Expanding your camera’s dynamic range with Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) can drastically improve image quality. Human eyes can see a wider dynamic range than cameras, so we need to use techniques like AEB to capture more detail in high-contrast scenes.
Coming to you from Christian Möhrle - The Phlog Photography, this informative video explores the benefits of switching to a five-shot AEB sequence. Möhrle explains that using a five-shot sequence with two-stop increments dramatically increases the dynamic range captured, allowing for greater detail recovery in both highlights and shadows. He illustrates this with a challenging scene.
Traditionally, photographers use a three-shot AEB sequence with one-stop increments. While this technique is useful for many situations, it may not be sufficient for scenes with extreme contrast. By increasing the number of shots and the increment between exposures, you can capture a wider range of tones and produce a more detailed final image.
Möhrle demonstrates how he edits a five-shot AEB sequence in Lightroom, merging the images into an HDR composite. He showcases the incredible detail recovery possible in both the highlights and shadows, emphasizing the advantages of this technique. He also discusses potential downsides, such as increased storage space requirements and difficulties with moving subjects. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Möhrle.
I enjoyed your video. When HDR was so popular I was taught a three frame bracket with 2 stop increments was better then 1 stop. It seems you could do the same thing and get your extended range and have less chance of alignment issues and extra storage needs.
Just a thought. I did appreciate the pace of the video and your explanations for why you made your adjustments, and I learned something about masks in LR/ACR.
Maybe you could do a video about 3@2 stops vs. 5 exposures @ 1stop in the future and show us if you find a benefit still with 5.
The question of whether one or two or perhaps even three f-stops should be set per step for bracketing, and how many steps are still necessary, can be answered by everyone.
Assume a maximum of 20 f-stops between black and white. This is what our eye can capture. The scene should be analyzed first. How high is the dynamic range in my subject? Then consider the dynamic range of your own camera. If my camera can process 10 f-stops of dynamic range and my subject has 14 f-stops, I still need 4 f-stops.
In a panorama, the number of shots and their overlap depends on the subject and the focal length used. The same applies to the dynamic range. Depending on the above parameters, everyone can work out for themselves how many stops are required for bracketing and at what stepsize. With 14 f-stops of dynamic range on my camera, I rarely need exposure bracketing.
Did this for years when hiking with MFT kit. 5-frame 1-stop brackets combined with stitching via Lighroom's Merge to HDR Pano gave me files with more detail and dynamic range than any other camera's single-frame capture could deliver. Without emptying my saving account. I even used this technique with a Panasonic LF1 ultra-compact whose 28-200mm EFL zoom let me break a wide scene into many frames. An 8-segment HDR image I made yielded a roughly 40MP pano.
Great instruction and demonstration. A little history I lived through, I saw a photo in a magazine (yes paper) in '10 with a indoor capture with a sharp and bright outdoor view. In film days they did cut and paste in the darkroom. I had a T2i and was limited to the 3 at +/- 2 or 1 EV and editing was limited to Canons editing SW, PS/Lr too expensive- at the time. There was also another tool the Promote Control (still around) that let you choose the number of shots and as many EV's but then to combine a $80 program Photomatix Pro (I believe Trey Ratcliff was a developer) that did the blending and control of ghousting (a problem with moving things) also a free program in Nik Software (Google bought and then stopped improving but Dxo bought it and now still HDR Efex is even greater, the point is you can use any of the images as a center and the other image combined around it AND also controlled ghousting (movement). Digital cameras from the beginning had little dynamic range but when bracketing was added and there were programs to edit it change a lot of options to get a high dynamic image. Even today's high dynamic range cameras add more to the range of editing an image.
Also when I went Sony I picked the A7S due to 5 at +/- 3EV and any combo below that, still no editing program can handle that max range and control ghosting.
That max range is greatest for getting a in focus and sharp moon and getting a bright sharp foreground at night. SS/ISO equal like 125 and F/ 8 to 11 for moon focus the center at .5 sec (start shot). The moon will be smaller than the eye sees it but it works! The ghosting is the hardest. But also in several places with old homes with curtains open and lit inside and with a full moon lighting the foreground you get really sharp inside shots and great lit outside. I still use the Photomatix Pro and Nik HDR Efex but the new ON1 Photo RAW Max lets you pick the center image as well.
Using the 3 at +/- 1EV during Milky Ways capture the in camera NR is turned off meaning hot and dead pixels will be everywhere when processing a single image but when using like Lr HDR blending they go away and you get colors, just for info - going back to '15 images.
A road of difficult image challenges.
1. a '15 bracketed 3 at +/- 1 EV
2. uncontrolled ghosting but "Help I am falling" image example really as the moon rises in each image.
3. A bracketed 5 at +/- 2EV with f/22 setting gives you super clarity with an unseen pirate in the sand, if you look carefully not seen till post processing. The other very important thing is a very small sun vs a large blown out sun reducing clouds effects' in the landscape image, Always capture sunrise/sets with 5 at +/- 2 EV even during blue hour with just the orange only the camera sees for foregrounds are like daytime with stars.
4 for info if you have IBIS sensor you can walk hand held in dim lit caverns' while others are doing long exposures on sticks.
a 5th would be a huge house called a cabin on Jekyll Island Ga. with a moon above and inside lit sharply.
Also Fall foliage with cloudy skies you get cloud detail with super bright but not glowing leafs with that you get on a bright sunny day.