What are bracketed photos?

Photographing a high contrast scene requires taking multiple exposures to make sure that information is captured in both the brightest and darkest parts of the scene. The underexposed photos capture the highlights, while the overexposed photos capture the shadows.

Photos of the same scene taken with different exposures are usually called "bracketed" photos, in reference to the Automatic Exposure Bracketing function available on many camera models.

The number of photos you need depends on the contrast in the scene, as well as the Exposure Value (EV) spacing separating the photos. If you take them in one-EV steps, you will need more photos than if you take them in two-EV steps.

For most landscapes and other types of outdoor scenes, three exposures taken in two-EV steps (i.e. -2, 0 +2 EV), or five exposures taken in one-EV steps, are sufficient.

For the interior of a room with views out of the windows, however, three exposures taken in two-EV steps may not be sufficient if the room is quite dark while the scene is taken on a sunny day.

That said, you will always get better results for an interior with bright windows when you take 3 exposures, compared to just one single photo. The basic technique for taking an interior details the steps to take the 3 exposures.

If you need to capture all the details in the views and still see the darkest part of the interior well, then use the advanced technique instead.