A Duck and a Swan

[Greg McCary]

The Swan was back lite and I didn't have much time to think about how to expose him, any suggestions on handleing this on the fly?
Greg

[SmartWombat]

With a P&S I'd just set -1ev on the exposure for the Swan and hope

[Loupey]

Greg, first of all, bravo for shooting the duck from their level :thumbsup: Most people will commonly shoot from a standing position which "looks right" in person, but looks bad in photo.

As for the Swan, with that much of the sunlit portion showing, I would just expose for a standard, sunny day. Easiest way is to set your camera in manual mode, expose for anything mid-toned in the same light (green grass, medium brown sand, gray slacks, ...) and shoot away. Now as you swing around to get the swan in more of a sillouette, know which way to click your shutter speed or aperture to give it MORE exposure.

IMO, you have positioned the swan in exactly the middle of two extremes. Exposing for either side will result is roughly half of the swan (too large of a percentage) either overexposed or underexposed. In a case like this, stake out your position and perspective first and expose accordingly.

My typical advice in this forum is to always use MANUAL MODE and practice changing your camera adjustments without looking so that everything is based on muscle memory. You NEVER want to take your eye out of the viewfinder when a subject is in it

[Greg McCary]

Paul, Loupey, Thanks for the info, I will try your suggestions. I pretty much stay in manual. It's all I have ever really known. I will try and remember to expose for the mid-tones. I want to go back and reshoot the swan when the lighting is better. I tried to lure him to the shadey side of the lake, but he had other ideas.
Greg