The difference in exposure this time of day between the direct light and the shadows can be extremely difficult to deal with, so Robert gave us a few tips. One was the opportunity to completely black out the backgrounds if we choose them carefully. The two shots below are examples of what can be done by changing position, and setting the camera to expose for just the bird, and not the entire scene. The first shot below is what I saw as I walked up to the flamingo. The water the flamingo is standing in is in the shadows and has a dark green color. You can also see how bright the sun is shining from its wing which is a clear indication of the difference in exposure between the sun and the shadows. By changing my position relative to the bird I was able to put the dark green water directly behind it. I then set my camera to expose only the bird, which was in the direct sunlight. The water directly behind the bird, and part of the flamingo itself was in the shadows meaning there was a great deal of difference in exposure between the two. This lead to the opportunity of completely blacking out the background and darkening some of the bird leading to a much more dramatic image. I then filled the frame with the flamingo and waited patiently for the bird to take a more compelling pose. Once it tucked its head next to the beautiful wing I took a few shots and captured what I consider to be a great image!
