Bracketing tells the camera to automatically capture a series of shots at different exposure values instead of just one, giving you options in post-processing or the raw material for high dynamic range blending.
What It Actually Means
Auto Exposure Bracketing, often abbreviated AEB, takes a set number of frames, commonly three or five, at different exposure levels around your base setting, typically one shot underexposed, one at the metered exposure, and one overexposed. Some cameras also support bracketing for white balance or focus.
How to Use Bracketing
- Turn on AEB in the drive or exposure menu and set the number of frames and the exposure gap between them, often one or two stops apart.
- Use a tripod or fast burst shooting so the bracketed frames align well enough to blend later.
- Fire the full bracket sequence for each composition, either through a burst or several individual shutter presses.
- In post-processing, either pick the single best-exposed frame or blend the set using HDR merging tools.
- Turn bracketing off when you return to normal single-exposure shooting to avoid accidentally capturing extra unwanted frames.
Common Mistakes
- Shooting a bracket handheld without a fast enough burst rate, causing misalignment between frames that complicates blending.
- Forgetting bracketing is still enabled, capturing three frames every time you meant to take one.
- Over-blending HDR results into an unnatural, flat-looking image when a single well-exposed frame would have looked better.
When Bracketing Helps Most
High-contrast scenes like a bright sky over a shaded landscape, interior real estate photography with bright windows, and any situation where a single exposure cannot capture both highlight and shadow detail are the classic uses for bracketing and HDR blending.
Frequently Asked Questions
A tripod produces the cleanest results since frames align perfectly, though a fast burst rate handheld can work for less demanding blends.
Bracketing captures the raw set of exposures; in-camera HDR mode often captures a similar bracket and blends it automatically into a single JPEG, giving less manual control.
One to two stops apart is common for moderate contrast scenes, while extremely high-contrast scenes may benefit from a wider spread across more frames.