How to Use Exposure Bracketing
Explore Landscapes #75
So, what is exposure bracketing, and why should a landscape photographer get comfortable using this technique?
An exposure bracketed image of the Belt of Venus at Quail Springs, Joshua Tree National Park (CA) | © 2021 Jon Norris
1. Introduction to Exposure Bracketing
Have you ever had a photo in which the sky looks perfect, but the foreground is just a silhouette? Conversely, you may have photos showing shadow detail in the foreground, but the sky is completely blown out to white.
Exposure bracketing will make this a thing of the past in your landscape photographs.
So, what is exposure bracketing, and why should a landscape photographer get comfortable using this technique? Exposure bracketing combines multiple images taken of the same scene, each with different exposure values (from dark to light) in post-processing.
While taking photographs, I want to ensure I have all the images I may want for each scene during post-processing to create my final photograph and give myself maximum artistic latitude.
There’s nothing more annoying than realizing during editing that you should have taken more images ‘in the field’ and that you can’t achieve your desired final result. What’s missing might be images at different exposures, a slightly different composition, or a vertical orientation shot and a horizontal one.
The foreground is exposed correctly, but the highlights (i.e., the sky) have been clipped to white | © 2023 Jon Norris
The background (the sky) is exposed correctly, but the shadows (i.e., the foreground) have been clipped to black | © 2023 Jon Norris
2. The Problem with Landscape Lighting
Dynamic range is the difference between the lightest and darkest areas of a scene that the human eye can see. If the dynamic range in the scene exceeds the capabilities of your camera, either some of the highlights will be clipped and be pure white, or some of the shadows will be clipped and be pure black. Sometimes both!
Our eyes can perceive a wider dynamic range than our camera can capture in a single image. When photographing a single exposure, you may have to choose between ‘properly’ exposing the darker foreground (so you can see shadow detail) or exposing the sky (so you can see detail in the highlights). Exposure bracketing is the solution for these types of tricky lighting situations.
An image is said to be ‘properly exposed’ when the image is neither overexposed (too bright with some areas pure white) nor underexposed (too dark with some areas pure black). Please note that there’s no such thing as ‘proper exposure’ - you can choose to expose an image as you see fit to suit your artistic vision.
See the following posts to learn more about light and exposure, plus some other essential photography terms:
Canon R menu for selecting the number of bracketed shots
3. How Exposure Bracketing Works
Most cameras offer a choice of how many exposures you can shoot in a bracket—typical bracket sequences consist of 3, 5, 7, or 9 frames.
You can also change the sequence of these bracketed exposures are shot, i.e. from dark to light, or vice versa.
Canon R menu for selecting the bracketing sequence
Finally, you choose how many ‘stops’ of light to have between your bracketed exposures. A stop of light either doubles or halves the amount of light in an exposure.
Canon R menu for selecting the bracketing exposure interval
I typically choose a bracket of 5 (or sometimes 7) exposures, shot from darkest to lightest (-,0,+), at 1-stop intervals.
In the example images below, I shot a bracket of 5 different exposures and decided to combine just 3 of the images. This was because the darkest and brightest exposures were so clipped that they didn’t add anything to the final image.
Canon R with 24-105mm lens at 35mm, 1/4s at f/11, ISO 100 | © 2021 Jon Norris
The first image (the darkest) captures the most detail and color in the sky without clipping the highlights.
Canon R with 24-105mm lens at 35mm, 1/2s at f/11, ISO 100 (1 stop more light, i.e., twice the light as the previous image) | © 2021 Jon Norris
The second image (the mid-tone) captures some detail and color in the sky and some detail in the foreground.
Canon R with 24-105mm lens at 35mm, 1s at f/11, ISO 100 (1 stop more light, i.e., twice the light as the previous image) | © 2021 Jon Norris
The last image (the brightest) captures the most detail in the foreground, but the highlights in the sky are clipped.
4. When Should You Use Exposure Bracketing?
You will often need to use exposure bracketing when capturing high-contrast landscape scenes, such as sunrises or sunsets, or at other times during the day when the scene’s dynamic range exceeds your camera's.
If you’re unsure whether the camera’s dynamic range has been exceeded, take a test photo and review the histogram. If you cannot adjust the shutter speed to keep the histogram from being clipped at one end or the other (or both), then you should use exposure bracketing.
Depending on the lighting conditions in your scene, you may find that one specific bracketed image gives you the desired result without combining multiple images. Having that choice of which exposure to use is another benefit of shooting an exposure bracket rather than a single exposure.
The BTS shot of the same scene from my iPhone shows how it uses HDR technology to merge multiple images to create a ‘single’ photograph | © 2021 Jon Norris
Adobe Lightroom showing the 3 images to be merged | © 2024 Jon Norris
5. Merging Bracketed Shots
Merging your bracketed photos in Adobe Lightroom is straightforward:
In the library module, highlight the bracketed images that you want to merge (see the 3 images that are shown with a lighter gray surround)
Click on Photo > Photo Merge > HDR
Lightroom will create a preview. If you‘re happy with the preview, click Merge.
Adobe Lightroom HDR preview | © 2024 Jon Norris
6. Pro Tips for Bracketing Success
Here are a few tips on ensuring that your exposure bracketed images turn out the way you want them to:
Use a tripod for sharp, aligned shots – you don’t want your trees and mountains to wobble!
Watch out for moving objects: wind, water, or birds can complicate bracketing.
Experiment with exposure intervals (e.g., 1/2 or 2 stops difference) for varied results.
7. Final Thoughts: Why Exposure Bracketing Is a Game-Changer
Exposure bracketing can help you capture what your eyes see - rather than what the camera can create in a single exposure.
It can also help you to create stunning landscape photographs by combining creativity and technique.
Please don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments.
If you’d like to practice and perfect your exposure bracketing skills, join me on one of my landscape photography weekend workshops in Joshua Tree National Park.
Look at my article on ’Trusting Your Histogram’ for some related background reading:
