Typically if I bracket I'll do it manually, I'll take 3 or sometimes even 5 various exposure of my choice instead of enabling the bracket in my camera. The scenes I'll do it for are usually city skyline scenes around dusk when I want to get the nice lights of the buildings but not too bright so I can bring out the natural lighting in the sky and on the buildings. Especially when doing drone shots.
I have been saved multiple times by exposure bracketing. I been a photographer for the last 40 years and two rules have transformed everything: 1) memory is cheap. Overshooting is a gift from God's. 2) HDR that you can control makes for a technically better photo than a wildly edited and masked single photo.
Another great video, Mark. I do agree with you that the need for bracketing has dropped significantly and I cannot remember the number times I have bracketed and not needed it after all: comparing elements of an underexposed and boosted image of the sequence versus a 'correctly exposed' image shows very little to no difference. But I would add two points - first, if you are having to do heavy shadow recovery you not only introduce noise but you also lose a lot of dynamic range in the colours which can (depending on the subject) end up looking flat and also can mean losing texture. And this is where assessing what you want from the shadows is important. Secondly, the red channel tends to blow significantly earlier than the other channels which is why relying on a luminance histogram can be risky. This can lead to significant colour shifts in things where red is dominant like sunsets and red poppies and the photo ends up being far more orange than in real life.
Of all the photography UA-camr's out there, you are my favorite because you explain things so well. This helps me better understand photo editing and taking pictures with my camera then I do with most other sources.
One big problem with looking at histograms "on the scene" is that cameras only show a histogram based on the jpeg that is displayed in the screen. This even changes when you change the jpeg settings (e.g. a certain color mode like "muted" or "vivid", or a film simulation). It's very sad that camera manufacturers apparantly cannot show the "true" raw histogram like it will be displayed in a raw converter. So looking at a histogram in camera is always a rough estimate only.
My Fujifilm X-T3 shows a different histogram when I switch the national live view on, which is supposed to represent the raw pixels if I'm not wrong - maybe am I misunderstanding something?
You are absolutely correct. That is why there is still a purpose for a light meter. If you use a 1 degree spot meter. You can meter the highlights and the shadows and know if the scene fits the dynamic range of your camera. If it does then shoot it ETTR. I spot meter the brightest part in the scene. Usually a white cloud. The meter makes that 18% middle gray. I know that the cloud will be MG then and i need to expose more to get a white cloud again. That depends on the headroom my camera gives me above 18% middle gray. Just figure that out once. Then i expose for those extra stops of light i can gather without clipping the High lights. So if i have for instance, a headroom of 2 stops above 18% MG then i expose +2 stops longer and the cloud will be white again and not clipping. Then i will have a pure white cloud with detail in zone 7/8 and my shadows will be lifted as well from zone 2 to 4 and thus have more detail and tonality. If the dynamic range of the scene exceeds the camera i take two shots. Picture one will be ETTR for the highlights and another -2 stops or ETTL (Exposure To The Left). ETTL is the same as ETTR (Exposure To The Right), but in reverse. Now meter the darkest shadows and expose -2 stops. In the middle these two will overlap each other so all detail will be there. No need to make 7 shots bracketing for a landscape. That is why i say there is still a good use for light meters. They make live a lot easier and aren't hard to learn to use properly. No histogram can beat that precision of a light meter. If you use these methods you can get the shot almost completely dun in camera. Just shoot it like you are using chrome film while shooting in RAW. So meter it. Set it correctly, Set your White balance and compose the shot. Post processing will then be minimalistic crossing the dotting the I's and crossing the T's no mater what camera you use. This works with film or digital. This sound like a lot of work but really isn't. If i find my scene i can be dun within 2 minutes.
I've been petitioning Fujifilm repeatedly to include a RAW histogram for when shooting in RAW mode. According to someone I know at Fujifilm UK, it's something they're looking at for the GFX range.
Good advice. I’ve saved a few overexposed frames by using a linear profile in Lightroom. Takes all the camera adjustments away. More work to edit but can be useful.
It would be helpful to know the purpose of exposure bracketing. For example, is it to ensure a safety shot in case your single exposure is off? Or is the purpose to provide a series of exposures +/- for creating HDR images? Or perhaps it’s for blending/composing in Photoshop. Perhaps a follow-up video demonstrating camera setup and image processing of an exposure bracketed image would be helpful.😮 Thanks.
This video on exposure bracketing was very helpful to me. I rarely use bracketing and actually didn't think about using it. Now with your excellent explanation, I a better Idea of what to look for and when I should consider using bracketing. I am glad I went back to review this video. Thanks again for your explaination.
Well dynamic range of the camera may seem to cover the bracketing range by itself but it will never be the same as exposure bracketing. It is imperfect because of the nature of sensor design, so pulling shadows and actually exposing them will never be the same in terms of contrast and colors. Every camera sensor works imperfectly after production and they are adjusted in factories by software to recover the faults and deliver an acceptable image. These faults and imperfections then show up in high ISO and shadow pull etc. If you need bracketting always do it, you will not regret it in post-processing.
Great timing on exposure bracketing Mark!! With the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8th of this year, I found this video to be very helpful. We all know how bright the sun can be, even nearing totality, and with this event being a lifetime event, I think using exposure bracketing will help insure that I walk away with properly exposed photos. Dealing with the extra photos in this case will be a small price to pay. Thanks for a great video!!
This is a super explanation of when to bracket or not for most people in most situations. I learned from the simple way you explained it, even though I have many years of experience in photography, but not enough in landscape photography to be more than adequate at it. I really liked your histogram explanations. The only other thing I would have like to have seen in the video is an explanation of how to determine how much you should bracket in each direction. I do it by looking at the histogram and just changing the exposure enough to move the spike off the edge and taking another picture. Sometimes, depending on if the highlights, shadows or both are clipped, it only requires one extra photo in the appropriate direction. Because of this, I don’t use auto bracketing and just manually adjust and reshoot.
Your description on how to read the Histogram to tell if you need to use bracketing is the most valuable piece of information I've learned in a while. Thank you very much !
Thanks for another great video. I always learn so much from you, especially how to process images. As a follow-up to this video, I would love to see one on how you process bracketed images. Thanks, again.
Great information - thank you. Funny, I was comparing/contrasting your video from about 4 years ago on the subject of Exposure Bracketing with this video. You presented great tips back then that are very much valid today but clearly your philosophy has changed on when bracketing is even necessary.
I often do exposure bracketing in situations with a high dynamic range even when it isn’t yet 100% necessary yet. This way i get way clearer shadows on my microfourthirds cameras. Else the shadows get really noisy and difficult to clean up without loss of detail.
I shoot Olympus and get a bit annoyed with people saying you don't need to do things with a modern pro camera. MFT cameras are brilliant in terms of cost, size and weight but benefit enormously from exposure bracketing t make up for the 4 stops less dynamic range.
I'm exactly the same. 5 shots per button press in a fraction of a second, LR automatically puts each set in a stack which can then be quickly blended in LR.
Great tutorial. I used exposure bracketing, but now will use it more well informed. I did not know about the Lightroom tips for clipping. Also, I have a very similar photo to that over your left should I took in Mukilteo, WA of a sea weed blob and a wave!!!
Hi Mark, thanks for another excellent video. I tend to shoot minus exposure compensation as seems appropriate on my Canon 6D for landscape with high dynamic range scenes. I use the Smart Lighting feature in DxO software to recover shadows in a really effective, controlled way. Using this feature has greatly reduced the need to exposure bracket for blending later in post, and the images always look "natural".
Just my two cents. (I shoot professionally for a major corp) Simply put exposure bracketing is a way to CYA and expand your dynamic range. It also provides a few different perspectives. I've shot with 8 different professional cameras over the past 10 years and have tallied up well over 2 million clicks, which is really not that much I get it, it could actually be closer to 7 million but I got way too busy 5 years back to keep track any longer. If you are setting up a scene and waiting for light or the environment to change, a quick bracket shot can give you a quick glimpse at how that scene will look at different levels of exposure. Sometimes it sparks an idea or highlights the way the lighting is hitting the scene and sometimes you can even find a shot while you are waiting for your shot. I get it through, the nature of photography attracts obsessive, perfectionist types who like to plan everything. I am not that guy, I'm quite the opposite and approach every shoot with an open mind. I admit that since I picked up a Z8 it seems like I am splitting hairs when I bracket, so I use it less. Especially when I am working with limited time, which is almost always the case these days.
Also, I get it, you have never needed it. Some make the same argument about dual memory card slots and buying insurance. However, when 99% of your work is client driven and I mean, you are literally shooting what they want and there is no room for your ego, no room for your creative vision, there is no better way to CYA than exposure bracketing. The reality is, most of the time we photographers are working with people who have a vision and know what they want but don't know how to execute or properly describe it. In those cases, communication is everything and well if you've ever played telephone you know even the best communicators, at best, suck. Also when working with non-pros they will use terms that they don't fully understand but use them because they think it makes them appear as if they are informed. So even when you think you know exactly what your client or boss wants, you could find out after the fact they meant something else. That's why even when they say, "I only need wide shots" I always take a few details or extras because after they see the pictures they sometimes will ask, even after saying they only need wides, "do you have any closeups of ______?"
@@stunod1479 HAHAHA you think this is me bragging? Perhaps you should shut up and learn something. You have a long way to go brother and you are getting distracted with the wrong things. I've worked really hard to get here as does every other professional photographer. This is baseline for anyone in this industry. 2 million clicks is bragging? You need to get out more... And for the record I never said I wasn't wordy and I sincerely don't care, the only people who do are millenial idiots who were raised on 6 second vine videos. When you are ready to hear me brag, just reply.
@@stunod1479 Hahaha thanks for that laugh, if you believe that is bragging you have a long way to go brother. This is baseline for anyone going into professional phtography. It takes well more than 2 million clicks to accumulate the 10,000 hours of experience you need before you can even consider yourself an expert. I am not an expert, but I have worked really hard to get pretty close. So perhaps you should just hold your tongue and try to learn something because I never wasted my time trolling other photographers. And when I am ready to brag, you'll know it. Have a nice day.
I really appreciate the info help me understand The histogram more easily and how much different digital photography is as opposed to my film days when I did weddings and events in street photography. I'm buying a new kit and I've decided to go with Fuji XH2 and XH2S for the stacked sensor so I can shoot any kind of wildlife cuz I do birds. So this is great information for when I start doing landscapes again as I travel over the next few years. Thanks again.
Great video Mark! Really appreciate the time you took to explain when to know if you should bracket. I think in general most of us need to pay more attention to the histogram on our camera on the field that will give you an idea of the whites and blacks being on the extreme but sometimes we get a bit too caught up in the moment or forget. I myself exposure bracket probably a bit too much and always end up having to delete unused photos. Histogram is such a powerful tool.
I have done the same exact thing and taken way too many thinking i"ll bracket and never end up using them. Learning the histogram is game changing in how to shoot photography. Good video Mark!
Great video Mark. I have followed a very similar progression. In Colorado, as you might remember, I bracketed everything. In the Dolomites, I rarely bracketed anything and if I did it was for good reasons.
Mark, Guilty as charged. I've been exposure bracketing every shot "just in case" during the last half dozen trips. I really appreciate your explanation of why and when I need to exposure bracket an image. As an exercise, I will go back to my last day trip and check the histogram of each properly exposed image to see if both sides of the histogram are clipped. I'll also check the images that show unrecoverable clipping of the shadows or highlights. Thanks for another informative video.
I appreciate all the videos you put out I’ve been watching for many years. 1 thing I don’t think I’ve seen you talk about is monitor calibration. I’ve just purchased datacolour SpyerX Pro as the photos I had printed I discovered aren’t what I saw on the screen. Microsoft on hp laptop. Just purchased a dedicated hp monitor to calibrate and hopefully print true colours. Thanks for the videos.
Nice summary review! When the dynamic range of a scene appears a bit iffy, go ahead and focus bracket - even if you think the RAW histogram *might* be OK. Go ahead and be on the safe side - because NOBODY is going to know that you 'cheated' by using focus bracketing. Take advantage of what the digital camera can do (but don't let that allow you to become lazy or sloppy). The increased dynamic range of imaging sensors in modern cameras over the past many years is quite impressive and the need for HDR, image compositing and related post-processing methods is certainly diminishing for such issues!
Another great and helpful video, Mark! I was doing some research into my trusty old Nikon d5200 and It has about 9 steps of dynamic range. It is an 11 year old camera without a live histogram, and I'm not aware of any clipping warnings for my camera. The best I can do is to view the histogram after I take the photo and look for the sings that you mentioned here and then decide if I need to bracket. You make the valid argument about having to sort through triple the pics but I tend to take pics of hand gestures on either side of a bracketed group of images, panoramas and focus-stacked images. I've only ever done one bracketed image that I would consider worthy of exposition, as I struggle with getting to locales to apply many of the things I've learned watching your channel, Once again, great video! -Rick Wisniewski
Thank you so much for this video. I've had issues understanding when to exposure bracket or not and this video helps me to better understand this. I will be implementing this next time I go out with my camera.
Excellent dynamic range exposure advice. Humans can see ~21 stops while the best cameras can only 'see' ~15. No harm in auto bracketing everything as long as you have space... just delete what you don't need when you edit. It's very rare to need values above 0, maybe +1 for shadows, but for sky detail going deep into the negative EVs is required! For a shot with the Sun or Moon a -5 can save the key details.
Thanks Mark. Excellent video which perfectly clarified how and when to use bracketing. Having seen another video which recommended it's regular use, I used the technique for most of my landscapes last year when visiting Norway. I didn't need most of the photos when it came to processing, so I learnt the lesson you have beautifully summarised in your video. Thanks again.
I only bracket when I’m taking high dynamic photos such as sunsets. When reviewing my image, if have blinkies on the highlights and blacks I know I need to bracket.
Thanks, now I know what the Histogram is warning me to do. I normally try to keep from shooting into the light, but, sometimes with landscapes it is not always possible when I have something I want to photograph. Better learn to exposure bracket on my Fujifilm X-H1 and set it up ahead of time, if possible.
Wonderful video and a reminder for me to put efforts into exposure bracketing. Also, i used to focus stack everything at one time begore slowing down. Nice to see the underrated GF 100-200mm which is my staple for landscape theese days. Soft on the longest focal length, but not a deal breaker.
I use all the color and tone histograms to make my judgements on bracketing in the field. My gripe is that, since the in-camera histograms are based on the JPEG rendition, I find myself having to guesstimate whether it's actual clipping or will I really have more room in the RAW data. The camera certainly knows the actual distribution of tones in the RAW data - why don't companies give us the option to display *that* histogram rather than the JPEG-based version?
Great useful video. Can't count the times I've bracketed and ended up only using one of the files. From what you showed, I worried too much about the shadows after ecposing to avoid blown highlights.
One thing I've worked on to expand the envelope of "not needed" is using GNDs that can be angled and positioned in various ways. Sometimes stacking them to increase positioning and stops. Can work really well in many cases. Also, more fun than just stacking! 🙂
Agree. There's a reason these are still being sold. Apart from bringing the contrast down to acceptable levels, they slow you down in your photography which usually improves your composition.
Well explained Mark, i am sure i will try the Exposure Bracketing more (when needed)when pushing the extremes at both ends (shadows and Highlights). Thank you
Really well done explanation Mark, thank you. Yup, guilty, I do perhaps exposure bracket more than needed. I started bracketing to save time both while out shooting and to reduce the time required for editing. I don't tend to bracket if there is movement in the frame while shooting. Not sure if the fact that I'm using an APS-C camera is part of the issue.
God bless you man. You are a great example of what each individual can accomplish no matter where they came from as long as they dig down and try their ass off. 😎👊👍🇦🇺
I have tended to bracket most of the time. But I've been doing it much more selectively recently. On one trip I had thousands and thousands of photos that weren't needed. Those took disk space, and took a lot of time to weed through. And many of the + images were blurry because of camera or subject movement. So this was a timely video. Thanks for the perspective.
Great analysis and presentation of the topic. I almost always took "insurance" brackets in my early days, but mostly abandoned that as I learned more (as you point out) about interpreting the histogram. Image review is much faster now! Good stuff!
Awesome video Mark. Very useful and yes i have been known to bracket WAYYYYY too much. So will be using this information when i shoot this weekend and hoping to speed up my shoots rather than spending too much time in one spot and bracketing unnecessarily... thankyou... great video and easy to understand.
Great video! Nice pics! I also have the GF 32-64mm, love that lens. I saw that you often use f/16, I get a lot of diffraction at that aperture, so my limit is f/11.
Did more in the beginning when it was new to me. But now I see it as a tool among many that I can use. You learn from the time on the tool and when and when not to use it.
It's more about cameras being better today. Older cameras absolutely do need exposure bracketing for outdoor scenes with sky, because you can't raise the shadows as cleanly as with newer cameras. With newer cameras all you need to do is expose for the highlights and you're good most of the time.
This was SO useful! Thank you, I love the way you approach education and your general candor. So glad I found your page! Question on a similar topic, have you ever used (or a different brand version) of Highlight Tone Priority on Canon? My R6 offers a feature to ensure highlights remain intact, but usually at that cost of a minimum ISO of 200 instead of 50/100. There are a lot of back-n-forth opions on this and would love your throughts. On one hand it feels like cheating & teaching yourself a handicap instead of proper exposure, but on another it could be very useful in fast paced settings (like weddings with white dresses, or kids in labor day outfits). However the real meat of my question is what if anything am I losing by using this setting, are there hidden impacts to consider? Thanks!
Thanks for another great video Mark. I have always struggled a bit with bracketing and have watched plenty of videos on the subject. Your explanations are so clear and understandable that I feel a lot more confident in getting outside and using the histogramme in the correct way.
As usual, I watched the video with interest. With landscape photography as a favorite theme, deciding "to bracket or not to bracket" is an interesting topic. The next step is combining the recordings. I'm curious which method you use for this. With a one-click HDR solution or another method using the blendif option for example.
Good information here Mark. Thanks. I need to get better about analyzing my exposure histograms. I noticed that all (I believe) of the images that you used in the video were shot at ISO 100. As your ISO setting is increased, the dynamic range of the sensor is reduced. How much would that play into your decisions on when you would need to use exposure bracketing?
You must be reading my mind. When I went from film to digital, I bracketed everything because the images were free - compared to film. Then I found myself confronted with way too many images and eventually lost patience with it. Then I stopped bracketing as I got higher quality cameras that I trusted more. Then in complex shadow/sunlight images I found my camera less than more perfect. So now I bracket in challenging situations. Thanks for these hints on when to bracket. Very helpful!
It boils down to understanding the dynamic range of a scene and how camera limitations might apply to it. I shoot a lot with Sigma's Foveon cameras and their dynamic range is extremely limited - so bracketing is very often required. The histogram /barely/ lies.
Thanks, Mark. This helped in better understanding the histogram in relation to the image in Lightroom, including in-camera usage before taking the photo. Great instructional video.
Excellent video Mark. This makes me wonder if you'd ever need to do more than 2 exposures in a case where bracketing is necessary. It seems like with a decent enough camera, 2 exposure would be enough for everything?
😂 Mark this is part of the consideration for the Flow Chart idea I posed to you in another video. History Graphs perplex me getting them up and and comparing them to the image I wanted and the one it suggested based on its reading. In a number of cases what suggested didn't give me the test image I'd make as compared to the one I wanted and got. ?
Whith those extremes of exposures I can use a graduated filter yes? It will allow me to darken the highlits and to raise some of the shadow, instead of shooting three frames.
Thanks for a great video Mark. But I have a few questions. How can I tell how much to bracket? How different is the bracket if I shoot JPEG or RAW? And once I have 3 bracketed shots how do I use them? I'll bet you already address this in another video but I can't seem to find one...
I focus stack, so when I do, I often alter the exposure as i re focus. As long as my exposure is near enough to what I feel is correct I'm happy. I watch my histogram for blown highlights and use the blinkies for confirmation.
Yes, I exposure bracketing most of the time. It is a habit from shooting HDR back in the day. It does triple the exposures and I do clean up some of the photos not needed.
@MarkDennyPhoto I have to say your videos are very helpful in clarifying many arcane points of digital photography. I'm relatively well informed myself, having edited the American Cinematographer Manual a couple of times. Where I do need exposure bracketing, is when taking photos of a total eclipse of the Sun in an attempt to capture the astounding dynamic range of the corona that we can witness with our eyes, but no current imaging medium (Digital or film) is able to capture in a single exposure. I've done fairly well with my eclipse photography from 2017 and this year's on April 8th. But what I have read, and seen examples of, from accomplished astral photographers, to REALLY capture the entire nuanced details of total eclipse, they recommend nine bracketed exposures. With my EOS 5D Mark IV I can automatically capture seven bracketed exposures, but not nine... I have to do that manually. Are there any Canon cameras you know of that can bracket more than seven exposures automatically? I only ask, because I have had a devil of a time searching the specs of Canon to figure it out on my own for all their camera. Leaning towards Canon because that's where my kens investments are. It's OK, if this isn't what you want to respond to. BUt again, I have watched several of your videos, and I like the way you present your subjects (even when you've had too much caffeine!).
Don't you also have to consider noise when bringing up the shadows on images that were under exposed to capture the highlights? Isn't bracketing good for getting clean images even when the information can be recovered?
Cheers Mark always appreciate your tips, always helpful and easy to understand. i think i do tend to use it as a backup when im shooting that just in case but slowly starting to move away form it as my confidence grows.
By bracketing do you mean shooting a scene at 5.6, 8 and 11 for example or are you referring to exposure compensation shooting the scene at f8 and then at +3 and -3 for example?
What is the answer to this question? As you can see Mark, you should have provided this answer in your video instead of catering to the experienced photographer. I look forward to your answer.
Mark, excellent video. I’ve found that I’ve often bracketed even when not necessary by the standards you’ve laid out. However, the HDR images that I get from bracketing seem to be more detailed and contrasty than single images, even if the lighting was not so extreme as to require bracketing. What is your view of HDR images where bracketing or HDR is not absolutely necessary?
A couple of years ago I did a test; I think it was a burst of 7 identical exposured that I ran through LR's HDR process. There was far more detail than in a single exposure. HDR also gives you less noise in the shadows enabling either higher ISO settings or just lower noise images. With electronic shutters and 50 frames/second, why not?
Question doses your camera have IBIS? If so why the the tripod? Ok Bracket 5 @ +/-2EV for blue hour for brightness and focus sharpness on darkside of say driftwood to sunrise for a small sun when it is above horizon, for sunsets if like a white bout it will get rid of the shadow side of it being grey/blueish shade . 5 @ +/- 3EV ISO/SS equal f/8 to 11 for sharpness for a bright sharp moon and a bright foreground .5s cether start point . One thing ever been leafing with clouds, yes to get cloud detail just 3 @ +/- 2ev. The A7RM2 I used in slot Canyons in '17 3 @ +/- 2EV while others were doing long exposure on sticks I handheld (forgot my camera plate for my sticks) after that never used sticks except astro. Something to know if you capture the night sky and leave NR off or do bracketing NR is disabled meaning Noise and hot and dead pixels BUT just doing 3 @ +/- 1EV your HDR program will rid hot and dead pixels and noise. Remember back in the day even now people say do not use NR fix back on the computer. If doing astro around bright lights like hotel rooms, Do bracketing say 3 @ +/- 2 EV or another combo yes NR is disabled But the lower (darker image) you will have detail and no blown out lights so detail like a tv on will be seen clearly. Like you are at a place with hotels with a lot of windows and you want the detail inside as well out side light and a bright building you do the 5 @ +/- 3EV ISO/SS equal f/8 to 11 for sharpness for a bright sharp moon and a bright foreground .5s cether start point. Keeping ISO/SS equal but faster lets you get faster capture if movement of clouds. I started doing bracketing with my T2i using Promote Control device getting a sharp moon over lit houses with detail inside, even people in front of windows, ones three deer watching the TV outside while the owner was watching in a lit room. Just Fun Fun.
I also for a very short time exposure bracketed frequently. Shooting in raw and editing removes most of the need. There are times in landscape that i bracket and combine very dark and light to help expand the dynamic range, but,. Seldom
Your experience with your equipment and scenes has developed "mental blinkies" that go off in your brain. I usually don't shoot bracketed but most of my subjects don't require it. This is important information and you explained it well. Careful examination of the histogram is vital to getting a useable image.
I don't exposure bracket regularly. Do you think that a medium format 100 MP will perform better than a APS-c 24 MP sensor in this regard. For example, two cameras shoot the same scene, would one need to bracket where the other would not?
I haven't ever used bracketing, mostly because I've been a Capture One Express user and it doesn't have the capability of handling bracketed files. Now that C1 Express has been deprecated I'm not sure what I'm going to do. We'll see! Thanks for this great tip!!
I generally do not exposure bracket due to the fact I was unsure when it was needed. Now thanks to this video I have a guide. Thanks for sharing this helpful information.
I have astigmatism in my left eye and when I use the eye-finder on my camera, my left eye hurts from squeezing it. Do you have a tip for people like me? I thought about buying an eye patch for my left eye and keeping it open when taking photos, but covering it with the patch to prevent the sun from bothering me.
You made no mention of ND Grad filters which is my preferred method of dealing with this. I have just purchased the OM1 Mk2 which has electronic ND Grad built in which not only works but is easy to use.
I rarely exposure bracket to deal with HDR situations, especially now that adjusting the sky separately from the foreground is so easy in Lightroom. However, I routinely do 3 shot brackets as insurance that I have a good starting point and I (or the camera) have not missed-judged something that I later see in post. It takes virtually no time to do so and the worst downside is the extra space taken by the two files I don’t use. That said, on occasion, I have even gone back and used one of those files in a re-edit process.
I wish vendors would inside their bracket setup allow a highlights with detail and bottom with detail exposure grab mode - without having to play around. I use the preserve highlights on my Nikon and then do a -2.5 and it seems to get me good results - but really the camera firmware could sense and do that automatically. Same with focus stacking - should be a mode where you can specify near point and a far point and how many in between and have it go do it.... no throw aways from shooting to infinity etc... just my opinion, which is generally wrong for some purist reason to almost everyone else. Good explanation on the technique and when to use it, when not....
I always use my histogram. I find that bracketing helps in certain situations for example shooting cities at night or high contrast landscapes. Most cameras offer more than enough dynamic range for most situations, but not all
Hi Mark , rather than bracketing , isn’t the quickest and easiest solution to use exposure compensation where your getting highlight clipping warnings
10 місяців тому
Very good video! Thx. Would have been perfect if you had talked about the consequence on colours when using and not using exposure bracketing. Maybe in another video ^^
🌟QUESTION: Is Exposure Bracketing something you regularly do?
Sometimes, I do not have a lot of time and I bracket.
Yh, you got me! if I'm lazy or don't have enough time, I'm doing it "just in case" ;)
All good - we've all been there!@@photopoeth
Less and less these days. Only when needed. Was on the Lightroom HDR bandwagon for everything a while back.
Typically if I bracket I'll do it manually, I'll take 3 or sometimes even 5 various exposure of my choice instead of enabling the bracket in my camera. The scenes I'll do it for are usually city skyline scenes around dusk when I want to get the nice lights of the buildings but not too bright so I can bring out the natural lighting in the sky and on the buildings. Especially when doing drone shots.
I have been saved multiple times by exposure bracketing. I been a photographer for the last 40 years and two rules have transformed everything: 1) memory is cheap. Overshooting is a gift from God's. 2) HDR that you can control makes for a technically better photo than a wildly edited and masked single photo.
No such thing as "technically" better
Another great video, Mark.
I do agree with you that the need for bracketing has dropped significantly and I cannot remember the number times I have bracketed and not needed it after all: comparing elements of an underexposed and boosted image of the sequence versus a 'correctly exposed' image shows very little to no difference.
But I would add two points - first, if you are having to do heavy shadow recovery you not only introduce noise but you also lose a lot of dynamic range in the colours which can (depending on the subject) end up looking flat and also can mean losing texture. And this is where assessing what you want from the shadows is important.
Secondly, the red channel tends to blow significantly earlier than the other channels which is why relying on a luminance histogram can be risky. This can lead to significant colour shifts in things where red is dominant like sunsets and red poppies and the photo ends up being far more orange than in real life.
Of all the photography UA-camr's out there, you are my favorite because you explain things so well. This helps me better understand photo editing and taking pictures with my camera then I do with most other sources.
One big problem with looking at histograms "on the scene" is that cameras only show a histogram based on the jpeg that is displayed in the screen. This even changes when you change the jpeg settings (e.g. a certain color mode like "muted" or "vivid", or a film simulation). It's very sad that camera manufacturers apparantly cannot show the "true" raw histogram like it will be displayed in a raw converter. So looking at a histogram in camera is always a rough estimate only.
My Fujifilm X-T3 shows a different histogram when I switch the national live view on, which is supposed to represent the raw pixels if I'm not wrong - maybe am I misunderstanding something?
@@jahmalbaptiste9915 Natural Live View is still not a RAW representation but as far as other brands its way better than any flat profile.
You are absolutely correct. That is why there is still a purpose for a light meter. If you use a 1 degree spot meter. You can meter the highlights and the shadows and know if the scene fits the dynamic range of your camera. If it does then shoot it ETTR. I spot meter the brightest part in the scene. Usually a white cloud. The meter makes that 18% middle gray. I know that the cloud will be MG then and i need to expose more to get a white cloud again. That depends on the headroom my camera gives me above 18% middle gray. Just figure that out once. Then i expose for those extra stops of light i can gather without clipping the High lights. So if i have for instance, a headroom of 2 stops above 18% MG then i expose +2 stops longer and the cloud will be white again and not clipping. Then i will have a pure white cloud with detail in zone 7/8 and my shadows will be lifted as well from zone 2 to 4 and thus have more detail and tonality. If the dynamic range of the scene exceeds the camera i take two shots. Picture one will be ETTR for the highlights and another -2 stops or ETTL (Exposure To The Left). ETTL is the same as ETTR (Exposure To The Right), but in reverse. Now meter the darkest shadows and expose -2 stops. In the middle these two will overlap each other so all detail will be there. No need to make 7 shots bracketing for a landscape. That is why i say there is still a good use for light meters. They make live a lot easier and aren't hard to learn to use properly. No histogram can beat that precision of a light meter. If you use these methods you can get the shot almost completely dun in camera. Just shoot it like you are using chrome film while shooting in RAW. So meter it. Set it correctly, Set your White balance and compose the shot. Post processing will then be minimalistic crossing the dotting the I's and crossing the T's no mater what camera you use. This works with film or digital. This sound like a lot of work but really isn't. If i find my scene i can be dun within 2 minutes.
I've been petitioning Fujifilm repeatedly to include a RAW histogram for when shooting in RAW mode. According to someone I know at Fujifilm UK, it's something they're looking at for the GFX range.
@@primefotoNLGood advice 👍
Good advice. I’ve saved a few overexposed frames by using a linear profile in Lightroom. Takes all the camera adjustments away. More work to edit but can be useful.
Thanks John!
It would be helpful to know the purpose of exposure bracketing. For example, is it to ensure a safety shot in case your single exposure is off? Or is the purpose to provide a series of exposures +/- for creating HDR images? Or perhaps it’s for blending/composing in Photoshop. Perhaps a follow-up video demonstrating camera setup and image processing of an exposure bracketed image would be helpful.😮 Thanks.
This video on exposure bracketing was very helpful to me. I rarely use bracketing and actually didn't think about using it. Now with your excellent explanation, I a better Idea of what to look for and when I should consider using bracketing. I am glad I went back to review this video. Thanks again for your explaination.
Well dynamic range of the camera may seem to cover the bracketing range by itself but it will never be the same as exposure bracketing. It is imperfect because of the nature of sensor design, so pulling shadows and actually exposing them will never be the same in terms of contrast and colors. Every camera sensor works imperfectly after production and they are adjusted in factories by software to recover the faults and deliver an acceptable image. These faults and imperfections then show up in high ISO and shadow pull etc. If you need bracketting always do it, you will not regret it in post-processing.
Great timing on exposure bracketing Mark!! With the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8th of this year, I found this video to be very helpful. We all know how bright the sun can be, even nearing totality, and with this event being a lifetime event, I think using exposure bracketing will help insure that I walk away with properly exposed photos. Dealing with the extra photos in this case will be a small price to pay. Thanks for a great video!!
Thank you for the reminder of how important it is to pay attention to the histogram while in the field.
Mark, definitely one of the very best explanations of “when to use exposure bracketing & when not” I’ve seen online… great job & very understanding….!
This is a super explanation of when to bracket or not for most people in most situations. I learned from the simple way you explained it, even though I have many years of experience in photography, but not enough in landscape photography to be more than adequate at it. I really liked your histogram explanations. The only other thing I would have like to have seen in the video is an explanation of how to determine how much you should bracket in each direction. I do it by looking at the histogram and just changing the exposure enough to move the spike off the edge and taking another picture. Sometimes, depending on if the highlights, shadows or both are clipped, it only requires one extra photo in the appropriate direction. Because of this, I don’t use auto bracketing and just manually adjust and reshoot.
Your description on how to read the Histogram to tell if you need to use bracketing is the most valuable piece of information I've learned in a while. Thank you very much !
I love your clear explanation of bracketing and when to use it. You are extremely easy to follow. Thank you!
Thanks!
Thanks so much!!
Thanks Mark. Your video has help clarify the use of bracketing and the interpretation of histograms, in relation to imagery!
Thanks for another great video. I always learn so much from you, especially how to process images. As a follow-up to this video, I would love to see one on how you process bracketed images. Thanks, again.
Great information - thank you. Funny, I was comparing/contrasting your video from about 4 years ago on the subject of Exposure Bracketing with this video. You presented great tips back then that are very much valid today but clearly your philosophy has changed on when bracketing is even necessary.
Tremendous and valuable video - excellent explanation of exposure bracketing. Thanks Mark!!
Excellent video, great technical information delivered in your usual, clear way.
I often do exposure bracketing in situations with a high dynamic range even when it isn’t yet 100% necessary yet. This way i get way clearer shadows on my microfourthirds cameras. Else the shadows get really noisy and difficult to clean up without loss of detail.
I shoot Olympus and get a bit annoyed with people saying you don't need to do things with a modern pro camera. MFT cameras are brilliant in terms of cost, size and weight but benefit enormously from exposure bracketing t make up for the 4 stops less dynamic range.
I'm exactly the same. 5 shots per button press in a fraction of a second, LR automatically puts each set in a stack which can then be quickly blended in LR.
Great tutorial. I used exposure bracketing, but now will use it more well informed. I did not know about the Lightroom tips for clipping. Also, I have a very similar photo to that over your left should I took in Mukilteo, WA of a sea weed blob and a wave!!!
Hi Mark, thanks for another excellent video. I tend to shoot minus exposure compensation as seems appropriate on my Canon 6D for landscape with high dynamic range scenes. I use the Smart Lighting feature in DxO software to recover shadows in a really effective, controlled way. Using this feature has greatly reduced the need to exposure bracket for blending later in post, and the images always look "natural".
This presentation describes me regarding exposure bracketing everything. Thank you for the detailed explanation. Very helpful.❤😊
Thank you for this video and the advice for what to do in the field to prevent blowouts and ID when bracketing is needed!
Just my two cents. (I shoot professionally for a major corp) Simply put exposure bracketing is a way to CYA and expand your dynamic range. It also provides a few different perspectives. I've shot with 8 different professional cameras over the past 10 years and have tallied up well over 2 million clicks, which is really not that much I get it, it could actually be closer to 7 million but I got way too busy 5 years back to keep track any longer. If you are setting up a scene and waiting for light or the environment to change, a quick bracket shot can give you a quick glimpse at how that scene will look at different levels of exposure. Sometimes it sparks an idea or highlights the way the lighting is hitting the scene and sometimes you can even find a shot while you are waiting for your shot. I get it through, the nature of photography attracts obsessive, perfectionist types who like to plan everything. I am not that guy, I'm quite the opposite and approach every shoot with an open mind. I admit that since I picked up a Z8 it seems like I am splitting hairs when I bracket, so I use it less. Especially when I am working with limited time, which is almost always the case these days.
Also, I get it, you have never needed it. Some make the same argument about dual memory card slots and buying insurance. However, when 99% of your work is client driven and I mean, you are literally shooting what they want and there is no room for your ego, no room for your creative vision, there is no better way to CYA than exposure bracketing. The reality is, most of the time we photographers are working with people who have a vision and know what they want but don't know how to execute or properly describe it. In those cases, communication is everything and well if you've ever played telephone you know even the best communicators, at best, suck. Also when working with non-pros they will use terms that they don't fully understand but use them because they think it makes them appear as if they are informed. So even when you think you know exactly what your client or boss wants, you could find out after the fact they meant something else. That's why even when they say, "I only need wide shots" I always take a few details or extras because after they see the pictures they sometimes will ask, even after saying they only need wides, "do you have any closeups of ______?"
Way more than two cents. Great humble bragging, too!😅
@@stunod1479 HAHAHA you think this is me bragging? Perhaps you should shut up and learn something. You have a long way to go brother and you are getting distracted with the wrong things. I've worked really hard to get here as does every other professional photographer. This is baseline for anyone in this industry. 2 million clicks is bragging? You need to get out more... And for the record I never said I wasn't wordy and I sincerely don't care, the only people who do are millenial idiots who were raised on 6 second vine videos. When you are ready to hear me brag, just reply.
@@stunod1479 Hahaha thanks for that laugh, if you believe that is bragging you have a long way to go brother. This is baseline for anyone going into professional phtography. It takes well more than 2 million clicks to accumulate the 10,000 hours of experience you need before you can even consider yourself an expert. I am not an expert, but I have worked really hard to get pretty close. So perhaps you should just hold your tongue and try to learn something because I never wasted my time trolling other photographers. And when I am ready to brag, you'll know it. Have a nice day.
I really appreciate the info help me understand The histogram more easily and how much different digital photography is as opposed to my film days when I did weddings and events in street photography. I'm buying a new kit and I've decided to go with Fuji XH2 and XH2S for the stacked sensor so I can shoot any kind of wildlife cuz I do birds. So this is great information for when I start doing landscapes again as I travel over the next few years. Thanks again.
Great video Mark! Really appreciate the time you took to explain when to know if you should bracket. I think in general most of us need to pay more attention to the histogram on our camera on the field that will give you an idea of the whites and blacks being on the extreme but sometimes we get a bit too caught up in the moment or forget. I myself exposure bracket probably a bit too much and always end up having to delete unused photos. Histogram is such a powerful tool.
I have done the same exact thing and taken way too many thinking i"ll bracket and never end up using them. Learning the histogram is game changing in how to shoot photography. Good video Mark!
Great video Mark. I have followed a very similar progression. In Colorado, as you might remember, I bracketed everything. In the Dolomites, I rarely bracketed anything and if I did it was for good reasons.
Absolutely brilliant explanations. Clear and concise, that's what I like.
Mark, Guilty as charged. I've been exposure bracketing every shot "just in case" during the last half dozen trips. I really appreciate your explanation of why and when I need to exposure bracket an image. As an exercise, I will go back to my last day trip and check the histogram of each properly exposed image to see if both sides of the histogram are clipped. I'll also check the images that show unrecoverable clipping of the shadows or highlights. Thanks for another informative video.
I appreciate all the videos you put out I’ve been watching for many years. 1 thing I don’t think I’ve seen you talk about is monitor calibration. I’ve just purchased datacolour SpyerX Pro as the photos I had printed I discovered aren’t what I saw on the screen. Microsoft on hp laptop. Just purchased a dedicated hp monitor to calibrate and hopefully print true colours.
Thanks for the videos.
Nice summary review! When the dynamic range of a scene appears a bit iffy, go ahead and focus bracket - even if you think the RAW histogram *might* be OK. Go ahead and be on the safe side - because NOBODY is going to know that you 'cheated' by using focus bracketing. Take advantage of what the digital camera can do (but don't let that allow you to become lazy or sloppy). The increased dynamic range of imaging sensors in modern cameras over the past many years is quite impressive and the need for HDR, image compositing and related post-processing methods is certainly diminishing for such issues!
You always explain everything so well. Very easy to understand.
I'm very curious about HDR monitors, and how they affect exposure and printing.
Another great and helpful video, Mark! I was doing some research into my trusty old Nikon d5200 and It has about 9 steps of dynamic range. It is an 11 year old camera without a live histogram, and I'm not aware of any clipping warnings for my camera. The best I can do is to view the histogram after I take the photo and look for the sings that you mentioned here and then decide if I need to bracket. You make the valid argument about having to sort through triple the pics but I tend to take pics of hand gestures on either side of a bracketed group of images, panoramas and focus-stacked images. I've only ever done one bracketed image that I would consider worthy of exposition, as I struggle with getting to locales to apply many of the things I've learned watching your channel,
Once again, great video!
-Rick Wisniewski
Thank you so much for this video. I've had issues understanding when to exposure bracket or not and this video helps me to better understand this. I will be implementing this next time I go out with my camera.
Excellent dynamic range exposure advice. Humans can see ~21 stops while the best cameras can only 'see' ~15. No harm in auto bracketing everything as long as you have space... just delete what you don't need when you edit. It's very rare to need values above 0, maybe +1 for shadows, but for sky detail going deep into the negative EVs is required! For a shot with the Sun or Moon a -5 can save the key details.
Thanks Mark. Excellent video which perfectly clarified how and when to use bracketing. Having seen another video which recommended it's regular use, I used the technique for most of my landscapes last year when visiting Norway. I didn't need most of the photos when it came to processing, so I learnt the lesson you have beautifully summarised in your video. Thanks again.
I only bracket when I’m taking high dynamic photos such as sunsets. When reviewing my image, if have blinkies on the highlights and blacks I know I need to bracket.
Thanks, now I know what the Histogram is warning me to do. I normally try to keep from shooting into the light, but, sometimes with landscapes it is not always possible when I have something I want to photograph. Better learn to exposure bracket on my Fujifilm X-H1 and set it up ahead of time, if possible.
Wonderful video and a reminder for me to put efforts into exposure bracketing. Also, i used to focus stack everything at one time begore slowing down. Nice to see the underrated GF 100-200mm which is my staple for landscape theese days. Soft on the longest focal length, but not a deal breaker.
I use all the color and tone histograms to make my judgements on bracketing in the field. My gripe is that, since the in-camera histograms are based on the JPEG rendition, I find myself having to guesstimate whether it's actual clipping or will I really have more room in the RAW data. The camera certainly knows the actual distribution of tones in the RAW data - why don't companies give us the option to display *that* histogram rather than the JPEG-based version?
Agreed & it will also depend camera or style you're working with. Raw will give 2 more stops of dynamic range.
Great useful video. Can't count the times I've bracketed and ended up only using one of the files. From what you showed, I worried too much about the shadows after ecposing to avoid blown highlights.
One thing I've worked on to expand the envelope of "not needed" is using GNDs that can be angled and positioned in various ways. Sometimes stacking them to increase positioning and stops. Can work really well in many cases. Also, more fun than just stacking! 🙂
Cave age technique.
Agree. There's a reason these are still being sold. Apart from bringing the contrast down to acceptable levels, they slow you down in your photography which usually improves your composition.
Outstanding Mark! When in doubt, refer to the histogram.
Well explained Mark, i am sure i will try the Exposure Bracketing more (when needed)when pushing the extremes at both ends (shadows and Highlights). Thank you
Really well done explanation Mark, thank you. Yup, guilty, I do perhaps exposure bracket more than needed. I started bracketing to save time both while out shooting and to reduce the time required for editing. I don't tend to bracket if there is movement in the frame while shooting. Not sure if the fact that I'm using an APS-C camera is part of the issue.
God bless you man. You are a great example of what each individual can accomplish no matter where they came from as long as they dig down and try their ass off. 😎👊👍🇦🇺
Thank ya my friend!
I have tended to bracket most of the time. But I've been doing it much more selectively recently. On one trip I had thousands and thousands of photos that weren't needed. Those took disk space, and took a lot of time to weed through. And many of the + images were blurry because of camera or subject movement. So this was a timely video. Thanks for the perspective.
Great analysis and presentation of the topic. I almost always took "insurance" brackets in my early days, but mostly abandoned that as I learned more (as you point out) about interpreting the histogram. Image review is much faster now! Good stuff!
Great story Mark - thought your ‘under exposure’ top was very fitting too
Awesome video Mark. Very useful and yes i have been known to bracket WAYYYYY too much. So will be using this information when i shoot this weekend and hoping to speed up my shoots rather than spending too much time in one spot and bracketing unnecessarily... thankyou... great video and easy to understand.
Great video! Nice pics! I also have the GF 32-64mm, love that lens. I saw that you often use f/16, I get a lot of diffraction at that aperture, so my limit is f/11.
Did more in the beginning when it was new to me. But now I see it as a tool among many that I can use. You learn from the time on the tool and when and when not to use it.
It's more about cameras being better today. Older cameras absolutely do need exposure bracketing for outdoor scenes with sky, because you can't raise the shadows as cleanly as with newer cameras. With newer cameras all you need to do is expose for the highlights and you're good most of the time.
This was SO useful! Thank you, I love the way you approach education and your general candor. So glad I found your page!
Question on a similar topic, have you ever used (or a different brand version) of Highlight Tone Priority on Canon? My R6 offers a feature to ensure highlights remain intact, but usually at that cost of a minimum ISO of 200 instead of 50/100. There are a lot of back-n-forth opions on this and would love your throughts.
On one hand it feels like cheating & teaching yourself a handicap instead of proper exposure, but on another it could be very useful in fast paced settings (like weddings with white dresses, or kids in labor day outfits). However the real meat of my question is what if anything am I losing by using this setting, are there hidden impacts to consider?
Thanks!
Thanks for another great video Mark. I have always struggled a bit with bracketing and have watched plenty of videos on the subject. Your explanations are so clear and understandable that I feel a lot more confident in getting outside and using the histogramme in the correct way.
As usual, I watched the video with interest. With landscape photography as a favorite theme, deciding "to bracket or not to bracket" is an interesting topic. The next step is combining the recordings. I'm curious which method you use for this. With a one-click HDR solution or another method using the blendif option for example.
Good information here Mark. Thanks. I need to get better about analyzing my exposure histograms.
I noticed that all (I believe) of the images that you used in the video were shot at ISO 100. As your ISO setting is increased, the dynamic range of the sensor is reduced. How much would that play into your decisions on when you would need to use exposure bracketing?
Thank you. This was really informative! Now I truly understand why blown out highlights are a problem.
You must be reading my mind. When I went from film to digital, I bracketed everything because the images were free - compared to film. Then I found myself confronted with way too many images and eventually lost patience with it. Then I stopped bracketing as I got higher quality cameras that I trusted more. Then in complex shadow/sunlight images I found my camera less than more perfect. So now I bracket in challenging situations. Thanks for these hints on when to bracket. Very helpful!
It boils down to understanding the dynamic range of a scene and how camera limitations might apply to it. I shoot a lot with Sigma's Foveon cameras and their dynamic range is extremely limited - so bracketing is very often required. The histogram /barely/ lies.
Thanks, Mark. This helped in better understanding the histogram in relation to the image in Lightroom, including in-camera usage before taking the photo. Great instructional video.
Just curious when you DO exposure bracket if you bracket via ISO or shutter?!
This was a really useful video for me. Now I realize I have been bracketing too often. Thank you for the pointers.
Excellent video Mark. This makes me wonder if you'd ever need to do more than 2 exposures in a case where bracketing is necessary. It seems like with a decent enough camera, 2 exposure would be enough for everything?
😂 Mark this is part of the consideration for the Flow Chart idea I posed to you in another video. History Graphs perplex me getting them up and and comparing them to the image I wanted and the one it suggested based on its reading. In a number of cases what suggested didn't give me the test image I'd make as compared to the one I wanted and got. ?
Thanks Mark, some very helpful information and insight there.
Thanks Mark! Great tips for knowing the WHEN rather than just a guess!
Whith those extremes of exposures I can use a graduated filter yes? It will allow me to darken the highlits and to raise some of the shadow, instead of shooting three frames.
Fantastic! I use my histogram religiously but this helps me see it (and understand it) in a different way.
Great to hear it was helpful!
Thanks for a great video Mark. But I have a few questions. How can I tell how much to bracket? How different is the bracket if I shoot JPEG or RAW? And once I have 3 bracketed shots how do I use them? I'll bet you already address this in another video but I can't seem to find one...
I focus stack, so when I do, I often alter the exposure as i re focus. As long as my exposure is near enough to what I feel is correct I'm happy. I watch my histogram for blown highlights and use the blinkies for confirmation.
Yes, I exposure bracketing most of the time. It is a habit from shooting HDR back in the day. It does triple the exposures and I do clean up some of the photos not needed.
@MarkDennyPhoto I have to say your videos are very helpful in clarifying many arcane points of digital photography. I'm relatively well informed myself, having edited the American Cinematographer Manual a couple of times. Where I do need exposure bracketing, is when taking photos of a total eclipse of the Sun in an attempt to capture the astounding dynamic range of the corona that we can witness with our eyes, but no current imaging medium (Digital or film) is able to capture in a single exposure. I've done fairly well with my eclipse photography from 2017 and this year's on April 8th. But what I have read, and seen examples of, from accomplished astral photographers, to REALLY capture the entire nuanced details of total eclipse, they recommend nine bracketed exposures. With my EOS 5D Mark IV I can automatically capture seven bracketed exposures, but not nine... I have to do that manually. Are there any Canon cameras you know of that can bracket more than seven exposures automatically? I only ask, because I have had a devil of a time searching the specs of Canon to figure it out on my own for all their camera. Leaning towards Canon because that's where my kens investments are. It's OK, if this isn't what you want to respond to.
BUt again, I have watched several of your videos, and I like the way you present your subjects (even when you've had too much caffeine!).
Don't you also have to consider noise when bringing up the shadows on images that were under exposed to capture the highlights? Isn't bracketing good for getting clean images even when the information can be recovered?
Yep - I dig into that in this video.
@@MarkDenneyPhoto sorry was rushing through it. Must have missed it
Cheers Mark always appreciate your tips, always helpful and easy to understand. i think i do tend to use it as a backup when im shooting that just in case but slowly starting to move away form it as my confidence grows.
Thanks for always checking them out!
By bracketing do you mean shooting a scene at 5.6, 8 and 11 for example or are you referring to exposure compensation shooting the scene at f8 and then at +3 and -3 for example?
What is the answer to this question? As you can see Mark, you should have provided this answer in your video instead of catering to the experienced photographer. I look forward to your answer.
Ok, newby question…when you do decide to bracket (and your guidelines are very helpful), you combine the bracketed images into a single image?
Mark, excellent video. I’ve found that I’ve often bracketed even when not necessary by the standards you’ve laid out. However, the HDR images that I get from bracketing seem to be more detailed and contrasty than single images, even if the lighting was not so extreme as to require bracketing. What is your view of HDR images where bracketing or HDR is not absolutely necessary?
A couple of years ago I did a test; I think it was a burst of 7 identical exposured that I ran through LR's HDR process. There was far more detail than in a single exposure. HDR also gives you less noise in the shadows enabling either higher ISO settings or just lower noise images. With electronic shutters and 50 frames/second, why not?
Question doses your camera have IBIS? If so why the the tripod? Ok Bracket 5 @ +/-2EV for blue hour for brightness and focus sharpness on darkside of say driftwood to sunrise for a small sun when it is above horizon, for sunsets if like a white bout it will get rid of the shadow side of it being grey/blueish shade . 5 @ +/- 3EV ISO/SS equal f/8 to 11 for sharpness for a bright sharp moon and a bright foreground .5s cether start point . One thing ever been leafing with clouds, yes to get cloud detail just 3 @ +/- 2ev. The A7RM2 I used in slot Canyons in '17 3 @ +/- 2EV while others were doing long exposure on sticks I handheld (forgot my camera plate for my sticks) after that never used sticks except astro. Something to know if you capture the night sky and leave NR off or do bracketing NR is disabled meaning Noise and hot and dead pixels BUT just doing 3 @ +/- 1EV your HDR program will rid hot and dead pixels and noise. Remember back in the day even now people say do not use NR fix back on the computer. If doing astro around bright lights like hotel rooms, Do bracketing say 3 @ +/- 2 EV or another combo yes NR is disabled But the lower (darker image) you will have detail and no blown out lights so detail like a tv on will be seen clearly. Like you are at a place with hotels with a lot of windows and you want the detail inside as well out side light and a bright building you do the 5 @ +/- 3EV ISO/SS equal f/8 to 11 for sharpness for a bright sharp moon and a bright foreground .5s cether start point. Keeping ISO/SS equal but faster lets you get faster capture if movement of clouds. I started doing bracketing with my T2i using Promote Control device getting a sharp moon over lit houses with detail inside, even people in front of windows, ones three deer watching the TV outside while the owner was watching in a lit room. Just Fun Fun.
Use bracketing in combination with exposure stacking, aka HDR. Or, for landscape shots, use a graduated ND filter.
I also for a very short time exposure bracketed frequently.
Shooting in raw and editing removes most of the need.
There are times in landscape that i bracket and combine very dark and light to help expand the dynamic range, but,. Seldom
Your experience with your equipment and scenes has developed "mental blinkies" that go off in your brain. I usually don't shoot bracketed but most of my subjects don't require it. This is important information and you explained it well. Careful examination of the histogram is vital to getting a useable image.
Thanks for taking the time to do this video. I found this very helpful!
Great to hear!
Great vid as usual, Mark! Hope you and yours are well!
Thanks Nate!
I don't exposure bracket regularly. Do you think that a medium format 100 MP will perform better than a APS-c 24 MP sensor in this regard. For example, two cameras shoot the same scene, would one need to bracket where the other would not?
I haven't ever used bracketing, mostly because I've been a Capture One Express user and it doesn't have the capability of handling bracketed files. Now that C1 Express has been deprecated I'm not sure what I'm going to do. We'll see! Thanks for this great tip!!
I generally do not exposure bracket due to the fact I was unsure when it was needed. Now thanks to this video I have a guide. Thanks for sharing this helpful information.
Glad to do it!
....many thanks, Mark, for your interesting videos.
What do you say about using some filter, for resolving the latest images of the video ?....
I have astigmatism in my left eye and when I use the eye-finder on my camera, my left eye hurts from squeezing it.
Do you have a tip for people like me? I thought about buying an eye patch for my left eye and keeping it open when taking photos, but covering it with the patch to prevent the sun from bothering me.
Great video Mark. Lots of great info. Now I have a better idea of when and how to exposure bracket. Thanks!😊😊
You made no mention of ND Grad filters which is my preferred method of dealing with this. I have just purchased the OM1 Mk2 which has electronic ND Grad built in which not only works but is easy to use.
I rarely exposure bracket to deal with HDR situations, especially now that adjusting the sky separately from the foreground is so easy in Lightroom. However, I routinely do 3 shot brackets as insurance that I have a good starting point and I (or the camera) have not missed-judged something that I later see in post. It takes virtually no time to do so and the worst downside is the extra space taken by the two files I don’t use. That said, on occasion, I have even gone back and used one of those files in a re-edit process.
I wish vendors would inside their bracket setup allow a highlights with detail and bottom with detail exposure grab mode - without having to play around. I use the preserve highlights on my Nikon and then do a -2.5 and it seems to get me good results - but really the camera firmware could sense and do that automatically. Same with focus stacking - should be a mode where you can specify near point and a far point and how many in between and have it go do it.... no throw aways from shooting to infinity etc... just my opinion, which is generally wrong for some purist reason to almost everyone else. Good explanation on the technique and when to use it, when not....
I always use my histogram. I find that bracketing helps in certain situations for example shooting cities at night or high contrast landscapes. Most cameras offer more than enough dynamic range for most situations, but not all
Fantastic video! On my Sony A7 you can review the clipped areas ... I believe someone affectionately calls them "blinkies"
Thanks for the lesson. Is there much difference between a three, five or seven shot bracket in the results you might get?
Hi Mark , rather than bracketing , isn’t the quickest and easiest solution to use exposure compensation where your getting highlight clipping warnings
Very good video! Thx.
Would have been perfect if you had talked about the consequence on colours when using and not using exposure bracketing. Maybe in another video ^^