Thanks for the responses on my last query. Here's an example (detail) which was taken with the camera set on auto. You can look at the Exif data in it to see what the 'auto' did - it's mostly greek to me. (appologies to the Greeks.) I can adjust a few things on Manual but I'm not sure just which settings to change to tone those hotspots down. Stan

...hmm... you may not like the answer... I can't help much with the Greek as I do not know the specifics of your camera. This type of shot, in partial bright sun with deep shadows, is very difficult to capture in any photo, film or digital. The brightness range is just too great. In manual mode you could reduce the exposure by one or two clicks. This would bring out more detail in the bright petals, but some of the shadows will then go too dark. As everyone learns and becomes better photographers, they understand how their equipment will record a particular scene. This "previsualization", or knowing how any particular brightness range or colors will be recorded, is key to obtaining predictable results. It really comes with practice; which is why the digital cameras are great, you can take several shots at different exposures, and immediately compare them. Costs much less than learning with film! Sadly, there are times when an experience will say that nothing can be done, and then just put the camera in your pocket and smell the flowers. For this particular shot, you would get wonderful results if you tried it again on a cloudy day. Less brightness range. There are some books which talk about obtaining the best exposure possible. [The classic Ansel Adams zone system is the general idea, but really needs to be modernized for color and digital.]There are also some techniques that apply only to digital, (does your camera display something called a "histogram"?).

Thanks! The camera has adjustments for EV (Exposure Compensation) and White Balance. I'll play around with those. ... and practice!

Yup ... I'm with Misha on this one (even if he did terrorize poor Tedzo by hiding his home page ... mean, just plain mean). I can think of a couple ways to get a shot like this. First would be a diffusion panel held over the flowers out of the frame. That would do the same thing as the cloudy day Misha suggests. Another would be the old Increase Dynamic Range trick. For this, you absolutely need to use a tripod. You take 2 shots. One exposed for the shadow detail, one exposed for the highlight detail. You then combine the shots together, keeping the parts you want.