Backlit -- Suggestions

[jimsolt]

Problem with blown out highlights . . . probably more problems to more experienced eyes. Lay it on me.

G6 (original RAW)
Aperture Priority
1/200
f8
ISO 50

Thanks, JIm

[defordphoto]

The street light and car need to go and the tree is blocking the most important part of the photo. You should frame the best part of the sunset with the trees and always avoid man-made hardware when shooting landscapes, unless they serve a purpose for your photo.

[jimsolt]

The street light and car need to go and the tree is blocking the most important part of the photo. You should frame the best part of the sunset with the trees and always avoid man-made hardware when shooting landscapes, unless they serve a purpose for your photo.

I had pretty much assumed the composition sucked. I was trying to capture the sunset and trees in a usable picture, take notes of how I achieved that and use the technique(s) in the future. I had hoped the lampost would light up as the sun went down, but by the time it did, the sunset was but a memory.
The reason the sun is behind the trees is because I found that to frame the sun in the clear resulted in extrememely blown out bright spots. As it was, The highlights in the fork of the tree have been reduced in Elements 3.0 Editing. I was unable to adjust for the exreme highlights in RAW.
I'm guessing the G6 should have been on manual so I could have stopped down even further than I could in AV. If I had gone that route, what would I have used to judge the exposure settings?
Thanks for your comments.
Jim