Sun beaming onto waves and beach

[wpp234]

Hi there.

What does everything think of this photo? Correct crop and straightening? Any post processing ideas? Sky look OK?



Canon 1000D with kit lens 15-55mm
1/1000
f/22
ISO 200

Thanks



Will P

[amandaggogo]

Oh wow! That is a wonderful shot! I would leave it as is if I were you! :0)

[Krusty79]

It's a nice scene, but you're running into a dynamic range issue. Because the sun is so bright, it causes the water and beach to be underexposed. Therefore, the person on the beach is just a silhouette. Before everyone else tells you, I'll tell you that if you shoot this closer to sunset, you won't have to contend with such a great dynamic range and you'll have a better chance of getting everything exposed correctly. A graduated neutral density filter will help reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the ground. It's too bad the person on the beach is so hard to see because that is the only real subject or focal point in your shot. I would also try to give the person a more prominent place in your shot - perhaps the lower right third of the image.

[Corey Thompson]

Another thing I'd like to point out is that you do not want to be shooting at anything higher than ISO100 on a bright and sunny day like that.

[TBrown00]

Originally Posted by Corey Thompson

Another thing I'd like to point out is that you do not want to be shooting at anything higher than ISO100 on a bright and sunny day like that.

I'm not sure about the camera he has, but some don't natively go that low. The base ISO on my D700 and most other Nikons is 200

[Corey Thompson]

The 1000d, which I believe is the Canon xs here in the states, has an ISO range of 100-1600

[thecorrigan44]

Originally Posted by Corey Thompson

Another thing I'd like to point out is that you do not want to be shooting at anything higher than ISO100 on a bright and sunny day like that.

Why?

Not trying to be rude, I truly am a beginner and would like to understand why!

[Corey Thompson]

A higher ISO setting will make your camera's image sensor more sensitive to light, which is what you need when photographing in a dark setting. In mid afternoon when the sun is directly overhead and providing more than sufficient light, you don't want to make your image sensor more sensitive to light. There might be situations where you'd need a higher ISO in mid day, such as to freeze an action shot and you need a large depth of field, then you might get a dark shot, so you'd adjust iso higher to compensate for your aperture and shutter speed letting less light in. In this case with this shot, the sun needs to be dimmed so you can properly expose the rest of the photo without overexposing the sun. The foreground and background are all underexposed because the camera's light meter probably exposed for the sun to avoid overexposing the sun. A graduated neutral density filter would help out with this type of shot.