Bracketing

Many cameras offer one or more bracketing functions. The most common is auto exposure bracketing (AEB), which involves taking a series of pictures of the subject while changing the exposure level. The normal practice is to take three shots, one under-exposing by 1/3EV, the second at the metered exposure and the third over-exposing by 1/3EV. This basic strategy is a kind of ‘insurance policy’ for obtaining a correct exposure (there’s a good chance at least one of the three shots will be correctly exposed).
It doesn’t matter which order you take the shots in; nor does it matter whether you take three or five – or even more exposures. Cameras with AEB can often be set to take the series of shots automatically. The amount of over- and under-exposure can often be specified in the setup menu and you can normally bracket shots across the same range of exposure levels as the camera’s exposure compensation range. Other functions that can be bracketed include white balance, flash exposure and focus. White balance bracketing is used to obtain better colour accuracy in mixed lighting. It seldom requires multiple exposures; instead using in-camera processing to change colour balance. Flash bracketing is like exposure bracketing for flash but adjusts the flash output without changing the camera’s exposure settings.
Focus bracketing involves making small changes to the focus position. It’s most useful for macro photography where depth of field is very restricted and provides a reliable way to ensure key parts of the subject appear sharp. Some point-and-shoot cameras include a version of this function that takes up to 10 shots and automatically chooses the sharpest in the series, discarding the rest.
This is an excerpt from Mastering Digital Photography Pocket Guide 2nd Edition.
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