Does the exposure work?

[Boomn4x4]

I set my camera for a spot metering on the reflections in the water and recomposed on the subjects. The goal was to get a silhoutte, which I am happy with, but I'm curious to know what reaction you get. Does the under exposure take away or add to the photo?

 

[pbelarge]

Boomn4x4
My personal style, I like either a little more detail in the shadows of the subject, or make that a silhouette.

 

[Boomn4x4]

Boomn4x4
My personal style, I like either a little more detail in the shadows of the subject, or make that a silhouette.

So it other words, its a half-assed attempt. Either I didn't get enough detail or I got too much?

How would I go about filling those holes??? I'd imagine I could get a little help on the detail by adding a low powered fill flash, but how would I get a darker silhouette without losing the highlights in the water and sand?

 

[LaFoto]

...how would I get a darker silhouette without losing the highlights in the water and sand?

I can only guess, but maybe you could have gone for an even smaller aperture here in order to get the persons all silhouetted?

As it is, this photo (unfortunately) only looks wrongly exposed, the goal you tried to achieve does not really show, as it is so "in between".

 

[pbelarge]

In the future, you could also try to auto bracket the shots.
Set your AEB - if you have it on the camera to take different 3 exposures at maybe -1, 0, +1. Depending on the situation it may have to be more.
The only issue for this type of shot is the subject is most likely moving.

If you shot this in raw, you would be able to manipulate it some more.

 

[Boomn4x4]

In the future, you could also try to auto bracket the shots.
Set your AEB - if you have it on the camera to take different 3 exposures at maybe -1, 0, +1. Depending on the situation it may have to be more.
The only issue for this type of shot is the subject is most likely moving.

If you shot this in raw, you would be able to manipulate it some more.

I'm not positive I'm following you... are you suggesting an HDR shot by merging the different AEB's into a single shot there by creating a more vibrant exposure range?

Is it safe to say that the end result I was going for is very difficult, if not impossible, to do in-camera?

 

[pbelarge]

I am not sure if it would be impossible to do in camera. Shot in raw there is some leeway when trying to manipulate the image.