Bracketing for Precise Exposure in Landscape Photography

Bracketing is a simple process where we can add additional dynamic range to an image. Dynamic range is the camera's ability to see the brightest highlights and the deepest shadows, and to have detail in both. Normally, when focusing on the sky, the sky will look good but the foreground will be almost black with no shadow detail. When focusing on the mountain, the mountain and foreground will have the correct exposure, but the sky will get blown out. 

That's because the camera captures less light than the human eye can see. Light is measured in "stops". Think of "stops" as an amount, like a gallon of gas. 10 gallons of gas is more than 5 gallons and 10 stops of light is more than 8 stops. The human eye can see roughly 14 stops of light whereas the best pro cameras capture 8-9 stops of light. As you can see, there is a deficit of 5-6 stops of light being left out of the image severely impacting the extreme highlights and deep shadows of the image.

So how do we compensate? With bracketing, which first requires making a few choices. You'll need to determine how many images to take and the differences in stops between them. Most people take either 3 or 5 images. I use 3 images and I set the bracketing sequence at 2 stops each, meaning 2 stops underexposed and 2 stops overexposed. This means I take the first photo at the correct exposure, the second exposure at -2, and the 3rd photo at +2.

By bracketing this way, I am adding 4 stops of light (2+2) to my approximate 9 stops in camera for a total of 13 stops (4+9) which is pretty close to the 14 stops my eyes can see. The rest I can make up in Photoshop or by using neutral density filters. 

I set my camera's dial to "continuous" so when I press the shutter the camera automatically takes all 3 photos at the pre-assigned exposure. For those that need to do this with a manual camera, you will simply take the correct exposure for the 1st shot, then change the dial on the camera to shoot the next image underexposed with the 3rd shot being overexposed.

The secret to bracketing is in post production. In theory, you will be using the the overexposed image for the details in the foreground and the underexposed image for the details and deep colors of the sky. The easiest way to accomplish this is with the HDR feature in Lightroom or you can manually blend your images together using Photoshop. I usually blend everything manually using luminosity masks, then I paint the areas I need into the normal exposure through each layer. 

The image above was taken at Watson Lake just outside of Prescott Arizona at sunset. I wanted the crazy sky colors to come through, yet I wanted to have all of the details in the shadows and between the rocks. I shoot with a Nikon D850 and I don't believe there was any chance I could have gotten the shot with just a single image. It all sounds complicated but there are tons of Youtube videos on how to do this and it's an easy process to learn. 

However you decide to proceed, good luck and good light to you!

About David Williams: I specialize in LDS Temples, Landscape Photography and Indigenous Cultural images of the Southwest. See my work at https://www.davidwilliamsphotography.com or follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/david_williams_photography_/