Using bracketing techniques in photography can help you shoot high-contrast scenes and obtain HDR (high dynamic range) images. Although there are other techniques to obtain HDR images, they have more limitations than advantages. Using HDR bracketing is an efficient and simple way to overcome the technical limitations of your cameras and create beautiful, natural-looking photographs.
So what exactly is bracketing and what is the best way to shoot HDR bracketed images? Well, this article will shed more light on photography bracketing and HDR photography, so you can begin to bracket photos for HDR like a pro. Exposure bracketing photography has been around for a while, and most modern cameras support auto HDR bracketing or have a setting that allows you to take bracketed photos. However, if you are looking for best practices for shooting bracketed images and to learn more about what HDR bracketing image shooting is all about, this article is for you.
There are mainly two types of bracketing - exposure bracketing and focus bracketing.
Exposure bracketing is a technique of taking photos where, instead of clicking just one shot, you take two or more with different exposure settings. This is because, no matter how good a camera is, it cannot replicate the capability of the human eye to “see” high contrast scenes. It is a technique routinely used to capture scenes with high contrast. In this technique, different photos of the same scene are clicked - one with normal exposure and others that are over-exposed or under-exposed to different degrees.
Even though you can shoot bracketed images by holding the camera in your hand, it is not ideal. This is because there is a high tendency for hand movements to affect the quality of images. Therefore, the best practice to shoot exposure bracketed images is to use a tripod and go through the following steps -
Focus bracketing is another type of bracketing mainly used to provide your images with a wider depth of field than that can be provided by the aperture of your camera. Here, brackets with different focus points are created and then merged together. To obtain focus bracketed images in HDR, perform the following -
To merge bracketed images for HDR photography, you will need to use dedicated software. The most common tools used are Photoshop and Lightroom, although many other tools perform blending of bracketed photos.
The process to create HDR images from our bracketed images is simple.
Sometimes you may have moving objects in your photographs like trees, leaves, or waves that reduce the quality and clarity of your HDR images. In this case, you can try the de-ghosting options that your software provides.
The process to blend focus-bracketed images is similar to the one used for exposure-bracketed images. Common tools used to perform this technique include Photoshop and Lightroom. To blend your images -
Flatworld Solutions (FWS) has been performing a wide range of photo and HDR bracketing work for several years. We have dedicated and professional photographers and image editors on our team who have significant experience in using all the advanced functionality of the leading image editing software. As a leading provider of a wide range of image editing services, we will always provide customized services to address the specific needs of our clients.
If you are looking for advanced HDR bracketing services, or other image editing or enhancement services, contact us now to take a productive route to success.
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