Michael, I use essentially the same approach for imaging astronomical objects with a wide dynamic range. It works great for that as well. Tyler _____________________________________________ -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+tylerallred=earthlink.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+tylerallred=earthlink.net@mailman.xmission.co m] On Behalf Of Michael Carnes Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 2:32 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Digital camera Ok, I lied. One more comment. Exposure bracketing is incredibly useful when you're not too sure of the best exposure. But it's also mighty cool for one other thing--image stacking. There are a lot of beautiful places out here that are very hard to photograph because of the dynamic range. A typical desert shot has things in full sun and things in the shade. It's hard--and sometimes impossible--to get a single exposure that gets it all. Here comes bracketing to save the day. I'll set up a bracket that gives me three exposures. One's the 'optimal' exposure. Another is two stops up and the last is two stops down. So I'll typically get a shot that's a little underexposed and one that's a little overexposed. Photoshop combines these photos into a single high-dynamic-range image, throwing away the under/overexposed data. You can then bring this into a displayable/printable range. The results can be stunning. Obviously a good tripod is required, but you might be able to find one somewhere around the house. I've done stacks like this with as many a 9-10 exposures. It's way cool. MC