Egret

[Chataignier]

...in the Bassin d'Arcachon SW France

[lesno1]

Those out of focus grass shoots on the right are off putting i would have cloned them out and you have a funny mark on the bottom left perhaps your lens needs cleaning

[billtils]

I think they may be reflections Les.

[billtils]

Difficult exposure conditions, nicely handled!

[Otavio]

...in the Bassin d'Arcachon SW France

Beautiful subject and composition. These white beauties are hard to manage, in terms of exposure. What I use to do, when shooting them, is setting the exposure to -0.3, to avoid saturating the bright areas.

My 2 cents...

Regards,

[billtils]

What I use to do, when shooting them, is setting the exposure to -0.3, to avoid saturating the bright areas.

Interesting. Several years ago I went to a workshop run by someone who is very successful in national competitions. One of the many off the cuff pieces of advice he gave us was to set the default exposure compensation to -0.3EV because the shadow detail in the RAW file will be completely recoverable whereas the highlight detail if you move in the opposite direction will be lost. I worked for me for a bit, but now I depend on reading and adjusting the histogram before pressing the button and I'm not too sure about his full reasoning, namely that manufacturers set their default "normal" to slightly overexpose because it gives a more appealing SOOC image.

[Chataignier]

-0.3EV is all very well, but it assumes a correct measurement in the first place, which in turn depends on being close enough for centre weighted average or spot metering on the subject to be workable and not overly affected by the background or backlight.

I dont trust it, I use the histogram and expose to the right, then brighten to taste in post.