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Is Bracketing Really Necessary?
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May 5, 2019 07:35:54   #
traderjohn Loc: New York City
 
rmalarz wrote:
As I've seen quoted before, "bracketing in for people who don't know how to expose properly".
--Bob


Wow.

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May 5, 2019 07:53:33   #
bleirer
 
I think you have to know the limits of your gear and what you are trying to do. My gear is more middlin' for DR. I'm getting in the habit of keeping the histogram visible in the viewfinder, and it is surprising to me how many scenes dribble off the histogram both left and right in the same image. A lot of times you can figure out that what is lost is unimportant, by moving the camera or holding a hand out to block part, but sometimes you can't tell. You can take a shot and turn the blinkies on in the playback, but on my camera that only shows blown highlights. Besides taking time to chimp is more time than bracketing. So why not bracket in some cases? The film is free and you don't have to even keep the ones that are wasted.. I set it to capture normal, darker, lighter in that order. Sometimes you wish you had a shadow or highlight in your back pocket to blend.

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May 5, 2019 08:23:47   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
There can be multiple reasons for bracketing. For instance, before I started shooting in raw, I would sometimes turn bracketing on because I wasn't confident that I could meter a scene just exactly right and wanted to have some insurance toward getting things right. When I was learning to use the various metering modes, I would use bracketing to help myself learn and understand how each mode worked and how to apply it correctly. Then I discovered HDR photography, and bracketing is a fundamental step in accomplishing that process.

Since I've been using raw to capture and save images, I've not been bracketing nearly as much. It seems to me that HDR works somewhat differently with raw and with JPEGs, and I haven't fully figured out the differences yet in order to get pleasing results. The wider dynamic range available with raw capture seem to make HDR less necessary. Finally, I've not been able to do much railroad photography lately, which is where I seem to encounter my highest dynamic range situations.

A lot of folks here follow a practice called ETTR, or Expose to the Right, which is a way to capture maximum information, usually without having to use bracketing. I've been using a new metering mode called Highlight Weighted Metering, which accomplishes most of ETTR with less work.

To summarize, there are a number of reasons that you might want to bracket your photographic exposures. You just have to figure out whether and why you might want to do so.

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May 5, 2019 08:31:02   #
terpentijn
 
Indeed. Even the most high end cameras can’t capture the dynamic range of the human eye. That’s where bracketing comes in. I mostly use five to seven images for this if I really want the shot. Since I’m not a big fan of HDR I mostly perspective in a way I get a smaller dynamic range.

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May 5, 2019 08:33:06   #
jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America
 
Shooting digital is essentially free... So, why NOT do bracketing.

The situation will not repeat itself, if there was a better exposure than the one you've taken, there is no time machine to go back and shoot again.

I almost every time do 5 shoot brackets ( -2 -1 0 +1 +2) , then I decide in post which one to discard, or if HDR is the way to go.

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May 5, 2019 08:34:03   #
sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land
 
BRACKETING is a tool for one use nothing more nor less.....use it or not up to you as a photographer..

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May 5, 2019 08:44:40   #
melueth Loc: Central Florida
 
Gene51 wrote:
Well, it's really a choice. If you are attempting to capture the entire tonal range of a high contrast scene, you have three choices. Take with a single exposure, exposing just enough to protect important highlights, and post-process the rest of the scene to recover the shadows and bring the middle value tones up a bit. The results can and often do require quite a bit of work on the midtones and shadows to bring detail and contrast, increase color saturation, and the big one - noise reduction.This must be applied locally to the areas that need it - not the entire image. Reasonably strong post processing would be required, along with shooting raw.

Second alternative is to take mutiple exposures, and either use an HDR program to merge the individual pictures, or do it manually in Photoshop or something similar. or use luminosity masking. You can shoot either jpeg or raw, but you might still get smoother tone and color transitions and have more adjustment latitude if you shoot raw.

Or you can skip the shot altogether and move on to an easier photo op.
Well, it's really a choice. If you are attempting ... (show quote)


Great reply, Gene51! I think this previous post of yours really demonstrates the need to keep bracketing alive as part of any photographer's arsenal of methods - whether amateur or pro. Glad you didn't "skip the shot altogether and move on to an easier photo op."

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-499653-1.html

Marylea

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May 5, 2019 08:44:52   #
R.G. Loc: Scotland
 
catchlight.. wrote:
....Bracketing and editing in 16 bit Raw will eclipse any Jpeg image by a mile.... period.....


Gene51 wrote:
.......you might still get smoother tone and color transitions and have more adjustment latitude if you shoot raw......

No "might" about it. You WILL - guaranteed.

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May 5, 2019 09:05:07   #
47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range
 
Like others I bracket mainly for HDR or a special situation like shooting inside a cathedral, so the stain glass windows don’t get blown out while capturing other details.

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May 5, 2019 09:14:39   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
Coincidentally I was curious about that too so I watched some YouTube videos just yesterday. The bottom line for me is that it’s a specialty tool to use under a set of limited conditions. Plus, it’s more relevant if you’re not shooting in RA and not doing PP. Another thought is that meters can be fooled but if you have experience you can adjust for that on the fly. Combining bracketing with burst mode seems to be a more useful option if the need ever arises. My bottom line is that it doesn’t seem to be very useful now that we have so much dynamic range in-camera, RAW files, and post processing.

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May 5, 2019 09:34:05   #
Nancysc
 
We don't need snark.

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May 5, 2019 09:34:06   #
DesRose Loc: Phoenix, Arizona
 
pico wrote:
I've experimented with bracketing using three exposures. What is gained in the post-processing as a result of bracketing? Thanks for your thoughts and experiences.


1) Better dynamic range from light to darks in any given photo. Of course, one has to correct by enough stops of light to get the full dynamic range in a given situation. Three exposures at -1,0, and +1 may not be enough especially when shooting sunset photos or need to taken at -2, -1, 0. Typically for sunsets I will use a 5 to 7 bracket exposure bracketing because my Nikon camera will only allow 1 stop maximum between exposures.

2) While dynamic range can often be processed from a single photo IT IS DONE AT THE EXPENSE OF NOISE. Using exposure bracketing I find will give best dynamic range with the least noise.

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May 5, 2019 09:41:54   #
wds0410 Loc: Nunya
 
DesRose wrote:
1) Better dynamic range from light to darks in any given photo. Of course, one has to correct by enough stops of light to get the full dynamic range in a given situation. Three exposures at -1,0, and +1 may not be enough especially when shooting sunset photos or need to taken at -2, -1, 0. Typically for sunsets I will use a 5 to 7 bracket exposure bracketing because my Nikon camera will only allow 1 stop maximum between exposures.

2) While dynamic range can often be processed from a single photo IT IS DONE AT THE EXPENSE OF NOISE. Using exposure bracketing I find will give best dynamic range with the least noise.
1) Better dynamic range from light to darks in any... (show quote)


This has been my experience as well. Using ETTR technique results in noise in the shadows when lifted in post processing. Bracketing and using some HDR tool to merge the photos solves that problem nicely.

Really don't understand the snarks and arrogance of some the responders on this thread.

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May 5, 2019 09:43:45   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
DesRose wrote:
1) Better dynamic range from light to darks in any given photo. Of course, one has to correct by enough stops of light to get the full dynamic range in a given situation. Three exposures at -1,0, and +1 may not be enough especially when shooting sunset photos or need to taken at -2, -1, 0. Typically for sunsets I will use a 5 to 7 bracket exposure bracketing because my Nikon camera will only allow 1 stop maximum between exposures.

2) While dynamic range can often be processed from a single photo IT IS DONE AT THE EXPENSE OF NOISE. Using exposure bracketing I find will give best dynamic range with the least noise.
1) Better dynamic range from light to darks in any... (show quote)


I’m gonna have to try it for sunsets, that sounds like a good idea. The rapidly changing light is always a problem plus blown hilights. My D7200 can do more than 1 stop but I don’t see a need for much more than that if you’re shooting in RAW. I’ve done a lot of fiddling with exposure in PP with some sunset shots and the results can be quite dramatic.

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May 5, 2019 09:46:30   #
billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
 
pico wrote:
I've experimented with bracketing using three exposures. What is gained in the post-processing as a result of bracketing? Thanks for your thoughts and experiences.


Bracketing is not necessary with a electronic viewfinder because what you see is what you get, you can adjust your exposures and see the final result before you press the shutter.
Most all mirrorless camera's have electronic viewfinders.

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