This piece of practical advice I received was to use what is known as 'camera bracketing' when capturing photographs for my project. However, I didn't really possess a lot of knowledge about what camera bracketing even is, so I thought it would be beneficial to learn more about what it is, how to use it and why it would help support my project. Here is some of the research I've done about it:
Camera BracketingCamera bracketing is essential to photography in regards to capturing detail. The camera takes shots of multiple exposures settings (bright and dark) giving the image and high-dynamic range (HDR). The exposure that's set at the time of shooting forms the mid-point of this range, and the camera can record detail either side of this, in areas that are slightly brighter or darker than this 'middle' setting.
Why use Camera Bracketing?There are two reasons you might want to use camera bracketing functions on photo shoots:- As a safety net to ensure you get at least one well-exposed picture of the scene (as camera exposure meters don't always get it right the first time).- To give you a range of exposures that you can blend together later in software.
Dynamic range and ContrastDynamic range can be measured in stops. For instance, if a camera offers nine stops of dynamic range, it means it can record detail in areas of a picture that are up to four stops brighter and up to four stops darker than the set exposure. Contrast is the difference between the darkest and brightest parts - of a scene will often fall within the camera sensor's dynamic range, which means you can record detail in all areas in a single shot. However, high-contrast scenes may exceed the camera's dynamic range, so you may end up with a picture that holds no detail in shady areas or bright areas - or either.
How Camera Bracketing can aid my projectWhen you photograph a dark building backlit against a very bright sky, the difference in brightness between the deepest shadows on the building to the brightest highlights in the sky may be 12-stops. This is likely to exceed my DSLRs dynamic range, so I won't be able to record details in all of the areas of the picture in one attempt. This is clear in many of my shoots so far as I tend to only take 2/3 photographs at certain standpoints/perspectives before moving onto the next spot, and so I end up with a picture where the shadows are too bright, or the highlights are too dark. Thus, camera bracketing will allow me to get around this limitation by taking a whole sequence of shots at different exposures - from a short exposure that under-exposes the shadows (but ensures that the highlights aren't burnt out), through to a long exposure that reveals the detail in the shadows (but over-exposes the highlights). The well-exposed parts of each of my sequence of shots can then be combined in Photoshop or similar software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.
The Best Way to Use Bracketing for My ProjectYou can bracket your photographs manually or let the camera do it for you automatically. As it's important for my photographs to have a small aperture, I will need to alternate the shutter speeds of the camera if I chose to do it manually. If I chose to do it automatically, I will have to use my camera's Exposure Compensation function (press and hold the '+/-' button) to take other shots that are brighter (by dialling in a '+' value) and ones that are darker (by dialling in a '-' value). I should always remember to make sure that always make sure that I use the camera in Aperture Priority mode or Manual mode if I do activate Auto Exposure Bracketing, since this locks the aperture value in.
Sources1. http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photography-video-capture/cameras/bracketing-explained-what-you-need-to-know-about-maximising-detail-1321001
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