So, what if you’re doing everything right in terms of metering and mode selection, yet your images still sometimes come out too light or too dark? A technique called “bracketing” will help you find the best exposure value for your scene by taking three exposures: one normal shot, one overexposed, and one underexposed. Having these differing exposure values will most often present you with one frame that just looks better than the others. I use the Bracketing function all the time.
With Bracketing enabled, you can choose how much variation is applied to the exposure compensation, from one-third of a stop all the way to two stops per bracketed exposure. Bracketing helps you zero in on that perfect exposure, and you can just delete the ones that didn’t make the grade (Figures 10.5–10.7).
Setting auto-exposure bracketing
- Press the Function/Set button and select the Bracketing icon (third from the top) (A).
- Use the Control dial to choose the Auto-Exposure Bracketing (AEB) mode.
- Press the Display button to access the AEB settings.
- Turn the Control dial to choose how many stops from zero the exposure compensation should be (B).
- Press the Function/Set button to return to the shooting mode.
- When you’re ready to capture the shot, press the shutter button once; the camera takes all three exposures.
The camera takes the normal image first, then the underexposed image, and finally the overexposed image. When I am out shooting, I typically shoot with my camera set to an exposure compensation of –1/3 stop to protect my highlights.
Focus Bracketing
In addition to exposure bracketing, the G12 includes a bracketing mode for focusing. Choose Focus-BKT mode from the Bracketing menu item described above. Pressing the Display button lets you set the focus depth of the bracketed shots: large, medium, and small. Switch to Manual Focus in your shooting mode and press the shutter button. The camera takes three shots with varying focus depths.