Auto Bracketing

Lesco

Lesco

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Name
Tony
Edit My Images
Yes
Simple question really.

Is my camera (Nikon d3000) capable of auto bracketing?? Ive been reading up about the subject and get the basics of it:

where the camera will take several successive shots (usually three) with slightly different settings. Later, the best-looking pictures can be picked from the batch.

If so how do I get to the settings? I would love to mess around with High Dynamic Range imaging software, which again Im reading about as we speak, Ive decided I would like to learn this subject.
 
Ok I found this on the internet on how to auto bracket with a Nikon d3000.

PLEASE NOTE, I DO NOT TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THIS, ITS IS NOT MY WORK IT IS SOMEONE ELSE'S, THEY HAVE TAKEN THE TIME AND TROUBLE TO WRITE THIS TUTORIAL



Method 1

1. Set your Nikon D3000 on your tripod, obviously pointing at the direction of the subject. make sure you put the camera exactly where you intend to shoot before you actually take the photos. (Please note at this point my camera is set to capture fine Jpegs)

2. Set the dial on your D3000 to the “A” setting. This is Aperture Priority. It will allow you to set the aperture, and let the camera take care of everything else. For more on aperture, click here. After you set the aperture using the thumb dial, take a few test photos to make sure you got the setting right, and the lighting looks good.

3. Next, locate the exposure compensation button. It is towards the front of the camera, and has a “+/-” on it. Alright! Now you are ready to shoot.

4. Make sure the exposure compensation is registered at 0.0, and snap your first shot. Then, hold down the exposure compensation button, and increase the comp using the thumb dial. Increase it to 2.0, and snap your second shot. Then hold down that exposure compensation button and use the thumb dial to set the exposure to -2.0 and snap your third shot. If you are only using 3 photos to combine to HDR, you’re good to go! Otherwise, you can continue snapping away using different exposures for later creation of HDR. Me myself, I like to start off with three.

5. Take your three images, and use either Photoshop or Photomatrix to combine your images into an HDR masterpiece. There are many tutorials out there on his process.

Method 2

1. With this method, set your Nikon D3000 on the tripod. This time, set your D3000 to capture in RAW format. This will allow you to later use the in-camera editing feature.

2. Point and shoot at your intended subject. With this method, you can shoot in any mode you want – manual, auto… it makes no difference. Just point and shoot away! You will still need to capture three images though. So, shoot three pics!

3. Once three pictures have been taken, hit the “play” button on the back of the camera. Leave the first picture you took alone. Advance to the second picture, and hit the “ok” button. This will bring up a menu, and you need to select the NEF raw editing feature.

4. From there, change the exposure on the second photo to 2.0. Save it by choosing the ‘EXE” option. Change the exposure on the third picture to -2.0. Save it. Now when you transfer these to your computer, you will have three images – one with 0.0 exposure, one with 2.0, and one with -2.0.

5. Again, you can use those three photos in the application of your choice to be combines into an HDR image. I have played with both Photomatrix and Photoshop, and both are pretty useful. You can check other blogs out there for ongoing flame wars on the subject.

AND JUST LOOK AT THESE STUNNING RESULTS IF YOU CAN GET THIS RIGHT ITS AWSOME, AGAIN NONE OF THIS IS MY WORK AND I TAKE NO CREDIT FOR ANY OF IT:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/10/35-fantastic-hdr-pictures/
 
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grum said:
Don't think you can do it automatically, but you can still do it manually. You'll need a tripod if you haven't got one already.
Click to expand...



Yes Graham I do have a tripod, but its only a cheap one from a boot sale, I am going to purchase a decent one, but Ill use the cheapy one to practise this tecnique, it looks so awsom if you get it right
 
I'm not convinced by the second method described above. It will work but I don't see how it's going to give you any more dynamic range than just making a 'faux HDR' from one RAW file.
 
grum said:
I'm not convinced by the second method described above. It will work but I don't see how it's going to give you any more dynamic range than just making a 'faux HDR' from one RAW file.
Click to expand...



Hi Graham, Ive just found a tutorial on this subject (faux HDR) thanks for that I will have a read up and try to work things out, being very new to photography and to all these subjects this is fasinating stuff to me, I had no idea about this side of things.
 
grum said:
I'm not convinced by the second method described above.
Click to expand...

Just the second one?

The first one doesn't convince me.. it's imprecise and allows the camera to take three exposure readings in Aperture Priority - so it's by no means certain you'll get the bracket you want. As you're manually adjusting the compensation dial anyway you might as well go into Manual mode and adjust the shutter speed between shots and do it properly.

It will work but I don't see how it's going to give you any more dynamic range than just making a 'faux HDR' from one RAW file.
Click to expand...
 
But when you change the exposure compensation in aperture priority it will adjust exposure by changing shutter speed won't it - which is what you would be doing in Manual mode?
Or do you mean in case the light changes between shots and the camera meters slightly differently?

IME you don't need to be that precise - somewhere around -2 0 and +2 is going to work pretty well.


But yeah you are right that you might as well just do it in manual really. I would also do it in RAW personally.
 
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You don't need to be that precise.. but then I don't use just three images for HDR. I prefer six or more. If I'm going to settle down and take the time to build a sequence I can process I'm going to take just a little longer and give myself the best sequence possible. How many is all down to the subject in front of you.
 
Alastair said:
You don't need to be that precise.. but then I don't use just three images for HDR. I prefer six or more. If I'm going to settle down and take the time to build a sequence I can process I'm going to take just a little longer and give myself the best sequence possible. How many is all down to the subject in front of you.
Click to expand...


Hi Alistair, have you got a website with any of your HDR images on them, I am totally blown away by how good these photos are and would love to be able to do some of my own with a lot of practice, and learn this kind of photography properely.
 
Sorry guys just one more question on this subject and Ill shut up for ever I promise, its just this subject facinates me.

if some cameras are able to use the feature called auto bracketing, why is everyone saying to do the same thing in manual?? is it because you have more control over everything?? and is the auto bracketing feature a waste of time on these cameras?? and also in the tutorial it says 3 frames, but Alistair uses 6 frames, is there a limit, upper or lower, to the amount of frames you can use for this type of picture??
 
With auto bracketing, you just have to hold down the shutter and it will take pics at say, -2 0 and +2 EV, or whatever you have set it to.

It means the pictures will be taken with less gap between them, which can be better if you have moving things in the frame, so you don't get subjects moving between each shot.

Generally a minimum of 3 is regarded as what you want. but you can use as many as you like.

The main point of HDR is when the camera cannot reproduce the full dynamic range of a scene (from very dark bits to very light bits) - so if there is a scene with a very high dynamic range you might want more shots with a bigger range of exposure values.

Have a look at last month's competition on here for some examples - HDR was the theme.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=256924
 
Lesco said:
Hi Alistair, have you got a website with any of your HDR images on them, I am totally blown away by how good these photos are and would love to be able to do some of my own with a lot of practice, and learn this kind of photography properely.
Click to expand...

I have a warts'n'all HDR set on Flickr.. I say warts'n'all as it does have some really dire early efforts. The best ones are towards the end of the set (my favourites being these ones).

Bear in mind that HDR and the HDR-look are not the same thing..

Lesco said:
Sorry guys just one more question on this subject and Ill shut up for ever I promise, its just this subject facinates me.

if some cameras are able to use the feature called auto bracketing, why is everyone saying to do the same thing in manual?? is it because you have more control over everything?? and is the auto bracketing feature a waste of time on these cameras?? and also in the tutorial it says 3 frames, but Alistair uses 6 frames, is there a limit, upper or lower, to the amount of frames you can use for this type of picture??
Click to expand...

AEB is used for more than just HDR, sometimes you want the convenience of automatic exposure but want to give yourself some leeway in a tricky situation when you're not confident about the ability of the camera to meter it.

For HDR it does have it's advantages.. e.g. outdoors with clouds when you want to shoot off the sequence rapidly to avoid too much movement. Indoors you generally have the luxury of more time so it's worthwhile to make the most of it and go manual.

The only limit on the number of frames is your patience.. but there does come a point where the reward (the benefit of additional frames) starts to diminish for the effort it takes. Seven or eight exposures at 1-stop intervals is about where the limit sits for most of the situations I use HDR. Once your longest exposure is almost completely blown there's no point taking another, likewise when your shortest exposure is almost completely dark.
 
Graham and Alistair thank you both so much for your imput on this subject, I am going to practise this big time over the next year or so and try to get half decent at it.

Even in this short space of time I am now learning about apertures, shutter speeds and different settings, Ive taken 3 test shots tonight at work to test some stuff out and already I can see the difference between +2 and -2 on the A setting, its quite an eye opener, and a good way for me to learn all the different settings.

Thanks again guys :clap:
 
just set the camera to continuous shooting and use AEB -2,0,+2 to start off with, that way you can hold your finger on the shutter and fire off 3 shots in quick succession - much cleaner than messing with setting between shots and potentially ruining the alignment. I've done plenty of handheld HDRs using this method.

also when using this method it is ESSENTIAL that you use aperture priority mode, otherwise your camera will change the aperture for each shot which you don't want!

another tip is to use a good solid tripod and a remote shutter release cable. This will keep the camera steady while you take your three (or whatever) shots. It will also allow you to stop right down to f/16, the magic number for landscapes ;)
 
bomberman said:
just set the camera to continuous shooting and use AEB -2,0,+2 to start off with, that way you can hold your finger on the shutter and fire off 3 shots in quick succession - much cleaner than messing with setting between shots and potentially ruining the alignment. I've done plenty of handheld HDRs using this method.

also when using this method it is ESSENTIAL that you use aperture priority mode, otherwise your camera will change the aperture for each shot which you don't want!

another tip is to use a good solid tripod and a remote shutter release cable. This will keep the camera steady while you take your three (or whatever) shots. It will also allow you to stop right down to f/16, the magic number for landscapes ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you Tim for the hints mate, Ive just ordered a Redsnapper tripod and head via the forums.

sorry to be dim mate, does AEB stand for automatic exposure button?? Il have to read up about that
 
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