What If Your Camera Doesn’t Have Bracketing?

Don’t worry, even if your camera doesn’t have built-in bracketing, you can still shoot bracketed frames to create your HDR image—you just need to know the trick. Of course, start by setting your camera to aperture priority mode (A on Nikons, or Av on Canons), then choose your f-stop for your HDR shots (I usually shoot at f/11). Now, take one shot, then use the exposure compensation control for your camera to take the next shot at –2 EV (that gives you the 2-stops-darker shot you need), then go the opposite direction to +2 EV and take your third shot (that gives you the 2-stops-brighter shot that you need). That’s it—you’ve got all three images you need to make your HDR shot. Now, if you haven’t used exposure compensation before, here’s how....