Improve your sunset photography by bracketing exposure. Here we take a number of shots at different exposures and combine them in the computer to create a detailed and realistic image.
Follow First Man Photography for the latest updates:
Instagram –
My Gear –
Sunset photography is a challenging genre within landscape photography. I have talked before about how our own eyes and brain work together to let us see a very large dynamic ranges of light. We see details in shadows and very bright highlights at the same time.
Despite cameras having ever increasing dynamic range they still do not compare to the eye/brain combination. The problem is particularly felt in sunset photography where there is high contrast between the sky, where we often shoot straight at the sun, and the ground which gets darker later in the day with long shadows.
We previously got round this using graduated filters. A more modern technique is bracketing photography. Here we take a number of shots at different exposures and combine them in the computer. This creates a RAW file that contains all the details from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. This is exactly the same as HDR photography but we are looking to reproduce a natural sunset photography shot that our eyes perceived, rather than that HDR look.
To capture everything that my eyes see I use bracketing photography. To do this in the camera you first need to be in manual mode. You will need a tripod. Set your ISO to 100, aperture to the f8-f16 range and then balance exposure with the shutter speed so you get an image that captures some small detail in the shadows and does not totally over exposure the sky. Use your Histogram to help you expose for the mid tones.
Turn on bracketing. On a Canon camera it is via the Q menu. When doing sunset photography going two stops either side is often the most effective.
Set the camera to fire using the two second timer to avoid any camera shake. The camera needs to be perfectly still for each of the three shots otherwise Lightroom will not be able to combine the images.
Take your shot and the camera will take three exposures. Check each image to make sure you have one that is exposed for the highlights, one for the mid tones and one for shadows.
Combine your sunset photography in Lightroom using the Photo Merge/HDR command. This combines your images into one large RAW file that allows much greater adjustment than a single shot. Process you sunset photography image and aim for something very similar to what your eyes witnessed to avoid your image looking over processed.
Cheating? For me no. I look to create a final image that is as close to what my eyes perceived as possible. the means whether it is with a physical graduated filter, bracketing or a futuristic camera is irrelevant.
If you enjoyed these landscape photography tips and lightroom tutorial please subscribe to the channel.
Thank you!! I’ve been in a photo class for a year and I finally understand this
7:11 talks about not over editing you photo then slides saturation to 90
I also think that it is not cheating.
Our eyes can adapt very well to different lighting and high contrast under normal conditions. They have a much higher effective dynamic range compared to a camera.
The difference here is that while you have a wide field of view your eye focuses on a pretty small area of your vision and adapts together with your brain to this area.
This means that you can look into the shadows, see detail and look into the highlights and see detail too. The eye adjuts itself when switching the view. The camera on the other hand has to capture the whole scene at once since the viewer of the picture will decide later wher he wants to focus. It can just not do that. It would be like looking with your eye into the dark and the bright part of the secene at the same time.
Trying to reproduce what you really saw is not cheating but removing technical limitations.
Nice video…easy to follow….I recently took a sunset shot using 3 bracketed images, upon editing I realized it would have benefited from focus stacking also. I can't seem to figure out the best practice for exposure bracketing and focus stacking on the same image. Whats the best in camera process then how do you handle processing….please help…Google was no use…Thanks
Simple , helpful video
I really don’t like this continual use of the word “cheating”. Photography is an art and the final image however it is produced is the result of care and attention lavished upon it by the photographer (artist). The puritanical few who only believe a photograph is that which comes immediately from the camera will hate that, but the picture no matter how it looks would simply not exist if the photographer sat on his arse all day not venturing out…… all photos are worthy no matter how they were produced……
Great shot and clear tutorial. 👍🏼 I use a 3 stop graduated filter from Lee with my 5d mk4 but I also take a mirror less if I’m out on a walk with the family and don’t want to carry all my kit so I’ll try this method out when a filter is unavailable.
Wanted this for a shot today and completely blanked on how to do it. Remembering that damn 'q' button. Thanks for the awesome content, knew you'd have the answer.
Very well explained.
Greatly explained
At the end of the day, it matters if you captured the moment and its mood as you intended to, as an artist. The means toget there e.g. Bracketing, filters etc dont really matter. Its not cheating 🙂
I always think that the issue of whether processing images is cheating is totally spurious. Photography is an art form, it's not about photo-realism. You should produce the image that you want to create and leave it to the viewer to decide whether they like it or not.
I'm definitely going to try this out. This is cool, thanks!
I tried it today and it made the final image way better! I'll continue to do this. Thanks for the info!
NICE ! wish i knew this early. For Nikon camera users try burst shot (cl or ch) much easier than timer :).
Brilliant Adam very clearly explained thanks very much. Can’t wait to give it a go 👍🏻
Loved it mate,,, keep up the good work, thanks again, Bob
You make everything seem so simple. As a beginner on the photographic trail I will be giving bracketing a go. Cheers.!
Does the artist like the end result? Nothing else matters.
Good stuff! Shame that the new Lightroom doesn’t have this feature, and I have to use the classic version
Definitely not cheating.
Спасибо, очень познавательно
Definitely will try bracketing. Looking forward to capturing a good sunset. Thanks.
How would I use bracketing for a Nikon D70?
Could one just turn on bracketing mode on our camera? Or is it better to do it the way you showed?
You don't have to be in manual mode.
great video!
Can you do this on Lightroom mobile app and if so how ???
Hi! I tried to take three shots at 0, -1, +1, on bracketing in the city. However I noticed the ghosting effect in the merger shots. Is there any way to remove it or what do you suggest? I use also Darktable.
Saves a lot of time rather than messing around with layers in PS. Also The HDR PS version is rubbish.
I usually deselect auto tone – makes it more natural