Exposure Bracketing:
Another advantage for my shooting style is the ability to bracket both exposure and white balance at the same time. In JPEG mode the Rebel Series will allow you to bracket 3 exposure settings and 3 white balance settings. See the manual for specific instructions on how to make the settings. I usually set the exposure bracketing to 1/3 stop or 2/3 stop, depending on how contrasty the scene is. The more contrast, the wider the bracket.
Then I usually set the exposure compensation so that my unbracketed exposure (the middle mark of my 3 exposure bracket) is 1/3, 2/3, or even 1 stop underexposed. The right hand mark of my bracket (the lightest of the three exposures) will usually be set on -1/3 stop underexposure. The reason for this is that from experience I know that the XT tends to overexpose the kind of subject I shoot a little bit, and that my most common exposure problem is blown out highlights. Next, I set the exposure mode to multiple. Now, when I press and hold the shutter button, the camera will fire off three frames.
Regardless of the fact that I'm bracketing, I still always look at the histograms to make sure that I have at least one satisfactory exposure, and if I don't, I'll shift everything over further to the underexposed side and shoot again. Back at the computer, I look at the three levels of exposure and decide whether I need to use masks and layers to combine elements of two exposures in order to manage contrast.
Then I set the white balance bracketing in much the same way. First, I set the white balance to "AWB". Then I set the white balance bracketing so that the outer 2 marks are 2 dots away from the center dot. Then, using the thumbwheel, I shift the three marks to the right 2 dots so that the left hand mark is on the neutral position at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal axes. The middle mark will then be 2 dots toward the amber side, and the right hand mark will be 4 dots toward amber.
When I press the shutter button, as I said, the camera fires 3 frames. It creates and records 6 white balance brackets electronically, so that I have a total of 9 frames to choose from. Needless to say, this fills up a memory card pretty quickly.
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