Return to Answer

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.

As usual when thinking about exposure in a DSLR, a good place to start is to expose to the right to produce the range of unclipped (and perhaps clipped) highlights consistent with your vision. Noise in the very dark portions -- i.e. Zone 0 of the Archer-Adams Zone system -- of the scene can be eliminated by raising the black point when developing the RAW file in the computer.

###Example The image was shot at ISO 12,800. Raising the black point eliminated most of the noise in the background so that only moderate denoising was required and the image could remain sharp.

The black point was similarly raised in this image to reduce stochastic noise in the shadows and move more of the pixels into Zone 0.

###Alternatives

• Standard HDR techniques are an option.
• Many cameras will highlight underexposed and overexposed areas of an image after capture. This can be used to indicate clipped highlights in cases where that is a concern.

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.

As usual when thinking about exposure in a DSLR, a good place to start is to expose to the right to produce the range of unclipped (and perhaps clipped) highlights consistent with your vision. Noise in the very dark portions -- i.e. Zone 0 of the Archer-Adams Zone system -- of the scene can be eliminated by raising the black point when developing the RAW file in the computer.

Example

The image was shot at ISO 12,800. Raising the black point eliminated most of the noise in the background so that only moderate denoising was required and the image could remain sharp.

The black point was similarly raised in this image to reduce stochastic noise in the shadows and move more of the pixels into Zone 0.

Alternatives

• Standard HDR techniques are an option.
• Many cameras will highlight underexposed and overexposed areas of an image after capture. This can be used to indicate clipped highlights in cases where that is a concern.

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.

As usual when thinking about exposure in a DSLR, a good place to start is to expose to the right to produce the range of unclipped (and perhaps clipped) highlights consistent with your vision. Noise in the very dark portions -- i.e. Zone 0 of the Archer-Adams Zone system -- of the scene can be eliminated by raising the black point when developing the RAW file in the computer.

###Example The image was shot at ISO 12,800. Raising the black point eliminated most of the noise in the background so that only moderate denoising was required and the image could remain sharp.

The black point was similarly raised in this image to reduce stochastic noise in the shadows and move more of the pixels into Zone 0.

###Alternatives

• Standard HDR techniques are an option.
• Many cameras will highlight underexposed and overexposed areas of an image after capture. This can be used to indicate clipped highlights in cases where that is a concern.

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.

As usual when thinking about exposure in a DSLR, a good place to start is to expose to the right to produce the range of unclipped (and perhaps clipped) highlights consistent with your vision. Noise in the very dark portions -- i.e. Zone 0 of the Archer-Adams Zone system -- of the scene can be eliminated by raising the black point when developing the RAW file in the computer.

###Example The image was shot at ISO 12,800. Raising the black point eliminated most of the noise in the background so that only moderate denoising was required and the image could remain sharp.

The black point was similarly raised in this image to reduce stochastic noise in the shadows and move more of the pixels into Zone 0.

###Alternatives

• Standard HDR techniques are an option.
• Many cameras will highlight underexposed and overexposed areas of an image after capture. This can be used to indicate clipped highlights in cases where that is a concern.

What constitutes proper exposure depends on the photographer's visualization of the final image.