Bracketing

jayman_1975 · 03-03-2015, 05:59 PM

I have just recently decided to try exposure bracketing and am delighted at the results. I don't know why I waited so long. Do many people use this regularly? I'm thinking that it will increase my keepers but will also increase my PP time going through to find the best result of each image.

**ROBEFFY** · 03-03-2015, 08:16 PM

Originally posted by jayman_1975

I have just recently decided to try exposure bracketing and am delighted at the results. I don't know why I waited so long. Do many people use this regularly? I'm thinking that it will increase my keepers but will also increase my PP time going through to find the best result of each image.

I have used it, but find that the camera usually does such a good job of metering that I can adjust in post processing if I feel I have to.

So, no, I don't use it.

Your question could start a huge thread, lets see what happens!

I find I typically have the metering set to match the AF point, and the AF is set of spot meter.

Racerdew · 03-03-2015, 10:49 PM

What program do you use with your bracketed photos and how many do you use?

**jatrax** · 03-03-2015, 11:04 PM

I will use it if the light looks tricky or if I think I might want to blend images or do an HDR.

But it rapidly increases the number of images that have to be dealt with.

**mattb123** · 03-03-2015, 11:12 PM

I do it if it looks like the scene will have very high contrast. Sometimes I'll just use one image from the burst, others I'll make a HDR with a Nik plugin.
I don't do that many HDRs and when I do I have been playing with the in-camera RAW HDRs that the K-3 can do. It keeps the process simpler.

jayman_1975 · 03-04-2015, 05:33 AM

Originally posted by Racerdew

What program do you use with your bracketed photos and how many do you use?

Just have been doing -.7, 0, +.7. I find that most times 0 still looks the best but offer I will pick the -.7 if the colors look best with that one.

**baro-nite** · 03-04-2015, 06:02 AM

Some people routinely bracket. Particularly if you shoot JPEG it seems more likely to give you the perfect exposure. However, that means using extra space on the card and, as you point out, extra time sorting, probably similar to the extra space and time needed to work in RAW. Could be valuable as a learning exercise -- pay attention to what kinds of shots lead you to prefer + or - EV. If you're already shooting RAW I don't really see the point unless, as others have mentioned, you want to combine exposures. There are other advantages to shooting RAW so from my point of view you have better options than bracketing this way.

emalvick · 03-04-2015, 04:56 PM

I basically bracket when the lighting and scene appear like they might exceed the dynamic range of the camera... OR, when I see a histogram after a shot that confirms the dynamic range has been exceeded. The thought process is that I'll likely do HDR with Nik to get a final image.

I usually shoot a 5 shot sequence spaced at 0.5 or 0.75.

In the first case, if I see that any images do not exceed the dynamic range, I'll likely throw away the ones that have over or underexposed so that I'm not necessarily having to browse through 5 times the number of images. I'll also say that since I've had the K5 and K3, the real need for bracketing is significantly lower than before as the dynamic range is often better than I expect or better than the histogram on the camera indicates (usually because the camera is showing you the histogram for the jpg).

**skid2964** · 03-04-2015, 07:28 PM

I shoot a lot of Real Estate photography and do bracketing 100% of the time.

I stopped using a flash for this about 2 years ago and tried just single shots on a tripod but found bracketed shots gave a much more realistic look.

Do I need bracketing on every shot? probably not... but I have an automated post processing routine so its just as easy to do bracketing as it is single,
actually easier because I don't have to separate my shots beforehand.

**jatrax** · 03-05-2015, 08:01 AM

Originally posted by skid2964

I shoot a lot of Real Estate photography and do bracketing 100% of the time.

I stopped using a flash for this about 2 years ago and tried just single shots on a tripod but found bracketed shots gave a much more realistic look.

Do I need bracketing on every shot? probably not... but I have an automated post processing routine so its just as easy to do bracketing as it is single,
actually easier because I don't have to separate my shots beforehand.

Do you mean HDR or bracketing? You can do bracketing without doing HDR. Just curious about your process.

Racerdew · 03-08-2015, 02:16 PM

Originally posted by jatrax

Do you mean HDR or bracketing? You can do bracketing without doing HDR. Just curious about your process.

How do you do bracketing? I use HDR for exterior shots but I am curious to know how you bracket?

**jatrax** · 03-08-2015, 03:25 PM

Bracketing is simply taking multiple exposures at slightly different exposure values to make sure you get one that is correct. This has been done since forever really, often used on film when the light was chancy and the image very important. You can do it manually by setting the exposure values you want or if you use an automatic mode by using the "+/-" button to change exposure compensation.

On digital, at least on k-5 and k-3, you also have the ability to take a number of images automatically with a selectable variation in exposure value. This is under the drive mode setting (key pad up button) then select "Exposure bracketing". On the k-3 and k-5IIs I can set the number of images taken and the EV between them. I usually use 5 exposures with a 1EV difference. So -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 for five exposures.

If bracketing is all you are interested in then when you get the images on the computer pick the one with the best exposure and delete the others.

However, these bracketed images are often used as the basis for an HDR image. The images are loaded into HDR software such as Photomatix or PhotoShop and merged into an HDR tone mapped image.

Quote:

I use HDR for exterior shots but I am curious to know how you bracket?

If you are talking about the in camera HDR, then essentially the camera is doing the process internally. I've never used that function I believe the results are better from bracketed shots and dedicated software. But of course you have more work to get that done.

**Kerrowdown** · 03-08-2015, 03:34 PM

I'm lucky that can shoot RAW (DNG) nearly all the time, so I can normally get all I need out of the image in PP, so I don't need to bracket or HDR for my sort of style of photography.

**jatrax** · 03-08-2015, 03:38 PM

Originally posted by Kerrowdown

I'm lucky that can shoot RAW (DNG) nearly all the time, so I can normally get all I need out of the image in PP, so I don't need to bracket

Agree, I never bracket any more just for the sake of bracketing. You can recover 2 or more stops from a DNG without any work at all. I do use bracketed shots for HDR though but that is an artistic decision and requires a subject that lends itself to that look.

Racerdew · 03-08-2015, 11:02 PM

Jatrax thanks for your explanation on bracketing. I am doing it the same way. I do real estate photography and bracket all of my exterior shots. I have it setup for .3 intervals and the drive mode is set to 5 frames. I then will do HDR on approximately 3 frames in Corel Paintshop Prox6. It does a really good job with the dynamic range and I can control the highlights. I shoot in RAW and use as much dynamic range as I can. On the dodge in pentax software I slide it to about 63 with the dynamic R on high. This gets me a pretty good picture to use before I convert to Jpeg. I like a couple of Topaz apps especially Clarity.

03-03-2015, 05:59 PM	#1
jayman_1975 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 385	Bracketing I have just recently decided to try exposure bracketing and am delighted at the results. I don't know why I waited so long. Do many people use this regularly? I'm thinking that it will increase my keepers but will also increase my PP time going through to find the best result of each image.

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03-03-2015, 08:16 PM	#2
ROBEFFY Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern Ontario Photos: Gallery Posts: 248	Originally posted by jayman_1975 I have just recently decided to try exposure bracketing and am delighted at the results. I don't know why I waited so long. Do many people use this regularly? I'm thinking that it will increase my keepers but will also increase my PP time going through to find the best result of each image. I have used it, but find that the camera usually does such a good job of metering that I can adjust in post processing if I feel I have to. So, no, I don't use it. Your question could start a huge thread, lets see what happens! I find I typically have the metering set to match the AF point, and the AF is set of spot meter.

03-03-2015, 10:49 PM	#3
Racerdew Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 285	What program do you use with your bracketed photos and how many do you use?

03-03-2015, 11:04 PM	#4
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	I will use it if the light looks tricky or if I think I might want to blend images or do an HDR. But it rapidly increases the number of images that have to be dealt with.

03-03-2015, 11:12 PM	#5
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,872	I do it if it looks like the scene will have very high contrast. Sometimes I'll just use one image from the burst, others I'll make a HDR with a Nik plugin. I don't do that many HDRs and when I do I have been playing with the in-camera RAW HDRs that the K-3 can do. It keeps the process simpler.

03-04-2015, 05:33 AM	#6
jayman_1975 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 385 Original Poster	Originally posted by Racerdew What program do you use with your bracketed photos and how many do you use? Just have been doing -.7, 0, +.7. I find that most times 0 still looks the best but offer I will pick the -.7 if the colors look best with that one.

03-04-2015, 06:02 AM	#7
baro-nite Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: North Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,294	Some people routinely bracket. Particularly if you shoot JPEG it seems more likely to give you the perfect exposure. However, that means using extra space on the card and, as you point out, extra time sorting, probably similar to the extra space and time needed to work in RAW. Could be valuable as a learning exercise -- pay attention to what kinds of shots lead you to prefer + or - EV. If you're already shooting RAW I don't really see the point unless, as others have mentioned, you want to combine exposures. There are other advantages to shooting RAW so from my point of view you have better options than bracketing this way.

03-04-2015, 04:56 PM	#8
emalvick Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Davis, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,642	I basically bracket when the lighting and scene appear like they might exceed the dynamic range of the camera... OR, when I see a histogram after a shot that confirms the dynamic range has been exceeded. The thought process is that I'll likely do HDR with Nik to get a final image. I usually shoot a 5 shot sequence spaced at 0.5 or 0.75. In the first case, if I see that any images do not exceed the dynamic range, I'll likely throw away the ones that have over or underexposed so that I'm not necessarily having to browse through 5 times the number of images. I'll also say that since I've had the K5 and K3, the real need for bracketing is significantly lower than before as the dynamic range is often better than I expect or better than the histogram on the camera indicates (usually because the camera is showing you the histogram for the jpg).

03-04-2015, 07:28 PM	#9
skid2964 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Posts: 614	I shoot a lot of Real Estate photography and do bracketing 100% of the time. I stopped using a flash for this about 2 years ago and tried just single shots on a tripod but found bracketed shots gave a much more realistic look. Do I need bracketing on every shot? probably not... but I have an automated post processing routine so its just as easy to do bracketing as it is single, actually easier because I don't have to separate my shots beforehand.

03-05-2015, 08:01 AM	#10
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by skid2964 I shoot a lot of Real Estate photography and do bracketing 100% of the time. I stopped using a flash for this about 2 years ago and tried just single shots on a tripod but found bracketed shots gave a much more realistic look. Do I need bracketing on every shot? probably not... but I have an automated post processing routine so its just as easy to do bracketing as it is single, actually easier because I don't have to separate my shots beforehand. Do you mean HDR or bracketing? You can do bracketing without doing HDR. Just curious about your process.

03-08-2015, 02:16 PM	#11
Racerdew Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 285	Originally posted by jatrax Do you mean HDR or bracketing? You can do bracketing without doing HDR. Just curious about your process. How do you do bracketing? I use HDR for exterior shots but I am curious to know how you bracket?

03-08-2015, 03:25 PM	#12
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Bracketing is simply taking multiple exposures at slightly different exposure values to make sure you get one that is correct. This has been done since forever really, often used on film when the light was chancy and the image very important. You can do it manually by setting the exposure values you want or if you use an automatic mode by using the "+/-" button to change exposure compensation. On digital, at least on k-5 and k-3, you also have the ability to take a number of images automatically with a selectable variation in exposure value. This is under the drive mode setting (key pad up button) then select "Exposure bracketing". On the k-3 and k-5IIs I can set the number of images taken and the EV between them. I usually use 5 exposures with a 1EV difference. So -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 for five exposures. If bracketing is all you are interested in then when you get the images on the computer pick the one with the best exposure and delete the others. However, these bracketed images are often used as the basis for an HDR image. The images are loaded into HDR software such as Photomatix or PhotoShop and merged into an HDR tone mapped image. Quote: I use HDR for exterior shots but I am curious to know how you bracket? If you are talking about the in camera HDR, then essentially the camera is doing the process internally. I've never used that function I believe the results are better from bracketed shots and dedicated software. But of course you have more work to get that done.

03-08-2015, 03:34 PM	#13
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,819	I'm lucky that can shoot RAW (DNG) nearly all the time, so I can normally get all I need out of the image in PP, so I don't need to bracket or HDR for my sort of style of photography.

03-08-2015, 03:38 PM	#14
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by Kerrowdown I'm lucky that can shoot RAW (DNG) nearly all the time, so I can normally get all I need out of the image in PP, so I don't need to bracket Agree, I never bracket any more just for the sake of bracketing. You can recover 2 or more stops from a DNG without any work at all. I do use bracketed shots for HDR though but that is an artistic decision and requires a subject that lends itself to that look.

03-08-2015, 11:02 PM	#15
Racerdew Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 285	Jatrax thanks for your explanation on bracketing. I am doing it the same way. I do real estate photography and bracket all of my exterior shots. I have it setup for .3 intervals and the drive mode is set to 5 frames. I then will do HDR on approximately 3 frames in Corel Paintshop Prox6. It does a really good job with the dynamic range and I can control the highlights. I shoot in RAW and use as much dynamic range as I can. On the dodge in pentax software I slide it to about 63 with the dynamic R on high. This gets me a pretty good picture to use before I convert to Jpeg. I like a couple of Topaz apps especially Clarity.