topic Re: Bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DPP4, Which do I layer first? in Camera Software

Bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DPP4, Which do I layer first?

stevet1 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 03:02:33 GMT

Let's say I want to composit a bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DP04 (or really any editing software for that matter).

Which shot should I start with? The underexposed one? The over exposed one? Or the one in the middle?

What would be the proper layering sequence?

Steve Thomas

Re: Which do I layer first?

rs-eos — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 02:50:59 GMT

If you're manually compositing, you usually start with the middle capture since the majority of the content would presumably come from it. Then, use various techniques to bring up shadow detail using the overexposed layer and highlights with the underexposed layer.

Re: Which do I layer first?

stevet1 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 05:52:28 GMT

Ricky,

Thanks. I'll give that a shot.

Steve

Re: Bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DPP4, Which do I layer first?

jrhoffman75 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 10:27:49 GMT

@stevet1 wrote:

Let's say I want to composit a bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DP04 (or really any editing software for that matter).

Which shot should I start with? The underexposed one? The over exposed one? Or the one in the middle?

What would be the proper layering sequence?

Steve Thomas

If you are bracketing to increase dynamic range you would use the HDR tool.

Re: Bracketed shot of 3 exposures using DPP4, Which do I layer first?

p4pictures — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:34:01 GMT

If you use the HDR compositing tool in DPP, it doesn't matter the order of the images. The tool evaluates the selected images to work out which elements to bring from each file.