Focus!!

So I have started taking my camera with me whenever I leave the house, in case I see anything interesting to photograph for myself or PhotoShelter.

Today I came across some rhododendrons (man that's a fun word to spell) in a local parking lot. What caught my eye first was a neat bush with red and green leaves. I took a bunch of pictures and came away with a few lessons learned.

1. I need a graduated neutral density filter man those skies were bright.


2. In hindsight, my Strobist side says I could've balanced the sky with a well placed flash or two.


3. Autofocus can't always be counted on.

First, I realized I could've used some light stands and strobes to bring the plants up to a level to match the sky or better work with it. But I didn't have my flash with me and I currently only have one. I do have my eye on a used SB-28 though. I can't wait to try some of those techniques. It would be nice to have more control over the exposure of the sky. A GND filter would be an alternate solution and in some cases, more flexible, however, I don't currently have one of those either.

As far as autofocus is concerned, about 10 pictures of the red and green bush and not a single one in focus. Sometimes I wish manual focus was a more reasonable solution for my Rebel XT.