Hi folkes, a question on bracketing exposures. In colour slide I have been told by a pro that bracketing either side by half a stop is sufficient as slide film is sensitive. I tried it and he's right. However I wanted to ask if any of you bracket with your B&W film and if so by how much. If I remember correctly a full stop is required to register sufficient difference on neg. Come to think of it I have seldom bracketed with B&W possibly because I think there is latitude in the printing stage to make up for it. But for what its worth I think I will bracket from now on in locations I visit abroad. For a couple more precautionary exposures can make the difference between an 'OK' to a perfect exposure on neg. Guess I must be getting lazy and too impatient to move to the next photo opportunity. Thanks in advance to all responses. Cheers,

-- Sparkie (sparkie@mailcity.com), September 14, 2001

Answers

I don't bracket at all with B&W, but if I did, I'd do it in full stops.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), September 14, 2001.

Why not calibrate your system (meter, shutter, film) instead? Most, if not all, practitioners of the Zone System run tests to find their personal EIs and normal development times which will allow them to place tones (in a normal scene) with a fair degree of accuracy. Bracketing can get you to the same place but why shoot more film than necessary?

A half-stop difference produces noticeable negative density; however, not all papers may be able to reproduce the difference. I'm with you on nailing the perfect exposure but it depends on my mood ;)

-- Bong Munoz (bong@techie.com), September 14, 2001.

Depends on the film.

Slide film has a lot less latitude, so I tend to try half stops, although full stops is not out of the question.

Negative film has a lot more latitude, so I usually do one 2 exposures, the "straight" one and then another one brakcets up a stop or two or more. A lot of the time dense negatives are easier to print.

As for bracketing being a sign of the weak... if you are working fast in tricky light, it's better to be "weak" than not bring home the shot you wanted Often different brackets show very different interpretations of the scene. There is no shame in making sure.

-- Pete Su (psu_13@yahoo.com), September 14, 2001.

Thanks Bong, but how do you go about calibrating your system?

-- sparkie (sparkie@mailcity.com), September 14, 2001.

Many people have done a much better job at describing the testing procedure so I'll just point you to the relevant sites:

• Zone System by Lewis Downey
• The Ultimate Monochrome Print by Jon Fishback
• Personalizing Your Film Speed, Part I by Tom Halfhill

The best tip I got was to use a diffuser (see the Zone System site) instead of a gray card for making the test exposures. I bought a small sheet of (scrap) translucent white (milky) plexiglass from a local signmaker. Finally, outside of a testing lab, there's some degree of freedom (aka slop) in the system so don't worry about getting the perfect exposure for every image.

<http://www.cicada.com/pub/photo/zs>
<http://www.heylloyd.com/technicl/fishback.htm>
<http://www.halfhill.com/speed1.html>

-- Bong Munoz (bong@techie.com), September 14, 2001.

bracket like crazy, if you, and if time permits. shoot your so called "on exposures", and rapidly follow thru with more exposures, in the direction experience tells you to go. keep shooting until the scene is gone.

i have noticed that 1/2 stop brackets are pointless for pictorial app. full stops are suffiecent. films like provia and other newer types will accept alot of overexposure, so try it. exposure really is a matter of taste, learned from experience...

brackets, also, are important for learning.

-- erik (erikcarlhanson@hotmail.com), November 22, 2001.