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[Vic]

Excuse my thickness anyone but how do i prevent the sky from being blown like in this picture ..any help apreciated..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/KATANGA/reflect.jpg

[Oy]

What you need to do is reduce the exposure.

You can do that by either using exposure compensation on your camera. -0.5 or -1.0 is a good starting point.

Or - point the camera at the sky and lock the exposure using your AE Lock button, then recompose and take the shot.

This is correctly expose the sky - but the rest will be too dark. It's always easier to make dark bits lighter than the make too bright bits darker.

Having said that - the pic above is pretty much beyond hops as the sky is too bright AND the shadows too dark! That's be a challenge to get right!

Another way is to use a graduated nuetral density filter that will cut out light from the top half of the pic.

The REAL answer is to come back later when the sun is in a better place :D

[Galatas]

There is another option for dealing with such high contrast subjects. Take 2 exposures from exactly the same viewpoint. Expose one for the sky and the other for the shadows. Merge the two using layers in your editing program.

[Oy]

Yep - that's another - tricky though as they have to be exactly the same - tripod essential!

Another is to shoot RAW, preserving the highlights as above (meter off the sky) and process the same file twice, one for the sky, one for the shadows - then merge these two images.

Going back when the light is right is easier :)