Best Settings for Sunrise and Sunset Photography?

Sunrises and sunsets are my favorite subjects, but I can't seem to get the colors right. The part that looks off is always either the colors and exposure in the sky or foreground. I can never seem to get both exposed perfectly. One is either under exposed or over cooked. What camera settings are best for capturing the vibrant colors of sunrises and sunsets?

Lots to unpack here...

The key is to capture light in a way that can be edited properly. Meaning: if you aren't shooting in raw you should start. Jpeg for sunrises/sunsets is very limiting.

With that said, the raw image will look very uninspired. This is typical for raws. To get a sense of how it will look once the raw is edited is unfortunately a matter of experience. You're gonna have a lot of scrap and and a lot of early mornings but finding that sweet spot that suits your style of photography is really just a case getting out there and trying.

I shoot directly into the sun. Be careful doing this with a DSLR, you could damage your eyes. Mirrorless is no problem.

I generally shoot with an aperture of f/9, but that's not written in stone. It's just my lens' sweet spot. Take the time to find yours. In my experience a wide open aperture (f/5 or less) is no good for landscapes.

Because I shoot into the sun I try to keep the ISO as low as possible. The sun will be over exposed but the surroundings will underexposed i.e. extreme contrasts of light and dark. Adding noise by increasing the ISO will make editing way more difficult. Shutter speed is less important. I set it to what ever works best with aperture and ISO settings. The key is finding that balance between light and dark.

Over time I have gotten a fair idea of what I need to do to dial it in. I usually take several shots, varying the shutter speed to get the ideal exposure. As I said above, finding those ideal settings for your camera and lens is really a matter of going out there and doing.

Editing-wise: I don't do much. Increase the exposure, lighten the shadows and add warmth. Then crop. If you nail the exposure you really don't need to do more than that. Exposure is the key. Here a comparison of raw and final image. You can see how dull the raw is. But move a few sliders and it transforms. The data is in the raw.

Sonnenaufgang in Bad Lippspringe by Foto SF , on Flickr

Don't shoot auto white balance. Use daylight white balance. Auto will try and adjust the warm color out of the image.