Canon Camera Exposure Bracketing Setup

[CaptainDan]

It's long been known that cameras can't see the dynamic range that humans can see. If you aren't aware of what dynamic range in regards to photography is, I encourage you to read through a few previous posts on this website:

What is Dynamic Range in Photography?
Contrast: The Effects of Light on a Scene
What's the Right Level of Contrast for a Photo?

Basically, if you attempted to take a photo of a scene that contains both very dark and very light areas, you're camera would need to make a decision between those areas. Would it choose to properly expose the darker areas or the lighter areas? No matter what the camera decides, the photo simply won't come out well because the exposure won't be correct. The photo will contain either full black areas or full white areas. Neither of these are optimal because there's a lack of detail in both.

So really, the goal is to somehow capture a photo that can include a very wide dynamic range. But if camera's aren't capable of doing that, what are our options? I'll tell you what they are: HDR. That means High Dynamic Range. To sum it up, HDR images are those that are taken at different exposures and then combined to reveal the best of all worlds. So if you capture a scene that includes very dark shadows, you'd need to take an overexposed photo to show the detail in those shadows (brighten them up). If your scene includes very bright areas, such as the afternoon sky, you'd need to take an underexposed photo to show details in the sky (darken them down). For good measure, you'd also need to take a regular pretty well exposed photo that captures the middle of everything.

In this post, I'll discuss the process involved for taking three different photos for use in HDR photography with the Canon Rebel T7i (800D). The photos will be captured automatically by the camera and will include one that's underexposed by two stops, one that's properly exposed (in the middle), and one that's overexposed by two stops. In my next post, I'll demonstrate how to combine these three images into one HDR photo in Adobe Camera Raw.

Setting the T7i (800D) for Exposure Bracketing​

The method we'll use for capturing these photos is called exposure bracketing. The camera will take three photos automatically in succession; one dark, one medium, and one bright. Again, later on I'll instruct you on how to merge the images for your final result.

To start, you'll likely want to (after turning your camera on) set your camera to Av mode, or aperture priority mode. The reason for this is to lock your lens into one aperture so the depths of field for the objects in your scene remain the same between shots. There's no sense in your images resulting in varying depths of field for the same scene. So, use the top dial on your camera to set Av mode.



Next, press the Menu button on the back of your camera to navigate to the second page of the red settings. You'll see the top option read Expo.comp./AEB. You can navigate back and forth between the settings on the rear LCD screen by using either the dial located on the top of your camera or the left and right arrow buttons on the rear of your camera. When you make it to this setting, press the SET button that sits at the center of the arrow buttons.



When you do this, you'll see a new screen that looks like this:



If you roll the dial at the top of your camera back and forth, you'll see some new lines appear. These lines represent the underexposure and overexposure that will be occurring within your future photographs. I always choose +2ev and -2ev, so I roll the top dial until the rear screen looks like this:



So as you can see, there will be three photos taken; one under, one mid, and one overexposed. If you find that the center marker line isn't aligned perfectly in the center, you can use the left and right arrow keys to correct this and move that line back to the middle. When this is finished, press the SET button to accept the changes. Then, press either the Menu button again or the shutter button half-way to exit the menu area of your camera. But wait, you're only half way done.

Setting the T7i (800D) for Continuous Shooting Drive Mode​

You've already set your T7i camera for exposure bracketing, but now you must set it to actually take the photos with differing exposures in succession. To do this, press the left arrow button on the rear of your camera to enter Drive Mode. Then, press the right arrow button twice (or however many times necessary) to land on Low Speed Continuous mode. To accept and save this setting, press the SET button once again. Basically, you'll now be able to press and hold the shutter button of your camera and it'll take the three photos you need, one right after the other, without any further input from you.

How to Take the Photos​

You'll definitely want to use a tripod when capturing exposure bracketed photographs. You don't want any movement in the images at all. If it's windy, wait for the wind to die down some as well. When you're all set up on your tripod and the scene has been focused upon, press and hold the camera's shutter button until you hear click, click, click. When you let go of the button, your job is done. Review your photos to see the three images that look something like this:







If you'll notice in the above photos, one shows all the detail in the highlights, one shows all the midtones, and one shows all the details in the shadows. Next, we'll merge these three images into one HDR image using Adobe Camera Raw.

Whoops, I just realized there's already a post that covers this. Check it out:

How to Merge to HDR in Adobe Camera Raw

 

[KodyWallice]

HDR photography really is a great method for retaining detail in a wide range of tones. Some cameras allow you to merge the images right inside of it and some don't. What you described above is an excellent method. I own a camera that'll merge to HDR, but I don't like to use that. I prefer to take advantage of the additional options that Camera Raw comes with, such as image alignment. In addition, I find it efficient to edit the DNG file (I think) after it's created in Camera Raw. But everyone has their preferences.

You already mentioned a few tips for taking the best photos. Using a tripod is a must, waiting for a calm scene is another must. If there's any movement in the scene, strange things can happen when the files are being merged, whether in the camera or during post-processing. Using aperture priority is another good idea, but sort of theoretical. I'm not sure the camera will have time to re-meter the scene so quickly. It already did its metering during focus, so I'd say it's not going to do it again.

I'd like to add two additional tips if I may. First, using a remote shutter release button is a good idea, to keep camera shake to a minimum. If you don't have one of those, you can use your camera's self timer. Both are good options. Also, after taking the shots, check out the histograms for each one. For the underexposed image, you should see a curve that's skewed towards the left. For the normally exposed image, you should see the curve towards the center (mostly), and for the overexposed image, you should see the curve skewed towards the right. If everything is skewed in one direction or the other, you may not get good results when the files are merged.

One final word about HDR photography. It's not always needed. It should only be used if your camera can't normally capture the entire dynamic range of the scene. If everything looks good with normal exposure, simply take a photo and then edit the shadows and highlights later on during post-processing.

 

[EmeraldHike]

How to Set Up Exposure Bracketing on the Canon 800D (Rebel T7i)​

Automatic exposure bracketing is a very helpful feature on the Canon Rebel line of cameras. In this post, I’ll be discussing how to set up automatic exposure bracketing on the Canon 800D, which is the same camera as the T7i. It’s an easy process, so it shouldn’t take any time at all to get going. If you’d care to, you can read another post of mine on a similar topic. In that post, I gave instructions for how to set up automatic exposure bracketing on the Canon 5D Mark III. Check that out.

I used the Canon T6i for the photos below. The controls are actually the same as on the T7i.

Okay, to start off, turn your camera on and press the Menu button on the back of the camera. Use the dial on top of the camera or the left and right arrow buttons on the rear of the camera to navigate to the second tab in the red section. The top option should read Expo.comp/AEB. That stands for Exposure Compensation/Automatic Exposure Bracketing. Use the up and down arrows on the back of the camera to land on that option and then press the Set button to enter its options.



Once inside, you’ll see the range in which you’re able to adjust. If you push the left and right arrow keys, you can set your exposure compensation. If you roll the top dial, you can set the stops at which you’d like your camera to use for its exposure bracketing. You’ll need to roll that dial to the right first to see the bracketing options appear.



In the above photo, I have the camera set so it’ll take one photo at -1 stop (underexposed), one normally exposed photo and one at +1 stop (overexposed). That’s fine, but if I wanted to control where the range of photos lies in the exposure scale, I can use the left and right arrow buttons on the back of the camera to shift those bracketed photos. Take a look.



As you can now see, the center “normally exposed” image is set to +2 stops with the remaining photos falling at one stop from that.

To accept these changes, press the Set button again and that’s it for that.

To take these photos automatically, quickly and in succession, exit the menu mode and press the Drive Mode button (left arrow button) on the back of the camera. Change this setting from Single Shooting to either High Speed or Low Speed Continuous. Also, use a tripod and a remote shutter button when taking bracketed photos. You’ll need each one as identical to the rest as possible.

That’s all there is to it. When you have your photos ready, you’ll need to merge them into one using an application such as Adobe Camera Raw. Do that and you’ll be all set. Please let me know if you have any questions and please feel free to upload some sample HDR shots of your own below. Thanks!

 

[EmeraldHike]

Bracketing with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III​

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is an incredibly awesome camera. I’ve used this camera on a number of occasions and continue to be impressed by it. Besides the quality of photos it’s able to capture, there are a few features that I’ve totally fallen in love with. One of these features has to do with bracketing. If you aren’t sure what bracketing is, please read through this post. It’ll catch you up to speed.

In the most basic sense, exposure bracketing has to do with when a camera takes multiple photos in sequence at different exposure settings. So, if you wanted to capture one image underexposed, another at normal exposure and the final one overexposed, you can easily do that. Many cameras offer this type of feature. Now, you may be asking why on earth you’d want to do this. It’s because of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. Sometimes, photographers like to merge their images together so they can better capture the entire range of light in one photograph. Cameras are limited in their dynamic ranges and by capturing multiple images, all the way from under exposed to over exposed, they can show a more realistic and stunning scene. If you haven’t already, simply search Google for “HDR Photography” and you’ll see what I’m referring to. The photos are incredible. Here’s a great example image for you.



Okay, so what’s the reason I love the Canon EOS 5D Mark III? Well, because it allows the photographer to not only take three or five differently exposed images in sequence, it allows him or her to take seven. That’s pretty wild. That’s going to allow for quite the range of exposure in the final image. Now, this isn’t to say that you can bracket fewer images if you wanted to. Such as only three or five. What I am saying is that this particular camera allows up to seven.

This camera also includes a “bracketing sequence” option, where you can set what the sequence will be when you take your shots. For instance, you can set things so the darkest shot is taken first, followed by the normally exposed shot and finally the lightest shot. You can do this backwards as well or you can keep the default normal, under and over exposure order. To access this option, click the Menu button on the back of the camera and then navigate to the Custom Controls > Bracketing Sequence menu item to change your settings.

On this camera, to set the number of brackets shots you’d like to capture, simply navigate to the next option down from the one I just wrote about (Bracketing Sequence). When you’ve navigated to the Number of Bracketed Shots item, click the Set button on the back of the camera to enter that area. It’s there you can choose either 3, 2, 5 or 7 shots to bracket. When you’ve made your selection, click on the Set button to accept the change.

At this point, we’re ready to set up the actual bracketing on the camera. Using the dial on the rear of the camera, navigate to the Expo.comp./AEB option and press the Set button to enter.

To set your spread of exposure, use the dial on the top of the camera. You’ll see the highlighted bars spread out wider and narrower, depending on which direction you roll the dial. To increase the number of stops between images, widen the bars, to decrease them, make them closer to one another. Also, if you’d like to control where the entire range of photos will lie, use the dial on the back of the camera to shift the range of brackets photos from the center to the left (darker) or the right (brighter). When you’re ready, press the Set button to accept your changes. What’s special about this camera is that it can accept exposures from -6 to +6 stops and even more if you shift the entire range. That’s pretty incredible.

By the way, the Canon 5DS has very similar controls, as does the Canon Rebel series. Although, the Rebel series is pared down some. I’ll write about that series exclusively later on.

Before we continue, it’s important to change the drive mode of the camera. Currently, if we were to take a photo, it would be one of these “exposure-altered” photos. Then, the next shot we took would be the next in line and so on. Since we want the camera to do all the work all at once, we’ll need to change the drive mode settings from one shot to continuous shooting.

To do this, you’ll need to enter the drive mode area and simply choose either the high or low speed continuous options and then press the Set button again to accept the change. Now we’re ready to take some pictures.

I highly advise you to use a remote shutter button when capturing bracketed images on any camera. Also, please use a tripod. It’s imperative that all of the images are aligned with one another. Although you can align the images in Adobe Photoshop or Camera Raw, it’s so much easier to keep the camera absolutely still when taking the pictures in the first place to cut down on the work later on. To take the pictures, simply hold down the button on the remote shutter button. You’ll hear the camera take the pictures and then stop. It won’t let you take any more until you repeat the process.

When reviewing your photos, if you see that some are far too under or over exposed, you’ll need to go back in to the bracketing settings to make adjustments. You’ll need to either collapse the range in a bit or shift it from one side to the other.

Give this process a try and let me know your thoughts. Some stellar photographs have come out of this series of steps. Tell me about yours down below.