This could fall under those images we don't show you thread.... Cape Cod, Massachusetts at the dock to the Nantucket ferry...... Beautiful old weather worn fishing boat on it's last leg.... great water reflections, compo in camera... not bad but not great either.... but the exposure is what really killed it for me.... the highlights too close to being totally burned out for my liking..... *sigh*

Should probably mention this is film, not digital..... taken with the N90S and the Sigma 20-40mm f/2.8

I agree with you Michelle. I do like the framing, the textures and subject matter...you have a really great eye for this. It so hard when working with contrasting colors such as a darker blue and then a white. I don't think it's terribly bad as you think...not from my view. Hey, you probably know this...but it's an idea. When I've photographed a subject where the lighting situation would proved difficult...I took a spot meter reading from the sky...almost like using a gray card and then recomposed and shot...has worked for me everytime...but I guess it's a little late for that eh? Just me babbling.

i love this image, and i think it's way more than great! the white is maybe just a bit too white for my tastes, but surely that could be fixed?? i think you did a fabulous job with this!

we're so hard on ourselves, many would be quite happy with this! :]

You know that is my favorite subject.Ho many old rusty boats have I shot I do not want to count. I find nothing wrong with this.

I will give myself a gold star as I thought it was film and I was right. IMO the highlights arent that bad, I would say close but not blown. Not wanting to make light of a serious subject, but do you see the two eyes in the reflection? Looks like a cartoon face. There goes another marble!

Cant really comment on film really...but I will :) As Simon said, still a bit of definition there...luvly ol boat though :)

yep...I can smell Fish...or is that Me...I have fond memories of such Vessels :]

I agree with tvernuccio here about the white! Other than that, I agree with Cyndi and think that most people would be delighted to have taken such a shot, me included! :)

Well thanks for the positive feedback.... but as some have mentioned.... the white is too white... all texture is lost on that white paint which means it's probably close to a zone 9 in tonal value... that's pretty close to total burn out.... Yes, Mel I think I metered on the water, probably center weighted.... duh...slaps head... I'll have to try the sky trick next time I don't have my grey card with me.... or I could have metered off the concrete didn't even think of that either that day. And the thing is.... this is the fixed version.... I played around with the shadow/highlight adjustments, levels, curves, amongst other things in PSCS.... There is only so much that can be done in Photoshop..... the adage still holds, Garbage In Garbage Out..... Photoshop isn't a miracle worker.... :~/ This was the best I could get it, and not have the darker tones become too dark or lose detail in them.

IMO some scenes just have too much variance between highlight and shadow tones (I'm sure you know what I mean) to get a good exposure throughout the frame, especially with slide film and even more so with digital. IMO (and leave myself wide open to critique) exposing for the highlight and using PS to lighten the darker tones is an option worth considering, within reason. As for metering dont know, I find that centre weighted is a good option for most scenes, spot would be better but not an option I have without an external meter. How I would have gone about this shot I really dont know, I doubt I would have been this successful, I agree that PS is a good fixer but like you say its no miracle worker.