Sealion into the Sun

Help me get this shot nailed next time:

Cheers

James

The sun is over exposed, I think that's too big an area that's all white. The over exposure also caused the abrupt transistion between the turquois water and the blue water.

The subject is a sunlit sealion, so I think the photo would be better if we see more of the sealion, in better focus, and less over exposed. Of course all these things are eaiser said than done.

Sorry, Cock-up on size ERIC please remove the former post.

Had you used the Nikonos V with the 15mm on f11 @ 1/60 sec it would have been a tremendous shot... Maybe filled in from the left with a single YS120 strobe - Making my mouth water, and my index finger twitch!

However, adding to what Herb has said...

This is a typical average metering senario - the camera struggling to sort it out and failing miserably. Spot metering too, creating bleach-out.

Shooting in Manual would have been difficult too as the amount of pixel damage created by the bright sun would have gotten worse had you exposed for the sea lion correctly - One simple solution would have been to tip the camera into portrait (no the pixels won't fall out - honest) and removing the sun itself from the frame. This would automatically rectify the struggling meter and maybe created an asthetic light stream from the top left of the frame.

In the landscape frame stopping down to f11 and blasting the subject with both barrels may have worked too, but you needed to be 2 - 3m closer.

This gives you something to try out on the next trip.

Bob,

That turtle shot is gorgeous.

I should have stated that I was shooting manual camera and manual strobes at 1/2 power (DS125's). So the metering type is a moot pt.

I'll check my EXIF and see what it was shot at - sorry I didn't post that with the original "help" request.

Things I know:

This was a grab shot of a sealion moving at >20 mpg

I wasn't stopped down enough.

I have terrible lens flare.

Cheers

James

I was gonna ask about the flare. You're using the Sigma 14mm here, right?

Out of curiosity James, what did you shoot this at? Be nice as a comparison to the f11 @1/30 that was suggested.

I don't have an EXIF browser at work. I'll get the info ASAP or one of you can see if it's still in the shot.

Cheers

James

The flare is a problem - I need to make a dome shade. It wouldn't have helped in this shot but might in others.

This was a grab shot of a sealion moving at >20 knots

I wasn't stopped down enough.

I should take notice of lights flashing in viewfinder

I should have put my strobes on Full power

I forgot about shutter lag

 

I have terrible lens flare - You can get an antibiotic cream for this

All part of that curve thing.

Appreciating the limitation of the media be it CMOS or film/strobe output potential in varying lighting conditions is part of this process... It's like learning to walk all over again.

Take photographs of moving objects during the day (at night it May cause a few accidents) and try rear sync techniques.