Exposure again

[technodunce]

Recently someone referred me to the luminance article on exposure.

I got confused about something and need a few corrections to my understanding.

I am trying to learn two things - a) how to expose correctly and
b) saying you don't have a perfect exposure, how to pick the best file to process.

When he talks about exposing to the right, i thought this meant overexposing the image. But I have just realised this means underexposing the image. Is this correct?

I did his contrast range test and I thought I got something like 7 stops range for my 40D. Is that possible? Are all 40Ds the same? What should it be if they are? And if so, how many over and under the correct exposure?

Cheers

[mike_d]

Exposing to the right means pushing the histogram to the right which is done by increasing the exposure, ie. making it brighter. You don't want to push it too far or you'll actually overexpose some pixels. If you see parts of your pictures flashing when you review in on the LCD and you see a spike on the histogram at the right edge, you went too far.

[technodunce]

When i'm correcting in photoshop, is it a big deal if I don't push the triangle back to black in the highlights. I know that means some of the detail is being lost but if the picture looks better, is it ok to stop there.

I seem to overexpose too much on my files. The light is strong here and often very contrasty.

[mike_d]

You don't want to overexpose in the camera because once that data is lost, no amount of Photoshop can bring back the detail. Can you post some examples of the problems shots?

[PhotosGuy]

Exposing to the right means pushing the histogram to the right which is done by increasing the exposure, ie. making it brighter. This is usually used with something in the low/medium tone range, like a blue flower on a green background, & is targeted toward RAW shooting.
exposing to the right (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=492272)
You don't want to push it too far or you'll actually overexpose some pixels. If you see parts of your pictures flashing when you review in on the LCD and you see a spike on the histogram at the right edge, you went too far. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, if the blown highlights are in an area where details aren't needed.
Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

[technodunce]

Exposing to the right for dark scenes - now that makes sense! Thanks for the links. I will check them out.

Of course I am shooting in raw. Doesn't everyone on this forum?

[technodunce]

Sorry i had a problem. I'll try again later.

[yogestee]

Of course I am shooting in raw. Doesn't everyone on this forum?

Nope,,not me..