How do you 'bracket'?

Bracketing is taking multiple exposures each side of the "correct" one. Check your manual for details on how your camera does it. Also may be worth reading about HDR.
 
Like Ken said, the simplest form of bracketing is to take the same shot multiple times with different exposures, generally an extra shot up to one stop above and below the exposure you think is correct.
It's these extra exposures which 'bracket' the theoretically correct one which gives it it's name.

Bracketing is often used if you're really not sure what is the correct exposure, although with dSLRs it's not as vital since you can check your lcd screen and also the exposure histogram.

Most dSLRs have an automatic exposure bracketing mode - this is where you can set how much above and below your central exposure you want to shoot and then the camera will automatically adjust your exposure over the next three shots for you.

These days bracketing is more often used to generate the source images for an HDR (high dynamic range) image - to create the increased dynamic range you need a range of images that are well under- and well over-exposed to ensure you capture all the data available. The HDR process then merges these into a single image.
 
I prefer to do it manually rather than set the camera to auto bracket. Check the histograms to ensure I have one suitable exposure.
 
POAH said:
read your manual, its quite helpful in telling you how to operate the camera ;)
Click to expand...

And maybe you should read what this particular forum is for, its quite helpful in telling you how you should behave ;):

Talk Basics If you are new to photography, or just have a question you think is basic, then fire away! Absolutely no question is too silly or basic for us in here.
Click to expand...
 
Hacker said:
And maybe you should read what this particular forum is for, its quite helpful in telling you how you should behave ;):
Click to expand...


and you you maybe understand that I don't know how to bracket on every camera out there hence why he should read the manual to know how to set it. I've read the manual of every camera I owned.
 
POAH said:
and you you maybe understand that I don't know how to bracket on every camera out there hence why he should read the manual to know how to set it.
Click to expand...

But (s)he has the same camera as you :)

Maybe (s)he's lost the manual? Or can't find it in there?

To the OP: There should be an option somwhere called AEB, this stands for Auto Exposure Bracketing. You set it to a value each side of the 'correct' exposure, and it'll take 3 shots. One at the right exposure, one under exposed, and one over exposed. You can chose how much under or over exposed by moving the silder. +1 and -1 stop is quite noticable, the max it +2 and -2.

Tripod mount the camera, otherwise the images won't line up when you come to merge them (assuming that's what you're doing?)

Chris
 
POAH said:
and you you maybe understand that I don't know how to bracket on every camera out there hence why he should read the manual to know how to set it. I've read the manual of every camera I owned.
Click to expand...

Well apart from the fact that the OP has the same camera as you, if you didn't know the answer, then it is just as easy to not bother posting. But you were never one to forego an opportunity for an acerbic comment.
 
POAH said:
read your manual, its quite helpful in telling you how to operate the camera ;)
Click to expand...

Often the manual will tell you WHAT to do but if you ask a question on here people will explain in it simple terms, explain WHY you would do it, give examples etc etc. Questions like this are perfectly reasonable.
 
cowasaki said:
Often the manual will tell you WHAT to do but if you ask a question on here people will explain in it simple terms, explain WHY you would do it, give examples etc etc. Questions like this are perfectly reasonable.
Click to expand...

Agreed: My D3 and D3x manuals tell me how to bracket and how to set the cameras up to do it but not why I'd need to do it in the first place.

I'm a BIG fan of 'RTFM', but can see instances where a question here is more beneficial...
 
cowasaki said:
Often the manual will tell you WHAT to do but if you ask a question on here people will explain in it simple terms, explain WHY you would do it, give examples etc etc. Questions like this are perfectly reasonable.
Click to expand...

Yes, often the independent guides to specific cameras expand on the bare info in the manual.
 
As said, its a process of taking an under-exposed picture, and a over exposed picture.

There are many "steps" of over and under exposure you can have.
For example:

This is a properly exposed picture (well to me)

DSC_0013320x2002.jpg


Over and under-exposed picture (on a tri-pod to help campture the exact same picture)

DSC_0015320x2002-1.jpg


DSC_0010320x2002.jpg


As you can see, the same picture is darker or lighter.

This can be used for many different things. For example, shooting in bright light, or low light, or if you want to HDR.

I captured the above pictures for HDR, and ended up with this:

ChurchallGardenSunset320x200.jpg


This is basically, each of those pictures, overlayed on top of each other. Helps highlight the low areas, and if your not going for a artistic shot, keep the high-lights, giving you a better exposed picture.




(Hope that helps, I am fairly new to photography myself, so I hope my above post doesn't get me shot down in flames, but I hope it helped the OP)
 
Dogmatix said:
As said, its a process of taking an under-exposed picture, and a over exposed picture.

There are many "steps" of over and under exposure you can have.
For example:

This is a properly exposed picture (well to me)

DSC_0013320x2002.jpg


Over and under-exposed picture (on a tri-pod to help campture the exact same picture)

DSC_0015320x2002-1.jpg


DSC_0010320x2002.jpg


As you can see, the same picture is darker or lighter.

This can be used for many different things. For example, shooting in bright light, or low light, or if you want to HDR.

I captured the above pictures for HDR, and ended up with this:

ChurchallGardenSunset320x200.jpg


This is basically, each of those pictures, overlayed on top of each other. Helps highlight the low areas, and if your not going for a artistic shot, keep the high-lights, giving you a better exposed picture.




(Hope that helps, I am fairly new to photography myself, so I hope my above post doesn't get me shot down in flames, but I hope it helped the OP)
Click to expand...

Do you have a filter on that lens there? The red spot in the middle looks like filter flare - light bouncing off the surface of the sensor, then back again off the rear of the filter to form a ghost image. It's worse with cheaper uncoated filters.
 
Dogmatix said:
Yeh I have a UV filter. A jessops one.
I've been meaning to get a hood for my little
lens, just not got round to it.
Click to expand...

Shooting straight into the sun like that is bound to cause problems, even with the best filter. A lens hood won't help in that situation - it can only shade the lens from light outside the image area.
 
Dogmatix said:
So when shooting into the sun, only a Polorising and/or a ND filter should be used then?

I'm still new to it all.
Click to expand...

Shooting into the sun, never use more filters than you have to (take off the UV) and only use the best quality multi-coated ones. Hoya HD or Pro-1 are best.

Lens hood help with flare, even if they don't do much in some situations. But they can never harm the image and offer good protection too. Personally, I would throw that Jessops UV away - it serves no purprose whatsoever apart from giving protection, UV is an old film related problem.
 
see !!! out of the original question, comes a whole wealth of other knowledge and advice :)

some helpful posts on here and a couple of non-helpful one's lol :)
 
Dogmatix said:
As said, its a process of taking an under-exposed picture, and a over exposed picture.

There are many "steps" of over and under exposure you can have.
For example:

This is a properly exposed picture (well to me)

DSC_0013320x2002.jpg


Over and under-exposed picture (on a tri-pod to help campture the exact same picture)

DSC_0015320x2002-1.jpg


DSC_0010320x2002.jpg


As you can see, the same picture is darker or lighter.

This can be used for many different things. For example, shooting in bright light, or low light, or if you want to HDR.

I captured the above pictures for HDR, and ended up with this:

ChurchallGardenSunset320x200.jpg


This is basically, each of those pictures, overlayed on top of each other. Helps highlight the low areas, and if your not going for a artistic shot, keep the high-lights, giving you a better exposed picture.




(Hope that helps, I am fairly new to photography myself, so I hope my above post doesn't get me shot down in flames, but I hope it helped the OP)
Click to expand...

Leaving aside the flare issues... you need to take more exposures of scenes like this to ensure capture the complete dynamic range... a couple more stops brighter and darker would have helped. You also seem to have turned the tone mapping controls up a bit to high....
 
Gordon Scott said:
Leaving aside the flare issues... you need to take more exposures of scenes like this to ensure capture the complete dynamic range... a couple more stops brighter and darker would have helped. You also seem to have turned the tone mapping controls up a bit to high....
Click to expand...

I purposely wanted that affect :)

I do have more "pratised" shots of HDR, I'll post them later when home. But thanks for your input :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top