ArtSeaMom Loc: Cocoa Beach, FL

I was shooting at sunrise and knew the picture would be bad but also thought there might be a way to fix it and learn something.
- Much of the image is blown out and the bird in the foreground is darker than I'd like. I know I had some set jup problems like ISO - it must have been on automatic and probably other mistakes I I don't even know I made. If the solution is using a filter, I'd prefer to fix it in post-production if possible rather than investing in expensive filters.

- The settings used for taking the picture on a Nikon D200 w/ Tamron 18-370 lens (ISO 800 (a mistake), aperture f/11, shutter speed 1/500). If you don't have the exact numbers, then please recall them the best you can.
- The lighting is a bit obvious (sources - sunrise, intensity - bright, locations - facing east, dawn, in wetlands on water).

So, what would you do to improve the shot? Can I get some more detail in the foreground and remove the bright white light? It wasn't a particularly colorful sunrise but I don't want o make these mistakes when a beauty comes along.

Appreciate all ideas!! Thanks

RTR Loc: West Central Alabama

The experienced photographers will most likely give you a much better response than mine. What you are experiencing here is a limitation on the dynamic range of your camera. Our eyes can quickly adapt to see detail in the bright sky and the darker foreground in your photo. Your camera is limited (all are) in this respect.

If you are going to try to fix something like this in post then I think you would be better off to correctly expose the brightest area in the scene and underexpose the dark areas. Once you blow out the detail it is gone and no post processing can get it back. On the other hand most pp software can get back a lot of detail from greatly underexposed areas.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

Wait.

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

With all scenes that have a high dynamic range the best bet is shoot in RAW as this format almost triple the range of a JPG measly 2 stops.

800 is a bit high but not a mistake per say as it does not influence the final product when it comes to noise and light quality. What it does influence however is the depth of field and speed adjustment.

As it is only the the direct sun area is really shot, as illustrated by the attachment.

Using the level curve you can gain back tons of details.

White is total loss of data.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

just crop the scene removing all sky