HDR Exposure Bracketing Sunrise at Corfe Castle - Photo Biker 25

Trying to reduce the exposure of an incredibly bright sky to capture details without putting the foreground into silhouette is nearly impossible. At least, it is when armed with your camera alone. 

Fortunately, we can hop into Adobe Lightroom with our digital photos and create photo merge magic!

I put this to the test on an early morning jaunt to Corfe Castle. I was expecting some low-lying mist in the valley, making it look like the castle was floating above.

However, nature didn’t quite give me what I  was hoping for. No matter - it’s all part and parcel of photographing in natural environments, so we make the most of what’s on offer!

By the time I arrived at my shoot location, the sun had risen to a point behind the castle where it was interesting and moody to the naked eye. But, unfortunately, cameras don’t work the same way as our eyes do.

This meant I had a huge white out of the sky when shooting the scene and setting the correct exposure for the castle.

Not ideal.

If reduced the exposure - so the sky and clouds showed detail - the castle disappeared into the darkness.

So, how do we create a beautiful and sharp image when the light wants to overexpose some areas and under-expose others?

As you’ll see in my video, I chose to do some bracketing, popping my camera to HDR merge. I was in burst mode - continuous shooting mode - and went two stops on either side of what my camera was telling me. 

Doing this produced three images of different exposure, all of which were rubbish if used alone. So, what next? I went home to do a photo merge…

Adobe Lightroom is a fantastic tool for editing photos. It’s my preferred method for merging images, and it really works!

Check out my video to see what I shot and how I turned some badly exposed photos into one compelling picture using photo merge.

Did you know I have an Online Post Production Course? 

My 7 Steps To Perfect Pictures will help you become adept at editing your photos in Adobe Lightroom. Over 7 weeks of lessons, you will learn how to use brilliant tools and gain direction and ways to plan and execute images that convey feelings, personality and meaning.

Let’s get creative together!

Best wishes...