Hi Miroslava,
This really is a photograph in two halves.
In the background you have captured a wonderful mood with the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge both silhouetted against a beautiful sunset. It looks fantastic.
Then in the foreground we have this great looking dinner setting… the sort of spread that will get most readers mooching off to the fridge in a few minutes from now. What lets this half of the image down though is the lighting.
You have lit the front half of this image using the camera’s built-in flash – direct flash like this is a real mood killer. Chances are at this time of the evening you had warm light washing over the balcony, both from the sunset and the artificial lights that would no doubt be getting turned on about this time of the evening and yet sadly, the on-camera flash has blown all this mood away.
I know this is a difficult lighting situation to be in, but whenever possible I try to avoid using direct, on camera flash. It is good for capturing spontaneous moments but it is hopeless for establishing ambiance.
In this instance I would be rather certain that the background is brighter than the foreground but here is where you have to get creative. If I was making this photo I would either try to make two exposures, one for the background and then a second photo where I was using a slower shutter speed (or higher ISO) to expose for the foreground… I would then use layers or a HDR treatment to bring the two exposures together.
A professional would bring in a couple of location lights (usually a couple of studio lights with a battery pack type power supply) and would light the table and food properly. I know, that is getting too serious though for a night out on the town.
Personally, in this instance I would just try and make two different exposures without moving the camera position and see how that looks.
Make a point of getting the horizon level and ease up on the vignette, it's too strong.
I think you need to go back for another meal!
Cheers,
Anthony