Sailing Away -- 7 mile beack. Grand Cayman.

I have only had my camera for a year... all of my pictures turn out

OK. I'm looking to get over the plateau. I know that I just have to

keep taking pictures... but I'd like to be able to look at my

pictures and see what's really wrong... instead of just seeing that

something is missing. I think this one is underexposed. You can't

make out the hull of the boat from the water. So how could i have

tried to avoid that? Is there a way to foresee it will happen? Is

there no surefire way to know?

Lindsay,

I would suggest filling your frame more with your subjects in photos such as this. This photo would probably have more appeal if it were tighter. I saw you are limited to 80mm with your current lens so I'm sure that makes it difficult to get in tighter. I would also venture to say perhaps you could try using a polarizing filter to bring out the sky some too. On a final note, try to move your horizon line away from the middle of the frame for a more dynamic photo. Of the 3 photos you have posted thus far, the Badwater in Death Valley is my favorite. Keep shooting!!

David.

Without looking at the negative, its hard judge the exposure to tell if there is any shadow detail in the sail boat.

Placing the middle of sail boat in the frame about 1/3 in from the left and 1/3 up from the bottom would avoid the centered subject syndrome.

A 70-210 or 80-200 zoom would be my choice for this situation.