[FLAMING DEATH]

The lens flare is real. I shot that with my AE-1, and I couldn’t look through the viewfinder as I shot. So, I set the focus manually based on the scale on the lens, then I bracketed the focus and took two more shots.

I did clean it up in Gimp a little bit, because the print I scanned it from was about 20 years old, but other than that, the pic looks exactly like it came out of the camera.

[Aliska]

FD, what a moniker. It was fun talking about one of my favorite subjects. Since I was a kid I always knew how to point and shoot and sometimes got lucky. My dad tried to explain about light meters and I didn't get it. Since I got online, I started reading and taking in as much as I could. People mentored me, and I learned what f, shutter speed and a whole lot more but never enough.

I like backlit photos if the light doesn't overwhelm the subject. You did a good job making it presentable and then some. Guys like car photos and that 57 Chevy is sharp.

I've watch SS improve with his birds. He gets some terrific ones. IIRC he was shooting with a p&s zoom lens which had pretty good reach but soon moved up to dslr which gave him sharper ones.