To be more specific, there are lots of pictures out there where the sun is actually "in" the picture, without blowing out the rest of the image. I have tried and tried, but cannot seem to get the right setting on my 5D. I'm new to this hobby so any advice is appreciated. Is a filter used to get the sun in the shot?
Ok so you meter for say... an interesting tree or bush or something, then recompose yes? Maybe I need to try different settings. I can't seem to get these type or results without bracketing and combining shots.
You meter for what you want exposed. In the first one, I metered the sky. Same for the second one. In the third, I wanted an underexposed subject that showed off the over-exposed rim-lighting effect from the backlit sun...so I metered the subject and then underexposed a stop.
Think out the second shot...if I have metered for the tree, what would that have done to the sky? And even more so, the sun? It would have blown those out to white.
You have think in your mind's eye what the final product you want will be. Bracketing is also good, but only works for static subjects. You can also meter and then us exposure adjustments if you are in one of the program modes...I only used manual for the second shot, for example.