Bracketing and how many?

[blansky]

Let’s assume I specialise in portrait photography and have taken a hundred or so with my own inimitable style. A multimillionaire likes my style and commissions me to take one of him. This I do but after I have printed it I decide to put a huge blob of green oil paint on the right hand side of the face. But wait, he may not like this, he may not pay me, will he commission me again?

What is creative about putting green paint on his face.

Why would I want to do that?

In fact if he asked me to do that, I wouldn't do it.

But if I somehow decided that it was a perfect place for green paint, then I could do that, but just on my personal copy and not the one he commissioned.

Are you somehow stating that because I can't do something in a commercial setting that this inhibits my creativity?

Are you stating that commercial photographers aren't creative?

Most photographs that we photographers revere were done while the photographer was working and being paid.

[Thomas Bertilsson]

No bracketing. I used to, but like Eggleston I get confused come printing time which negative to pick, so I just shoot one frame now.
To me, it's just good practice of my skills and keeps me sharp, and it also builds trust in my ability. Since my work is personal, it's not a big deal if I lose a frame due to a problem with my technique.

If I were a professional photographer, my take on it might be different.

[cliveh]

Are you somehow stating that because I can't do something in a commercial setting that this inhibits my creativity?

Yes

[blansky]

Yes

Then obviously you would be wrong.

[Bob Carnie]

Currently on the project I am working on I am shooting a room away from where I am developing. At the start of each session I set up a shot, bracket what I think is normal and one over. Go into the darkroom develop , solarize , develop then into stop and fix. I judge the best makie lines and go with that exposure.
Today I exposed 40 sheets with no brackets and am getting the lines I want.


Outdoors is another thing, since I do not use a meter, I wet finger in the air to determine my settings , Therefore I estimate an exposure and bracket one half stop over as the second exposure. Works very well for me.
I use 160 ISo colour neg film and I use ISO 160 for HP5 so I use the same thinking for both colour and black/white.

[Diapositivo]

How would you manage your shots if you were being paid for your work. Say $10,000 to get the shot.

Would you bracket, take a couple more exposures, overshoot the shot.

For that budget I would not just bracket every single frame when possible, but also do it with different cameras, each roll sent to a different laboratory, or developed by myself in different batches, not forgetting to hire a second set of cameras, all CLA-ed carefully, and with a good insurance against client complaints on top

Professional highly paid work needs many forms of redundancy, and bracketing is just one of them.

Outside of this kind of specific situations I think bracketing "as a rule" creates more problems than it solves.

If you get out with your bicycle you only get your pump. If you are at a professional race you bring a car with several backup bicycles on the roof.

[Michael R 1974]

If I am unsure about the best course of action for filtration/exposure/development, which can occasionally be the case under difficult contrast conditions, I will bracket. No point in not bracketing in a situation like that. Best to do whatever it takes in the field to come away with the picture. After all, if you end up with a crap negative you can't print to your satisfaction, you don't get any points for not having bracketed. That's why I can't understand people who will not bracket based on principle. Nobody is 100% sure 100% of the time, and it isn't a technical exam in which you can get partial credit for "showing your work".

[blansky]

I think a lot of this comes from large format people who are very anal in how they shoot and take a lot of time to make the shot. They also pride themselves on not cropping (obviously for contact printing) and on a very deliberate approach.

Being a recipient of Murphys Law for a long time, I always over shoot whatever I do. Just in case....

[Michael R 1974]

Early on in my musical education (was starting trumpet lessons at the time), I had a smart teacher who noticed I had a tendency to overanalyze my embouchure, often to the detriment of my playing. He reminded me what counts is the sound. If you sound like shit, a textbook set of chops counts for nothing.

[Alan Klein]

I shoot landscapes on medium format on a tripod using both chromes and negatives. I bracket +/- 1 stop against box ASA. I often shoot early or late in the day so exposures could be a problem, It's no big deal, works for me and I don't take that many pictures in an outing. In fact, if I didn't bracket, I often would not use the ten shots on the roll (6x7) on the same day. My calculated exposures are probably mostly on but I haven't really checked. I probably should bracket 2/3 of a stop or 1/2 stop. But I like switching the shutter speed, it's easier, and shutters are in whole stops.