noisy results. Use the telephoto lens only.
Turn HDR on
Smart HDR keeps some detail in foregrounds without washing out the sky.
Wait for afterglow
The best colors often appear 10 to 20 minutes after sunset.
Shoot RAW for editing
RAW keeps more color information for editing in Lightroom Mobile.
White balance
If the phone neutralizes warm tones, edit warmth back in or use a camera app with manual white balance.
Clean the lens
Shooting toward the sun reveals smudges as flare and haze.
