It was not you or your camera, it was the scene you were trying to capture.

It is too higher contrast for any camera to be able to photograph and capture all the detail from bright sunlight to deep shadow. When you were sitting there I doubt your eyes could pick up all the detail in the shadow and sunlight areas at the same time. If you looked into the predominant shadow area straight in front of you, your mind conveniently skipped over the bright areas it could not see and gave the illusion it was a complete scene. It had previously registered the bright areas when you approached and sub consciously filled them in for you. Of course the camera is not so clever as the human mind so it can't do this.
It is part of getting to know what the camera sees is not the same as what you see. You become trained into seeing what is actually there, not what your mind will tell you is there.
One of the great joys of photography is that over time you begin to see things you never had before because you become attuned into actually observing reality and it is not always as you first thought.

So to capture this scene you would need to make sure that only dark areas were in the frame because the camera would have been able to handle dark areas alone. It is much like you walking out of a house into bright sunlight your eyes can only handle within certain limits from dark to light, as can the camera.

It is a very successful photograph in it's way. You did not get the shot you had hoped for when pressing the shutter but you have got something that will help you get lots of other shots with great exposure that do turn out how you want them to. Part of the experience and learning curve and worth it for that.

Message edited on: 02/22/2006 06:31

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html