Crop Corner

Lasers and the sun are the two brightest lights that your eyes will probably ever have to confront. Therefore, it would make sense that anything that makes them even more intense would be dangerous--right? And using equipment--such as a telephoto lens--that increases their size makes them more intense. You wouldn't think of placing a magnifying glass between your eyes and a very bright light before looking into it, would you? Likewise, if you look directly at the sun through a telephoto lens on your camera, you're essentially magnifying the effect of the light. However, you don't have to use a telephoto lens to capture a dramatic sunrise or sunset shot. In fact, you don't even have to include the sun in the photo itself. I've used wide-angle lenses to good effect in landscape sunrises and sunset shots. If you have good cloud formations, sunsets are more spectacular when the sun is already below the horizon.