Nothing is harder than capturing a “natural” looking sunset. If you expose for the drama in the sky then the foreground goes unnaturally dark (to total black), and every allowance you make for the foreground robs the sky of drama. I think sunsets were the original inspiration for HDR. HDR is a technique where three or more images captured at different exposures are combined in software to extend the range of the resulting image…so that, for instance, you take the foreground from the lightest sunset exposure, and the sky from the darkest, and the in-between stuff from the middle exposures. It can be quite effective given the right scene, the right set of exposures, the right software, and a delicate hand with the processing.

HDR can also be way overdone…producing an image that is either flat…with all values given equal weight…so that it looks like an etching, or an image that is so intense and unnatural that it looks like a surreal painting.

With each generation of cameras more and more come with HDR built in. One of the benefits of the fast CMOS sensors today is that these kinds of multiple exposure tricks are much easier. My new Canon SX50HS has the HDR mode right on the main control dial, and the software to combine the images built right into the processing engine. Making an HDR is as easy as setting the dial, holding the camera really still (it is taking three exposures), and pressing the button. The three images are combined before being written to the card.

I have tired auto HDR on other brands of cameras I have owned and found it pretty useless. All the software in the camera could manage was one of those flat, etched, images…and no amount of processing in Lightroom could redeem them.

Canon, however, got it right. The three images are intelligently combined to lighten the dark parts and darken the light parts to produce a very natural and pleasing range of light. With no more than my normal processing in Lightroom, the Canon auto HDRs produce excellent images. Even of sunsets.

If you want a more vivid, over the top, eye-popping sunset, you can turn on both HDR and the Vivid color effect.

Having stood there only last night, I can tell you that the first shot is more natural than the second, but there is no denying that the second version has more impact.

Both shots Canon SX50HS, HDR mode. 24mm equivalent. ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.