Technique assessment

Fully manual mode Michael says...

Alan started shooting in Aperture Priority mode. However, when shooting images with stark contrast between highlights and shadows, you need to push the shadows a bit brighter, which means you also have to engage exposure compensation. I recommend using Manual mode instead for full control over exposure, without having to worry about exposure compensation.

Aperture and ISO Michael says...

Alan started shooting with an f/8 aperture, but upping this to f/16 gives an even greater depth of field, maximizing the chance of both foreground and background elements being in focus. Going higher than f/16, though, will introduce an optical anomaly called diffraction, making the image softer. I also told Alan to keep to his camera’s minimum ISO100, to avoid undue noise.

His togram Michael says...

I noticed that Alan studied his shots on the back screen of his D750, but didn’t pay any attention to the histogram. I could see he was exposing for the centre of the light meter every time, but there’s no one-size-fits-all with seascapes. I suggested Alan study the histogram to see if any highlights or shadows were clipping, and to note when things were under- or overexposed, because the screen isn’t accurate enough to tell you this, especially in bright sun.