HDR bracketing
32 DigitalSLR PhotographyJuly 2019
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CHECK ANDADJUSTAssesstheresultsand
thehistogramforthedarkestandbrightest
exposures– thedarkestexposureshould
havenohighlightclipping,andthebrightest
shouldhavedetailin theshadows.You
mightfindthatthe‘middle’exposurein your
sequencehasn’tbeenmeteredforcorrectly
in somescenarios.Youcanadjustthisusing
theexposurecompensationfeaturetosetthe
middleexposurecorrectly,andthen capture
your bracketed framesagain.1
SET-UPIn thissituation,withthelight
blockedfromthelakeandforegroundby
theterrain,exposingforthelandwouldblow
outtheskyandwater,whereasexposingfor
thehighlightswouldrendertheforeground
rocksandlandtoodark.AnNDgradcouldbe
usedtoholdbacktheexposureonthesky,
butthiswouldthenleavethereflectionin the
laketoobrightin relationtothesky.In order
tocapturethefulldynamicrange, we’ll need
to bracket several exposures.3
CAPTUREIMAGESI’veselectedtotakefive
exposures,eachsetat onestopapart.
Thedashesonthetopplateexposuredial
indicatethis.Beforeyoustartshooting,andas
a precaution,setyourlenstomanualfocusto
stopit fromchangingfocusbetweenframes.
Then,usinga remoterelease,triggerthe
shutterfivetimes(orhowevermanyyouset)
tocapturethefullbracketedsequence–
in aperture-prioritymode,thecamerawill
changetheexposure between eachframe.2
BRACKETINGEXPLAINEDSetupyour
composition,focusanddialin thesettings
asyouwouldforanylandscapeexposure.
Then,turnonbracketing– thisis usuallydone
byholdingdowna BKTbuttonorsimilar,but
variesfromcameratocamera.OntheNikon
D750,holdingdowntheBKTbuttonenters
bracketingmode– turningoneof thecontrol
dialssetsthenumberof shotsyou’lltake,and
turningtheothersetstheexposuredifference
between each shot, in stopsof light.EV- 2 EV- 1 EV0 EV+1 EV+2YOURCAMERANEEDSTOBELOCKEDONASTURDYTRIPODTOCAPTUREGOOD
HDR I M AG E S , A N D YO U ’ L L P R O B A B LY S E ET HE BENEFITS OF USING A REMOTEH
IGH DYNAMIC RANGEphotography,
otherwiseknownasHDR,is a phrase
thatis oftenenoughtomakemanya
seasonedphotographershudder.Forme,
personally,it bringsbackvividmemoriesof
anuglytrendthatsweptthroughdigital
photographyin theearlyyearsofHDR,
whensnappersrealisedtheycouldcapture
multipleimagesofa sceneat different
exposurelevelsandmashtheframes
togethertorevealeverysingledetailin the
brightesthighlightstothedarkestshadows.
Justbecausewecould,didanyonereally
askif weshould?CertainlymyearlyHDR
effortswerelargelygaudy,retina-straining
creationsthatlookedveryunnaturaland
jarring.Alongwithtastesmaturing(I’dliketo
think),softwarehasalsoimprovedoverthe
years,andHDRmerginghasgonefromquite
a specialistaffairthatrequiresstandalone
suitestosomethingthat’ssupportedin
almosteveryeditingproductyoucan
imagine – and it’s handled much better nowthanit oncewastoo.I digress,aswe’llcover
moreoneditingoverthepage.
Fornow,let’sfocusonlearninghowto
successfullycapturea bracketedHDR
sequencein-camera.Oneofthemost
importantfactorstorememberis thatHDR
is bestsuitedtoscenesthatarenotonly
otherwisedifficultorimpossibletobalance
withfilters,butthatcontainlittleorno
movingelements.Partsofa composition
thatmovesubstantiallybetweenyour
bracketedexposureswillcreate‘ghosting’in
yourfinalimage.Someofthisghostingcan
befixedbycleverautomatedsoftwaretricks,
butonlyuptoa point– wherepossibleto
avoidghostingyoushouldstayawayfrom
sceneswithmovingelements.Thatincludes
thecameratoo:it needstobelockedona
sturdytripodtocapturegoodHDRimages,
andyou’llprobablyseethebenefitsofusing
a remoterelease– wiredorwireless– to
preventthecamerafrommovingbetween
exposures. All set? Let’s get into it...