some photos I tookin my yard today

[radioman]

1

These next two are of the same thing but i would like to know how not to blow out the sky without making the image darker?

2

3

 

[Samanax]

#1 - Seems slightly underexposed and soft. Flower with the bug is right in the center of the shot...I think it would have been nicer to have it off to the right side a bit.

These next two are of the same thing but i would like to know how not to blow out the sky without making the image darker?

That is one of the most challenging shots to expose for and you really won't get a correctly exposed shot without either blowing out the lights or getting really, really dark shadows. You may have to do a HDR edit to get correct exposure through the whole shot.

 

[Jaszek]

or you can add fill flash at half or full power and expose for the sky.