Programme your camera for HDR

Monday 4 July 2022, 16:32 by Nando Harmsen | 5,515 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

To create an HDR image, you need to make an exposure bracket. This is abbreviated to BKT, and is sometimes shown as AEB, or Automatic Exposure Bracketing.

This can require quite a few changes to your settings. Why not programme your camera for when you want to take an HDR photo?

If the dynamic range of a scene is greater than the camera sensor can record, you end up with blown-out highlights or blocked-up shadows in your photo. Or both, because that can happen too. Although you can often still recover some very dark areas, you can no longer do that with pure white areas in your photo.

The exposure for the foreground is good, but unfortunately the highlights are badly blown out. This can no longer be recovered.
The solution is an HDR photo, a composite image made up of several photos, each with a different exposure. Put simply, one photo for the highlights, one photo for the shadows, and one photo in between. This is called an exposure bracket, or exposure bracketing.

Settings for AEB or BKT

What should you preferably pay attention to in your camera settings when making an exposure bracket? Obviously, you need to activate your camera's BKT or AEB function.

Sometimes this is easy, while at other times it can be hidden deep in the menu. It depends entirely on which make and model of camera you use.

With exposure bracketing, it is possible to capture a wide dynamic range. An HDR image.
But that's not all. You probably want average metering over the entire image as a starting point. Then set steps of 1 or 2 stops.

You preferably want a fixed white balance, continuous shooting, a self-timer, and perhaps even the autofocus set to a particular value. Aperture priority is desirable, with a low ISO and a small aperture.

If you have to set all this, it can take quite some time, and you might overlook something while setting up your camera. Why not use one of your camera's programme modes? Then everything is set in a single action.

Create a custom setting for your bracketing

On Canon cameras, you will find these programme modes as C1, C2 and C3 (Custom 1, 2, 3). Nikon calls them U1, U2 and U3 (User 1, 2, 3). Sony uses the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Fujifilm has nine available in the Q menu. Programme one of these modes for your bracketing photography.

Some Nikon cameras have a BKT button. Other Nikons do not. On Canon cameras, it is in the menu, while on Sony cameras it is in the drive menu. Every camera has its own way of setting up bracketing.
When you are on location, all you have to do is put the camera on a tripod and use the programmed mode. For example, C1, U1, or number 1 on Sony. If you still want to change a setting, that is often possible.

Find out how it works on your camera, and which settings you can programme in this way. This can vary between camera makes and models. Often, it is simply a matter of setting everything correctly and saving it to the button. It can be that simple.

One of the custom settings in Fujifilm's Q menu. You can set everything up for an exposure bracket in advance, then all the settings will be correct in an instant.

It doesn't have to be perfect straight away

If you are not sure which settings you want to programme under that button, you can of course always change them later. You don't have to get it right the first time.

The PSAM dial of the Canon EOS R6, with the C1, C2 and C3 modes that you can programme. For example, C1 for an exposure bracket.
After setting this up, you will still have one or two extra programmable buttons left. You can programme those for a particular type of photography too. This lets you completely adapt your camera in a single action. Handy, isn't it?

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