Expose to the Right - How far?

[Spodeworld]

I am wondering just how far you are supposed to take exposing to the right when shooting a dark subject in a dark environment.

I understand that in most normal situations, if you practice ETTR, then your historgram should reach right up to the right end of the spectrum, without pixels actually hitting the end point (if possible). What happens when the scenario is basically quite dark and the histogram would normally be bunched up towards the left side. How would you practice ETTR in such a situation?

Thanks.

Steve

[greenwing]

Originally Posted by Spodeworld

I am wondering just how far you are supposed to take exposing to the right when shooting a dark subject in a dark environment.

I understand that in most normal situations, if you practice ETTR, then your historgram should reach right up to the right end of the spectrum, without pixels actually hitting the end point (if possible). What happens when the scenario is basically quite dark and the histogram would normally be bunched up towards the left side. How would you practice ETTR in such a situation?

Thanks.

Steve

Substitute 'all' for 'most normal' above, and I think you're about there. The idea is to maximise the signal-to-noise ratio, so with a dark scene you expose for longer than the 'proper' exposure and wind the exposure down in post-processing, thus getting a proper exposure with minimal noise.

Chris