Exposure Bracketing: A Tool? Or A Safety Net...

Exposure Bracketing: A Tool? Or A Safety Net...

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." - Laurence J. Peter

     If you've ever seen one of those HDR images with really dark darks and super bright whites, it's a good chance the photographer used a technique called exposure bracketing to aquire such a wide range of brightness levels in one photograph. There are other methods to making an HDR image, but that's not what is article is about. We'll discuss that another time, yeah? Anyway, let's get into bracketing. 

     Exposure bracketing is rather simple, in theory as well as form. Essentially, a photo is made at the appropriate exposure settings, as usual. Then, another is made that is intentionally underexposed, and one is made that is intentionally overexposed. As stated above, one of the uses of these 3 images would be to make an HDR image. The 3 images would be combined using specialized software that allows the darker portions of the the overexposed image to show through and the lighter portions of the underexposed image to show through. This allows the photograph to contain a large amount of detail in the highlights and shadows of the final image that a single exposure would not be able to contain. 

     Two other reasons to use exposure bracketing would be:

          A) spot correction for exposure

          B) ensuring the correct exposure is captured when the photographer 

          isn't sure on how to set the controls of the camera.

     The first is a reasonably acceptable technique in my opinion, as it's meant to correct parts of the image that stand out as severely over or underexposed. It's not a fix-all for a photographer that doesn't know what they're doing. In practice, for example, the digital images would be brought into editing software of some kind, and the two extra (over & underexposed) images would be hidden layers. Then, as needed, only parts of the two extra images would be painted in as visible with medium opacity. This prevents the image from looking fake or overly processed the way an HDR can look. 

     The second reason is something I despise. Unfortunately, there are several photography blogs out there that encourage you to use bracketing every time you go out to shoot. They say it's making up for the camera's confusion in tricky lighting situations. In fact, it's making up for the photographer's confusion. I know, it seems harsh because some people are just starting out and may not be entirely sure of how to set the camera for a correct exposure. So, if you've been shooting for less than 6 months, feel free to use this technique. Otherwise, you should have learned by now how the controls of the camera should be set in most any situation in order to get a proper exposure. Yes, it may be convenient at the time of shooting to have several exposure options; it makes you feel safe. But, when your sorting through the images later, it's just more work to do in deciding which of the images you want to keep. For example, instead of having 100 pictures to choose from, you'll have 300... Or, instead of sorting through 300 pictures, you'll have to sort through almost 1,000! You'll quickly realize that bracketing hasn't as much value as you thought it did while out in the field. Now, if you shoot landscapes a lot, bracketing may be of great use to you and that's understandable. The sky is much lighter than the ground, and with pictures of sunsets being as popular as they are, a bracketed HDR type image will definitely be a part of your repertoire. However, I really feel that there's no room for bracketing when making portraits of people or animals, shooting weddings, or photographing live events. Here's why:

1. Living things move. Whether it's a bride & the swaying trees behind the bride, your pet dog, your favorite rock band or the crowd behind your favorite rock band, there's sure to be some movement. Go ahead...try to get three images that are all EXACTLY the same except for the exposure settings. Good luck. 

2. People react negatively to strange looking people. I know, that sounds, well, strange. It's not not meant to be offensive either. What I'm talking about is familiarity with normal human appearances. It doesn't matter if your wearing a black dress or a green suit, we've all seen that before. Nor does it matter if your skin is dark or light, your hair long or short; we're familiar with those normal human appearances. What we're not familiar with is a High Dynamic Range face where the pores of the skin are so visible it looks like a creature from another planet. Have you ever seen a picture of a face where the eyes or mouth have been digitally turned upside down? It's a little unsettling isn't it?This is because our brains aren't used to seeing people look like that, and our immediate reaction is usually one of dislike. If you want people to immediately dislike your photos, fine. Not me though.

 
     There are other types of bracketing that can be performed that don't necessarily effect the exposure of the image, like focus bracketing for example. That's a technique best suited for macro photographers and event photographers in my opinion, but we can discuss that in another article.

     Well, that's about it for exposure bracketing. Again, if your just starting out, use it as a learning tool, but don't use it as a crutch. Same goes for looking at your LCD screen after every image you make. If you want to get better at photography, trust your gut and learn from the mistakes you'll inevitably make. Exposure bracketing all the time won't get you anywhere.

     I do hope that you've learned something, and I very much appreciate your reading these articles!  If there's anything I've posted that's in error, or if you have any questions about the topics in this blog, please don't hesitate to leave them in a comment below. Please share this article using the icons below!
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