Ray, I consider this site as one to share our photos but also to receive feedback so please accept my comments as a respectful suggestions. In your shot you have negative space to the left of the pelican, I suggest have it on the right as this will show the pelican looking past the seagulls. When we read or look at a photo we tend to look from left to right. A snapshot records a moment in time but a constructed shot, this tells a story, with the negative space to the right leads the viewer to think what is the pelican looking at? You have used manual settings so I think you would have used the camera's light meter. The meter has a zero point with a positive and a negative side, The negative side is for the shadows and the Positive side is the highlights and the bit in the middle from minus one to plus one covers the midtones. If you were to have your setting on one third to two thirds of a stop of light on the positive side you would bring up the whites in the birds and they would stand out a little bit without affecting the rest of the photo too much. After all that it is still a nice shot regard Craig.
Yes, when I reviewed that shot I realised that I did not get the composition that I thought I had. I went back to reshoot but the gulls had moved on so I just used what I got. I am not sure how you decided that I used manual mode because I did not. I normally shoot in Av mode and that is what I used here. I am deliberately underexposing with this 20D as at its default setting it is a bit too much ETTR for my taste. I do not want to risk clippimg the highlights as they cannot be recovered whereas it is much easier to open up the shadows and/or to brighten up the whole image. I am quite happy with the tone and brightness of this image. Perhaps you could share some of your images so we can see how it should be done.
I looked at your meta data and got that one wrong and as for my shots I have to take a few to get it right and then rely on photoshop to touch them up.My comments are my personal views on your shot and not ment to disparage in any way. I have photos on the site if you wish to comment on and give a person view on. I am always interested in other views as this helps improve what we do.
As a result of this discussion I did some more testing today. I still find that the default exposure setting on the 20D is too bright for my tastes. I previously had it set to 1 stop underexposure but in today's nice and sunny conditions I have settled on 1/3 stop underexposure. I will leave it on that for the time being and see how it goes. I might also do some exposure bracketing. Photography is a continual learning experience for me and it doesn't matter how long you have been doing it there is always something to learn. And that is what keeps it interesting. P.S. Initially I was just checking the image and the histogram on the camera's rear screen. Since then I have recalibrated my monitor and viewed the images at a much larger size. This has confirmed my decision to go with 1/3 stop underexposure. I also checked my two Pentax cameras and my full frame Canon and they are all OK on default exposure setting. So that was a very useful experience.
I can't re calibrate my screen as I dumped in the bin last night, the poor old thing gave up the ghost and with the new screen I think I can see why you have gone one third of a stop under. Like you said Photography is a continual learning experience and so is using computer gear.
Craig, sorry to hear about your old screen but happy to hear that you have a new one. A good screen is a necessary piece of equipment if one is going to properly enjoy our passion. With digital photography, it takes more than just having a good camera and lenses. Also needed are a good computer and associated screen plus good software and the knowledge of how to use it. All of those put together are what keeps my mind active...and challenged. Because if you don't use it, you lose it.
