Golden Hour is a time when the sky is painted in incredible shades and shadows become soft and voluminous. It is at this point that Xiaomi smartphone owners get a unique opportunity to capture the magic of nature using the power of the built-in camera. However, automatic mode often fails to cope with the high dynamic range of the scene, overshadowing the sky or making the foreground too dark.
Modern models of the brand, from the budget Redmi to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra, are equipped with advanced image processing algorithms and large sensors. Proper exposure setting and understanding the physics of light allow you to turn a regular picture into a work of art. In this article, we will discuss the technical nuances of shooting that will help you get the most out of your device.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to get a studio-quality result, but you need to know what settings on the camera menu require your attention and how to avoid the typical mistakes that negate the potential of Leica or Samsung’s ISOCELL optics.
Preparation of equipment and choice of location
The success of the shooting depends on 80% preparation. Before the sun touches the horizon, you need to make sure that your smartphone is ready to go. First of all, wipe the camera lenses with a soft microfiber cloth. Fat fingerprints create a halo effect around bright light sources, turning a clear sun into a blurred smudge with artifacts.
The choice of location is also critical. Look for uplands or open spaces where the horizon is not blocked by buildings. If you're shooting in the city, try using architecture as a frame, and stabilizing the device at this point is more important than ever, especially if you plan to use long shutter speed.
⚠️ Warning: Never point your smartphone camera directly at the bright sun at the zenith without filters. While modern sensors are protected, long-term focusing of the lenses on the point of high rage can damage the matrix or cause the appearance of burnt-out pixels.
For maximum quality, use a tripod or point your phone against a stationary object. Even microscopic hand shaking can lubricate parts in low light conditions. If you don't have a tripod, use a self-trip timer to avoid shaking when you press the screen.
Using Pro Mode for Full Control
The standard Photo mode often overdoes HDR, making the shot unnaturally flat. For creative control, go to Pro or Professional in the camera menu, where you get access to manual settings similar to those found in SLR cameras.
The first thing you need to adjust is white balance (WB). Automation often tries to cool the warm shades of the sunset, making the sky pale blue. Manually set the value in the range of 5500K-7000K to preserve the saturated orange and purple tones. This will give the photos atmosphere.
- 📸 ISO: Keep sensitivity to a minimum (ISO This will ensure that there is no digital noise and maximum detail in the shadows.
- ⏱️ Shutter speed: Adjust exposure time (S) by histogram. 1/1000 c, for dusk — 1/60 longer.
- 🔍 Focus: Switch focus to manual mode (MF) And move the slider to infinity if you're shooting a landscape, or adjust it to a specific object in the foreground.
Shutter speed can create interesting effects. Short shutter speeds will freeze clouds, keeping them structured, long exposure will blur clouds, creating dynamic stretching bands in the sky. Experiment with values to find the perfect balance for a particular scene.
Working with lenses and zoom
Xiaomi’s current flagships feature a multi-camera system that includes an ultra-wide-angle, main and telephoto lens. Choosing the right lens dramatically changes the perception of a sunset. A wide angle (0.6x) will capture a huge area of the sky, but can distort the proportions of objects at the edges of the frame.
The core module (1x) usually has better aperture and matrix quality, a versatile choice for most scenes, but a telephoto lens (2x, 3.2x, or 5x) allows you to compress perspective, making the sun's disc visually huge against the silhouettes of buildings or mountains.
The Secret of Optical Zoom
Stability is critical when using zoom, the greater the focal length, the more you notice the shaking of your hands, if you're shooting your hands on a telephoto lens, try to press your elbows against the body or lean against the wall, otherwise the stabilization system may not be able to cope and the picture will come out blurred.
Exposure and dynamic range settings
The challenge of shooting a sunset is the huge contrast between bright skies and dark ground. A smartphone camera cannot physically capture detail in both lights and shadows at the same time as the human eye. You have to choose your priorities.
Click on the screen at its brightest point (usually the sun or clouds next to it) to adjust exposure to the lights. The exposure slider lowers down until the sky turns saturated, even if the foreground turns completely black. The silhouette in a bright sunset often looks more artistic than the underexposed sky.
| Parameter | Recommended value | The effect in the picture |
|---|---|---|
| EV (Exposition) | -1.0... -2.0 | It saturates the colors of the sky, removes the lights |
| Sharpness (Sharpness) | 0 or +1 | Adds clarity to clouds, but can create artifacts |
| Contrast (Contrast) | -1 | Softens transitions, useful for silhouettes |
If your smartphone supports RAW (DNG), be sure to turn it on in the Pro mode settings. RAW files save all the information from the matrix without compression and processing by algorithms. This will give you a huge opportunity for subsequent color correction in editors like Lightroom or Snapseed, allowing you to "pull" details from the shadows without loss of quality.
☑️ Checklist before shooting sunset
Shooting at dusk and night mode
When the sun is behind the horizon, the blue hour begins. The light becomes diffuse and cold. At this point, the phone's automatics can start to squeal ISO a lot, creating a grainy porridge. Here comes the special Night Mode mode.
The nighttime algorithm takes a series of frames with different exposures and glues them together into one, which allows you to get a bright, detailed picture even in the almost complete absence of light. Keep the phone still for 2-4 seconds while processing.
⚠️ Attention: Don't zoom in at night. The magnification algorithms for gluing frames don't work properly, resulting in "double" objects and strong lubricants. Shoot on the main module and framing later.
And you can get an interesting effect by taking a picture of a cityscape with the lights on. The bright points of light against the darkening sky create a beautiful contrast. Try to find reflections in puddles or windows, which will double the visual information in the frame and add depth.
Post-processing and preservation of the result
Even a perfect source often requires minimal fine-tuning. Xiaomi's built-in gallery editor allows you to quickly adjust your shot. Add a little saturation and warmth to highlight the magic of the sunset.
If you've been shooting in RAW, the editing process will be more profound. Work with curves to darken the brightest areas of the sky and illuminate shadows without affecting the middle tones. Local correction allows you to highlight individual clouds or objects in the foreground.
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Store the original images in the cloud or on your computer. The built-in memory quickly fills up with heavy photos and videos, which can slow down the system and prevent the creation of new masterpieces.
Don't overdo it with filters. Artificial colors often look cheap and unnatural. The best processing is one that is invisible and only enhances what has already been captured by the camera. Keep a copy of the original before any editing.
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The main secret of the perfect sunset on Xiaomi is shooting in RAW format with manual exposure in the negative, which preserves details in bright areas of the sky.