[krs]

I recently landed in Lisbon Portugal for a yearly "working session" in Cascais. On Sunday afternoon, I had some free time, so I loafed around the town and took some pics with my new K10D, of which a few follow. All pics were taken in manual mode with spot metering. I would review the histograms, and make any adjustments and shoot again as needed.

Comments and suggestions would be appreciated, especially regarding the "dark edges", and how to better shoot the sun/sea situation.

[Lowell Goudge]

dark edges could be vignetting.

What focal length lens did you have, and what filter(s) were attached?

Did you stack filters?

Also note that with extreme wide angle shots, especially the first one where you are looking into the sun, the light is not always uniform across the entire frame.

[krs]

I used the kit lens, with focal length 18mm, 18mm, and 26mm respectively. I used no filters.

[Lowell Goudge]

it would seem that there is a little vignetting on the kit lens. I can't really comment as I do not have this lens.

If you want to test, find an object like a solid wall, evenly illuminated (sunlight is best) and take photos at different f stops and focal lengths.

You can then use a program like PSP x2 to evaluate the illumination, use greyscale histogram on a small selection at each corner and the center.

ALso yuou might want to check with and without the lens hood, maybe it is just a little too close to the field of view.

I think there are some filters and masks available for photoshop, and other programs as add ins, that can adjust this. I have not looked very hard but have found some.

[Peter Zack]

I'd also suggest a circular polarizer (CPL) for shots like this. It will deepen the sky's blue colour and reduce the reflections off the water. As suggested above I'd try a couple of test shots with the hood and any filters off the lens before spending any money on another filter. Just to see if the vignetting is from the hood or filter. This lens is known to vignette when at 18mm and wide open. Try stopping it down more when you have enough light for that.