Bracketing, color VS B&W

[pbromaghin]

The Kodak Master PhotoGuide for Still Picturemaking is a wonderful little 3" x 4" booklet chock-full of photographic tips; guides; natural and flash exposure; Computers for Effective Aperture, Daylight, Existing, Floodlight, Fill-in exposure, and Depth of Field. It sold for $1.95 in 1965.

In the "Your Approach to Exposure" chapter, on page 3, regarding Unknown Conditions, it says:

"If the importance of the subject justifies it, make a bracketing series of 3 or 5 exposures, each 4 times the last, with the middle exposure the same as your estimate. In color photography, make each exposure twice that of the preceding one."

So, in 1965, the state of the art of bracketing was to do 5 B&W exposures over 8 stops or 5 color exposures over 4 stops.

Is this still the case? Do you bracket 2 stops each exposure, or only 1? Do you do 3 or 5 exposures? Do you do it differently for color and B&W?

 

[Minoltafan2904]

When shooting Provia 100F or Velvia 50 i will sometimes bracket 3 exposures, one at what the meter tells me and from there one half stop under and one half stop over "normal" exposure.
With B&W i will bracket two stops over 5 exposures, 1 "normal " and from there -1, -0.5 and +0.5, +1
With colour neg i hardly ever bracket.

 

[David Allen]

If you understand how to meter a scene there is no need to bracket you exposure.

The only time that I will make more than one negative of a particular scene is when I have to use a shutter speed of 1/30s or 1/15s. In this case, both negatives will have the same exposure but I will make two exposures just in case the first image has a little bit of camera shake.

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de

 

[Bill Burk]

I agree with advice to bracket black and white by 2 stops (if you feel bracketing is called for) because 1 stop hardly makes a difference. I’m not sure which opinionated writer explained it in colorful detail but probably Fred Picker.

I often shoot pairs with one frame 2 stops overexposed, not for bracketing purposes, but so I can use the density differences to spot-check development.

I fully expect both shots to be printable.

 

[TheRook]

Is this still the case? Do you bracket 2 stops each exposure, or only 1? Do you do 3 or 5 exposures? Do you do it differently for color and B&W?

There really are no hard rules concerning exposure bracketing. Besides the type of film used, it also depends on the lighting and tonal dynamics of the scene you are capturing, as well as what you are trying to accomplish - specifically, why you are choosing to shoot the bracket.
The Kodak Master PhotoGuide bracketing suggestion is mostly for those who are inexperienced with bracketing, and based on the most typical scenarios.

 

[LeftCoastKid]

When shooting transparency film, my habit is to shoot at "correct" meter reading, then bracket +/- 1/3, 2/3, for most situations. Rather than reflect a mistrust of the camera meter, my habit is borne more of "I wonder what this scene would look like with a bit more/less exposure". Admittedly, it consumes a bit of film, but I'd rather that than find myself regretting taking a single shot - that didn't turn out quite right - and having no recourse. For my black and white work, I won't bracket unless I am facing a very challenging, quickly changing lighting conditions.