Auto bracketing - Do you do it?

what about taking a close to as seems correct (for you) exposure, then doing two copies in eg LR
and altering them byplus and minus 1 or 2 stops etc then using an hdr blender,or is that not the same as doing the plus and minus in camera(result that is)?
 
what about taking a close to as seems correct (for you) exposure, then doing two copies in eg LR
and altering them byplus and minus 1 or 2 stops etc then using an hdr blender,or is that not the same as doing the plus and minus in camera(result that is)?

No.

If your camera records 13 stops of data and you take 3 shots 2 stops apart and merge them then you have a 17 stop dynamic range once merged.

Doing what you suggest wouldn't achieve anything
 
what about taking a close to as seems correct (for you) exposure, then doing two copies in eg LR
and altering them byplus and minus 1 or 2 stops etc then using an hdr blender,or is that not the same as doing the plus and minus in camera(result that is)?

The only time that sort of thing works is if you want to apply different editing to sky and foreground and then blend together manually. Not giving you extra dynamic range though.
 
I do it sometimes ... have my camera set up for seven brackets ... zero, three below, three above.

Preset increments of two thirds.

Sometimes I feel I don't know the best exposure, sometimes I feel I may just want to play ...
 
... and exposure comp. can easily bring that group of seven down to say, 4 or 5 below with 1 or 2 above.
 
Over the past few years, I have started to bracket and blend. I always find that it makes the picture a lot sharper. Someone once said to me, why would you pay all that money for glass, when all you do it put another cheap bit of glass in front of it!!! Couldn't argue with that.
 
I have started to auto bracket by 1 stop either way more often than not the last few times I've been out with the camera.

My main reason for it is I don't get out often enough as it is, so when I do get out and get some photos I'm happy with, I'd rather have multiple exposure of the same image so when I get home and view on the PC, if the exposure doesn't look as good as it did in camera, I have the option of 2 other exposures to choose from, or to blend.

It's 2020, memory is cheap, if you don't need all of the photos after bracketing, just delete them, as for shutter count, I didn't buy a camera to worry about future resale value....
 
Bloody hell Andy, we agree on something.
I too am not a fan of the cartoonish, unrealistic HDR look. :D

Well mine always look fantastic. Look
 

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If the scene is very challenging I might take more than one picture to see which is best after processing but generally I don't auto bracket as such as modern raw files and in view histograms make things easier.
 
Is stacking the same as bracketing?
 
Is stacking the same as bracketing?


Two different steps of the process.

Bracketing is the process of taking photos of the same image, but of different exposures, to then allow you to later blend in some way into one image to get more dynamic range.

Stacking is a technique to blend these multiple images.

Hopefully this is an accurate description!
 
Bracketing exposures is a really useful technique, depending on the dynamic range of your camera it's not necessary all the time but when shooting challenging lighting it's something I often use in combination with exposure blending... even if you can capture the scene in a single shot if you push the shadows and highlights too much in processing then the results are often awful halos, usually quite obvious along mountain edges and other objects against the bright sky.

It's also my preferred method over NDgrads when shooting into the sun as it avoids the problems that they can cause with flare

+/- 1 stop I don't find that useful usually it's -2/+2, sometimes 5 images

It's best done on a tripod as any movement between each shot can create headaches with alignment in photoshop although handheld can work, it just means more tricking editing and good technique handholding the camera

Simon
 
More useful than the auto exposure bracket is the Drive mode.
I first started using it to help with my hand tremo,r as shooting three rapid fire shots nearly always produces one that is sharp.

Then I noticed that although the shots were only a fraction of a second apart that they were all different.
When selecting the "Best" to process it is amazing how often it is that one is so much better then the "others" especially when shooting people or Street.
In some situations it is my "New Normal" way of shooting. (mostly at the "Slow" setting)

Unlike film, the only cost is in shutter actuations. and the benefits can be profound.
 
Two different steps of the process.

Bracketing is the process of taking photos of the same image, but of different exposures, to then allow you to later blend in some way into one image to get more dynamic range.

Stacking is a technique to blend these multiple images.

Hopefully this is an accurate description!

Stacking is literally aligning the images into register in a stack.
Blending is a further stage which might be HDR or Exposure Fusion. Or focus blending or both.
 
More useful than the auto exposure bracket is the Drive mode.

Not more useful as theyre totally different things... one is about capturing wide dynamic range and the other just takes a sequence of the scene at the same settings... if you're having to use drive mode to get a sharp photo either the camera isn't stable (too low shutter speed or hand holding technique) or it's not focused correctly.... using a tripod definitely helps with the first whilst it might be either technique or the camera/lens may need calibrating to solve the second
 
Not more useful as theyre totally different things... one is about capturing wide dynamic range and the other just takes a sequence of the scene at the same settings... if you're having to use drive mode to get a sharp photo either the camera isn't stable (too low shutter speed or hand holding technique) or it's not focused correctly.... using a tripod definitely helps with the first whilst it might be either technique or the camera/lens may need calibrating to solve the second

For things like street though, as he says, the difference in expression from frame 1 to 3 of 3 can make or break a shot. I use it a lot for that.
 
For things like street though, as he says, the difference in expression from frame 1 to 3 of 3 can make or break a shot. I use it a lot for that.

Yes, missed the "street" bit... as with all camera techniques there's no magic setting that suits everything, half the fun is finding out what to use, and moreso what not to use, to get the type of shots you like taking
 
Not more useful as theyre totally different things... one is about capturing wide dynamic range and the other just takes a sequence of the scene at the same settings... if you're having to use drive mode to get a sharp photo either the camera isn't stable (too low shutter speed or hand holding technique) or it's not focused correctly.... using a tripod definitely helps with the first whilst it might be either technique or the camera/lens may need calibrating to solve the second

Of course they are different. and I said so, but they both Relate to taking multiple images.

As to camera shake I mentioned that I had use it to help solve my tremor issue. however I have developed things far further now, and can get a far higher hit rate.
learning how to suck eggs is not very helpful.

I covered the subject quite thoroughly in this thread
 
Drive/Burst mode can be helpful.
My old Pentax K100d used to shoot 3 shots as fast as possible in Bracket mode - so the changes in the scene or from movement or the camera were minimised.
My Olympus cameras if set to single shot require 3 or more separate shutter presses - getting the optimal, under and over exposures individually.
I can see the logic in both methods but it was jarring the first time I used the Olympus - it also resulted in some oddball exposures when I'd accidentally enabled BKT and hadn't noticed - leaving you wondering why grabbed shots had weird under or over exposure! :oops: :$
 
So, to add to my previous post about bracketing more often than not, I spent the day in the Lake District yesterday and bracketed nearly every shot so I have a choice of exposures to work from when I process the images, one downside I discovered yesterday (though obvious if you think about it) was the additional battery usage involved in taking 3 shots instead of 1, especially when using a mirrorless system.

I found my battery indicator started flashing red after a few hours, fortunately, Fuji's can be charged by USB so I could charge it from a power bank while in my bag.
 
I occasionally use Auto Bracketing in difficult high contrast situations, such as city locations whilst travelling. I use it to more accurately and quickly get a 'correct' exposure moving through streets and squares, or more often to preserve highlights, or at least minimise over/underexposure. Some places I know I will never visit again so I aim to increase the chances of getting the best version of the scene in camera.

I am mainly in Aperture Priority, so the camera changes the shutter speed. Not sure I have ever used Shutter Priority. :thinking: :)

For speed, I also use the continuous shooting/burst mode to go through the bracketing in one press of the shutter, rather than pressing the shutter for each step in the bracketing. At 10fps I can go through the bracketing quickly with minimal movement between images. That can save time adjusting exposure manually, as I can just allow the camera assess the scene for exposure, and rather than me needing to use exposure compensation as much, I can choose the most accurate exposure later, or indeed blend different exposures in very difficult lighting, though that is very rare. Some Nikon cameras could have up to nine images in a bracket, if needed, ;) but I generally don't use more than three, either either side of what the camera has determined, or two below or above, depending on the situation. :)
 
I've just watched a YouTube video singing the praises of auto bracketing. ( Exposure).
He does it on every shot. How common is this?
What do you see as pros and cons?


YouTuber Nick Page uses Bracketing instead of filters like YouTubers Thomas Heaton, Brenden van Son. For me the bracketing is so much cheaper as filters can cost the wrong side of £100 each, plus the mounting brackets, cases / pouch's etc
I do have to use LightRoom or Photoshop to blend the images together to get the end result. Were as filters will give you the finished image there and then in camera.
YouTuber Tony Northrope has a video on multiple bracketing and his example is an old big black American steam engine train.

On my EOS 7Dii I have a quick button for bracketing / HDR for that quick shot where the light is either too bright of I want to keep colour in highlights ie the sky over a building / person backlite or in shade.
 
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