Я хочу сфотографировать красивый закат.

After хочу (I want), Russian normally uses the infinitive, just like English uses to + verb.

• хочу сфотографировать = I want to photograph / take a picture of
• сфотографирую means I will photograph, which is a finite verb form, not an infinitive

So:

• Я хочу сфотографировать красивый закат. = I want to photograph a beautiful sunset.

not

• Я хочу сфотографирую... ❌

This is about verb aspect, which is very important in Russian.

• фотографировать = imperfective
• сфотографировать = perfective

In this sentence, сфотографировать is used because the speaker wants to perform one complete action: take a photo of the sunset.

A helpful way to think about it:

• фотографировать = to be photographing / to photograph in general / repeatedly
• сфотографировать = to take a photo successfully, as a completed act

So Я хочу сфотографировать красивый закат suggests a single completed goal: I want to get a picture of that sunset.

In many Russian verbs, a prefix helps create a perfective form. Here, с- turns фотографировать into сфотографировать.

So:

• фотографировать = imperfective
• сфотографировать = perfective

You do not need to translate с- by itself here as a separate word like with or from. In this verb, it mainly helps mark the action as completed.

Because закат is the direct object of the verb, and with this verb in an affirmative sentence, it stays in the accusative case. However, закат is an inanimate masculine noun, and for inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative looks the same as the nominative.

So:

• nominative: красивый закат
• accusative: красивый закат

That is why the form does not change here.

Compare with an animate masculine noun:

• Я вижу красивого мальчика.
  The accusative changes because мальчик is animate.

A good first clue is the ending:

• закат ends in a consonant, so it is usually masculine

Because it is masculine singular, the adjective also takes the masculine singular form:

• красивый закат

If the noun were feminine, you would expect something like:

• красивая ...

If it were neuter:

• красивое ...

The adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here, закат is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative (same form here as nominative because it is inanimate)

So the adjective is also masculine singular in that same form:

• красивый закат

This agreement is one of the core features of Russian grammar.

Usually yes. Закат means sunset, especially the sunset as a natural scene in the sky.

In this sentence, красивый закат is very natural for a beautiful sunset.

Russian can also use related expressions depending on context, but закат is the standard word you should learn here.

Yes. Russian often omits subject pronouns when the meaning is already clear from the verb form.

So both are possible:

• Я хочу сфотографировать красивый закат.
• Хочу сфотографировать красивый закат.

Both mean I want to photograph a beautiful sunset.

Including Я can make the subject more explicit or slightly more emphatic.

Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English because case endings show grammatical relationships.

The neutral word order here is:

• Я хочу сфотографировать красивый закат.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Красивый закат я хочу сфотографировать.
  This emphasizes the beautiful sunset.

• Сфотографировать красивый закат я хочу.
  This can sound more marked or expressive.

Even though word order can change, the original sentence is the most natural neutral version for a learner.

A rough pronunciation is:

• сфотографировать ≈ sfuh-tuh-gra-FEE-ruh-vat'

The stress is on:

• фи → сфотографИровать

Russian often allows consonant clusters that feel difficult to English speakers. At the beginning, сф- is pronounced together, something like sf.

Try breaking it into parts:

• с-фо-то-гра-ФИ-ро-вать

Say it slowly first, then faster.

Yes. In many everyday contexts, сфотографировать can mean:

• to photograph
• to take a picture/photo of

So this sentence could be understood as:

• I want to photograph a beautiful sunset
• I want to take a picture of a beautiful sunset

Both are natural translations.

Russian has no articles like English a / an / the.

So:

• красивый закат can mean a beautiful sunset or the beautiful sunset

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English often uses a beautiful sunset, but Russian does not need any extra word to express that.

Yes, that is possible, but it is a different structure.

• сфотографировать красивый закат = to photograph / take a picture of a beautiful sunset
• сделать фотографию красивого заката = to make/take a photograph of a beautiful sunset

In the second version, notice the grammar changes:

• фотографию is the direct object
• красивого заката is in the genitive after фотография

Your original sentence is shorter and very natural in everyday Russian.