Is Bracketing Really Necessary? (Page 5): Some of You guys are killing me... Take a peek over on 500px or some other High Quality Photo Site.. The pro's on these sites are not...

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Some of You guys are killing me... Take a peek over on 500px or some other High Quality Photo Site.. The pro's on these sites are not capturing a lot of the high dynamic range photographs in One Shot... They are utilizing raw, camera's ability to shot in bracketing modes, their photoshop software and anything else they have in the tool box.....Nothing is necessary, but.......................

pico

bleirer wrote:

I think you have to know the limits of your gear a... (show quote)

Thank you. Very much appreciated. So much to learn! I am now experimenting with my elements software that lets me use three bracketed shots (like yours) to combine into on final photo.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

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.

Why, are you bracketing, you can check your first exposure and if it is correct, you can stop there. Bracketing made sense in the film days and still does when shooting film. Now, if you are bracketing for HDR that is a different question and story. Once you get one correct digital exposure you can play with it (darken, lighten, change contrast, anything) as much as you like. I don't bracket any longer, except when using camera i'm not familiar with, or shooting under conditions or using a technique I'm not familiar with.

pico

martinfisherphoto wrote:

Some of You guys are killing me... Take a peek over on 500px or some other High Quality Photo Site.. The pro's on these sites are not capturing a lot of the high dynamic range photographs in One Shot... They are utilizing raw, camera's ability to shot in bracketing modes, their photoshop software and anything else they have in the tool box.....Nothing is necessary, but.......................

Excellent suggestion and thanks for your help and feedback!

traderjohn Loc: New York City

DesRose wrote:

I know alot of people feel offended by Bob's quote... (show quote)

"or for lazy people or people in a rush" Well at least you didn't add deplorable. Did I miss the part where someone put you and the other pompous, arrogant and self serving a holes in charge to decide what everyone should be doing?

Dale Evans - Amaetur Loc: Baton Rouge, La

Is it necessary? Well, that is up to you and how much data you want to capture.

All photo detail is really only data so, therefore, the more data we can capture the more details we will see.
If you want to see details in the shadows, expose for the shadows which will stretch the shadow histogram.

Some scenes have a dynamic range that is greater than the sensor can capture and bracketing is the only answer.

The only reason not to bracket such a scene is subject movement. It can be done, but personally, I do not enjoy aligning images.

Dale

pico

terpentijn wrote:

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.

Thanks. Are your shots "automatic" or do you take each one individually?

bleirer

Speed that kills wrote:

Ok, the newbie (me) is lost... Take the photo's done by Elia Lacardia, would those be examples of photo's that are bracketed? or something completely different

That looks like a very worthwhile course if you are willing to spend the money. His step 2 in the free video was exposure blending, and that is one thing bracketing can be useful for. https://blamethemonkey.com/free-photography-and-post-processing-tutorials-elia-locardi

pico

lamiaceae wrote:

Why, are you bracketing, you can check your first ... (show quote)

Thanks. The various ideas and suggestions are helping me figure that out. There is so much more than just pressing that shutter!!! I discovered my software lets me use HDR to combine the photos. Now trying to figure that out as I am also trying to figure out my camera.

bleirer

pico wrote:

Thanks. The various ideas and suggestions are helping me figure that out. There is so much more than just pressing that shutter!!! I discovered my software lets me use HDR to combine the photos. Now trying to figure that out as I am also trying to figure out my camera.

I would suggest you make friends with your histogram, observe what it does in different light. You will notice it is bunched in the middle for a low contrast middle scene, or bunched to the left if the scene or your interpretation is low key, or to the right if it is high key. Or a sunny day with high whites and deep blacks might shoot a straight line up at the rightmost and leftmost edges, showing highlights and shadows with zero detail, no matter how much post processing you do.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

catchlight.. wrote:

Bracketing and editing in 16 bit Raw will eclipse any Jpeg image by a mile.... period.

I wonder sometimes why the Jpeg and other miss-information comes on so strong. I hope the younger or new people using this blog don't take statements like yours seriously.

Not everyone has your apparent ability. You must belong to the SOC, full manual, only RAW and no post processing club. I wish I was as good as you think you are.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

robertjerl wrote:

For those who say bracketing is not needed if you ... (show quote)

pico

bleirer wrote:

That looks like a very worthwhile course if you are willing to spend the money. His step 2 in the free video was exposure blending, and that is one thing bracketing can be useful for. https://blamethemonkey.com/free-photography-and-post-processing-tutorials-elia-locardi

Thanks for the video link. Just watched it! Good information for me as a newbie but also can be overwhelming about post processing but it piques my interest and growth curve. Nothing to be concerned about.

Charlie C Loc: North Liberty, IA

If shadow detail is important and you're looking for maximum dynamic range prior to post processing then one might want to know just where highlights start to loose detail. Blinkies can be checked but are not precise, especially when checking the jpg created from the raw file. A little over exposure with raw can be brought back in PS. ETTR becomes a factor for exact exposure to choose the best image possible for editing critical highlight detail. I use bracketing in the above situation for such instances but use manual bracketing as I find it faster to use, generally in one third increments in the above scenario. If one is learning photography bracketing can be a learning tool for gaining experience.

jackpinoh Loc: Kettering, OH 45419

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 only necessary when the histogram on your camera shows that the composition's dynamic range exceeds the camera's dynamic range.