Today’s photo was taken at a small lake tucked back in the woods close to my home. I originally was out photographing moose, which are in the middle of rut. Nothing was happening when I arrived at the lake, I didn’t want to abandon my efforts on getting great moose photos, but something told me to stick around.
Fog off the lake was pretty thick, offering little definition of the surrounding landscape. I decided to make my way into the woods, a little scary because there’s been a big black bear in the area. Fog in the forest wasn’t offering much, so I made my way back down to the lake. I could see the blue sky above the fog, I wondered what the sunrise would do, so I held out a little longer.
I felt this kiss of light on the side of my face, and just like that… Well as you can see in the photo, it was pretty incredible!
As I was firing away, a photographer who’d recently showed up asked me “What’s up with the rapid fire on your camera, it’s not like the subject is moving.” To where I replied, I’m shooting with “Auto Exposure Bracketing”, an in camera feature. This Gal had no idea, and gladly offered to help showing her.
What is Auto Exposure Bracketing or (AEB)?
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) or from the manual, menu feature called Expo.comp./AEB, a feature that has been around for a while in Canon cameras. While AEB is offered in a variety of Canon cameras, but today I’ll speak to recent models like the 5D Mkiii, 5D Mkiv, which the feature is made accessible through menu options. Canon omitted this feature from the 1Dx and the 1Dx Mkii menu system and moved activation to function buttons – NICE! To turn on AEB for the 1Dx mkii, press the MODE and AF DRIVE buttons down at the same time. The two-button press is the only way to turn it on.
Canon Camera AEB Setup Tutorial
The good folks at Canon have produced an excellent tutorial on setting up your camera. They also saved the internet from one more video produced on setting up this feature.
It’s a lot easier than it sounds right? Learning this camera function will free you creativity in the field! What about editing? I’m glad asked!
How to Process Exposure Bracketed Photos
Lightroom or ON1 editing suites offer non-destructive photo merging tools. Once imported, select your group and merge them within either Adobe Lightroom or ON1. Here’s a great tutorial produced by Adobe to get you started!
I hope this was useful information, and benefits you out in the field and in editing. I’m grateful the woman who asked as it inspired me to share!
Look forward to seeing your shots, drop me a line!
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