Yup- I have homework! As I’ve mentioned, I’m taking Karen Russell’s fabulous photography class, which I wish I had taken a year ago instead of stumbling around learning in bits and pieces from everywhere. The lesson I focused on today was on Exposure Compensation, which I remember learning about on Pioneer Woman’s blog when I was first starting out. Since I went almost directly to manual, pretty much bypassing Aperture and Shutter Priority, I haven’t had occasion to practice with this much- until now.
It’s interesting- and has made me think about Ansel Adams’ Zone System, which I was trying to learn before I started taking this class. Without going into it much, I noticed today that the tones I metered/focused on directly affected how much exposure compensation was needed (metering/focusing on a darker tone made the whole photo over-exposed).
I did the assignment twice, with two different types of flowers. I liked my focus best on the geraniums, so that is the photos you are seeing. Both shots are straight out of camera (gasp!).
The original exposure:
My preference, which is -2/3 stops exposure compensation:
It really is a matter of preference in this case. I prefer the deeper tones in the flowers in the second shot and the lighter background in the first. The other flowers I photographed today were DRAMATICALLY over-exposed, using the camera’s exposure without exposure compensation. And in that case, I had focused on the deep brown center of my daisy. Zone System!
melinda anderson photography 
I’m with you. Love those deeper tones. I like the composition, as well. Nice results for your homework assignment. And, it looks like something’s nibbling on your geraniums. Bud worms, perhaps?