Outdoor Photography How To

If you've never tried the exposure bracketing function on your camera, you need to bust it out right away because it can be a "lifesaver," according to photographer Pierre T. Lambert. This is particularly true, he says, when you're shooting scenes of high contrast, such as sunsets or in direct sunlight.

"Bracketing is something that is essential when you're shooting," Lambert notes in the below video, which was shot on location in French Polynesia. "There are times when you don't know if you should expose for the sky or if you should expose for the shadows, or the face of a person. You don't want to blow out any of those. If you blow out the shadows, you're going to have a hard time recovering them, and if you blow out the highlights it's going to be even more difficult."

When you turn exposure bracketing on, your camera will take three shots in succession at different exposures: one underexposed, one "correctly" exposed, and one that is overexposed. (You can also adjust camera bracketing to shoot five shots at different stops of exposure.)

"Imagine you blow out highlights, well you can always grab the one photo that was underexposed," he adds. "Then you can bring those two shots together in editing, meaning do a composite, and maybe do some HDR on it. Or you can simply use the one you prefer."

Watch the video where Lambert demonstrates the exposure bracketing function on his camera and then go visit his awesome YouTube channel.