A long lens, a teleconverter, and manual exposure mode.

Both images were photographed in the same light, but the camera's meter wasn't the same.  Why?

Shooting on the Esquimalt Estuary proved to be an interesting challenge.  The tide was out and there was plenty of exposed intertidal zone.  I was hoping for an abundance of shorebirds but was met with mostly herons.  Still, it provided an excellent opportunity to play with my 1.4x teleconverter.

There were several problems to overcome.  Access was one, as the muddy flats were not conducive to walking along.  That meant subjects were a considerable distance away and my 500 mm lens seemed inadequate for the job at hand.  This prompted me to employ my teleconverter.  I prefer not to use it as it does negatively affect image quality, but the extended range counters the magnification in post that is required.  The f/8 minimum aperture and the reduced focusing performance are also somewhat annoying.

The sun was not in a great position as I could not position myself where the subjects did not have some degree of shadow on them.  I have this thing I call "point your shadow", which is an alternative way of saying shoot with the sun at your back.  That wasn't going to happen given the landscape.  If all that wasn't enough, the background was diverse and threw the camera's metering system off.  It was an interesting environment to shoot in.

I shoot in manual exposure mode 95 percent of the time, and the lighting of this day certainly called for it.  Sometimes the subject had a background that was similarly lit (left image) while other times it was framed with darkness (right).  This is where manual exposure mode comes in handy.  The lighting on the subject is exactly the same in both images above and so the exposure settings should be the same.  The camera's light meter, of course, showed vastly different readings.  In any automatic exposure mode I would have to use exposure compensation or exposure lock to address the issue.  

The beautiful thing about manual exposure mode is the ability to shoot similarly lit subjects regardless of what the background is doing.  This is especially useful when tracking a subject passing unevenly lit backgrounds.  It also means not having to employ the +/- button or the AE-L function.  Each time I use them, it means taking your eye off the subject and it is a great way to lose shots.

The best part of the trip was the company I was with.  My lovely wife and my friend from work (thanks, Mike) had joined me on the expedition.  All in all, it was a fun and rewarding adventure.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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