How to Shoot Portraits With the Sunset As the Background With the Nikon D200

Pick a location for your photo shoot and arrive roughly one hour before sunset. The hour just before sunset, and just after sunrise is often referred to as the "golden hour," named for the glow created by the sun. It is also a great time for photographers who want to capture a beautiful image.

Position your subject the way you want them to appear in your portrait.

Turn your camera on, attach the external flash. Set the exposure mode on your camera to "Aperture Priority," that is usually designated by the letter "A." Adjust your camera's exposure compensation to under expose by 1 stop. By under exposing you image one full stop, the sky will not be blown out and the camera will record the scene the way you see it. A "stop" or otherwise known as an "F stop" is one full measure of exposure adjustment. It is commonly referred to as "F stop" which refers to the aperture settings on a lens. Today's lenses have the ability to adjust to fractional "F stops" giving photographers a greater range of exposure control. When lenses worked on manual adjustments a full "F stop" would be going from f2.8 to f4.0, or any other setting where you adjust your lens aperture. In this example the smaller aperture, f4.0 reduces the light entering the lens. "F stops" can also relate to shutter speed where one full stop would be going from 1/60th of second to 1/125th of second.

Use the spot meter on the Nikon D200 and take a meter reading off of your subjects face. Hold the AE-L (Auto Exposure -- Lock) button on the back of the D200 to hold the exposure you just metered for.

Press the shutter release button to take the picture.