The TRUTH behind Exposing to the Right !

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In this video, I visit a winter wonderland hilltop location and talk about a photography exposure technique.
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[@thomascuffari7757]

Excellent video once again, Ian. I'm almost 80 years old and have been in photography since I started shooting weddings in my early 20s and I still learn something in each of your videos. I have the bonus of using the same equipment as yourself so the tip of natural live view hit home for me. One suggestion that I would find helpful is if you would list the focal length of each shot along with the exposure information. Thanks.

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 🙏 sounds like a good idea, i will do that 👍

[@dan.allen.digital]

Turn on natural live view and the RGB histogram, reduce exposure until none of the red, green, or blue channels are touching the right, take picture. Sometimes this will be 2 stops underexposed but will get you good colors in a bright sunset

[@robertstonephoto]

The blue channel was blown out in the histogram. Common on snowy days and blue skies.

[@ian_worth]

yes, i agree the rgb is well worth checking

[@ericsensible2351]

Thanks I'll give it a. Eric

[@BrunoChalifour]

Well, this is not exactly "exposing to the right", is it? ;o)

[@nicksmall428]

Great to see and hear someone who loves their work but without any bias towards a specific technique or process, good stuff indeed.

[@michaelt7320]

Some great images and a point well made. When I moved from film to digital some years ago, ETTR was a regular piece of advice. I soon realised, as you demonstrated, that the histogram was often too wide to allow that option, and that blown highlights were far worse than noise and loss of detail in the shadows. Another reason given for ETTR was that it enabled a lower ISO but, as you said, modern sensors and software handle noise much better. Thanks for a great video, Ian.

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 👍

[@BrunoChalifour]

ETTR was meant to use the information that the blue channel (slower/less sensitive than the rd and especially green channels) could gather while the two others might be over-exposed. It would also meant to avoid coloured noise in the shadows. It makes less sense now with the evolution of the sensors (especially less noise in shadows).

[@julianpaxton5750]

Beautiful photographs Ian. And good video content. Well done.

[@patrickmorgan7173]

Love learning new things...great video!

[@ian_worth]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@the_rat_run]

Beautiful location, and some great photos taken, Ian. I enjoyed watching, particuarly as we haven't had snow this far South yet!

[@ian_worth]

Hopefully you will get some soon 👍

[@rogerwalton8160]

I'm so envious of the weather you had! Great video.

[@ian_worth]

Yes it was amazing, first time we've had snow in 2 years

[@TedSchade88]

Excellent advice. Where you position your histogram is so dependent on your subject. Like your snowy day, I shoot a lot of beach scenes with big waves and lots of rocks. When exposing to the right, I find that I lose the fine details in my splashes, white water and foam. The shots look great in the shadows and mids, but what makes the scenes exciting are the white splashes. Exposing to the left a bit gives me more latitude to bring out the detail in the white water, even if it may hide some of the dark rocky shadows. Worth it. Also, set your camera to show all three histogram channels (RGB). It’s much more accurate than just the lumped luminosity histogram. Excellent video, new subscriber.

[@joao.s.cardoso]

Another great video Ian. I usually dont mind to use ISO from 125 to 800 on the X-H2 and I get pretty decent results and when we have a bit of noise, the new LR and PS denoise tools are amazing even for Fujifilm. I do try to get as lower ISO as I can, and even used ISO64 in some cases, just to get a slower shutter speed, and most of the time I never expose to the right. Trying to get a balanced exposure in camera usually works best. What Ive been doing lately is to exposure bracket. 80% of the times I just use the normal exposed frame, but sometimes it saves me a lot of trouble having the under and over exposed frames to recover highlights and shadows. Just need to be careful not to create the HDR effect that usually we get when we get over enthusiastic about the "perfect" exposure. Cheers

[@ian_worth]

Glad you enjoyed it 😁👍

[@matthewpatterson9184]

Nicely done, Ian. With my X-T5, I find that the dynamic range (especially at lower ISO values) is more than enough for the majority of scenes I shoot. Where the lightning might be a little more tricky, I like to bracket either side by a stop or so. When I have exposed to the right with the X-T5 (and previous X series cameras), more often than not I found the highlights to be blown, though that's highly likely to be user error of course. 😄

[@ian_worth]

Thanks Matthew, 👍👍

[@BrunoChalifour]

In fact with today's sensors it is safer (and paradoxical compared to 15 years ago) to Expose To The Left ;o) (no risk of blown-out highlights and so much information to be recovered from the shadows.

[@randyschwager2515]

I have to agree with you on this! Also, you captured some amazing images, proving your point! Thanks for taking me along!

[@ian_worth]

Glad you enjoyed it! 🙏👍

[@christophermason7735]

Nice video Ian. I also set the live view neutral settings to minimum sharpness and minimum contrast to bring the live histogram closer to the raw. I really like seeing a pro like you use APSC. I have a used Canon 7Dmkii and you validate me not rushing out to spend a fortune on FF body and lenses. I might go for an R7 in the future to get better IS for hand held but for now like you APSC works for me.

[@SebastianBevanPhotography]

Couldn’t agree more Ian, I moved from the canon 5dmkii (quite a few years old now) to a new R series camera and it exposes scenes so much better, especially high contrast scenes , in the olden days I would have to expose to the right a bit but. It now, cameras are so good, great video chap

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 👍

[@rayharvey1339]

Hi Ian lovely photos and great advice for a novice as myself with quite old gear with no histogram but I get what you're saying I just have to check each photo as I take it cheers

[@ian_worth]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@dennismurray703]

What fantastic scenery and those compositions were brilliant, with my favourite being the second image of the tree. Also an excellent review of ITTR and use of histograms. Sounds like it's a good idea to steer clear of using ITTR given increased risk of unrecoverable blown out highlights. I really enjoy that your videos are field based as you have some wonderfully varied landscapes there in Wales that I enjoy visiting - virtually - with you! PS no chance of snow where I live in Australia!

[@malcolmbrooks9527]

I love the clouds you got - always like a cumulonimbus, especially with mammatus (the dangling protuberances at the edge of the cloud). Clouds can certainly add to a landscape.

[@ian_worth]

Definitely 👍👍

[@colinyoung9432]

Great video again Ian, thank you so much, Colin Devon ...

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 🙏

[@AliasJimWirth]

This is an excellent take on the subject of exposure in our modern digital era. Thank you, Ian.

[@JustinCooperPhotography]

Fantastic as always, went up the same location at first light and got some lovely cloudscape image's

[@ian_worth]

it was amazing wasn't it 👍

[@nicktippey7331]

Great video thanks, another myth exploded 🙂, I really liked the 3 rock shot, I tend to get distracted by the whole vista and don't "see" compositions like this..

[@robingordon5630]

Where is this beautiful geography? Your photographs are amazing!

[@ASMPHOTO]

Thank You for another great lesson

[@ian_worth]

My pleasure!

[@mwhennaz]

Thanks for yet another great video Ian. I saw something in the histograms as you pushed them to the right that I had noticed before but it had never triggered this thought or that I did anything about. What I noticed is the compression in the brighter part of the histogram that occurs before you officially start clipping. Since the histogram becomes narrower in this area, you are also losing contrast, or detail, in the right most part of the histogram which you pointed out in the test image of the camera. I would argue, based on this, that you ETTR until you start to see the histogram change shape in that right hand portion. After all, if the histogram changes it's shape, you have changed the way your camera is measuring the relative luminosity of the scene and therefore your image. My follow-up question to this observation is, why does the histogram change shape like this well before hitting that right hand edge, instead of maintaining that shape until the pixels "officially" clip. I thought maybe the application of the profile, but you'll see this in the raw file as well. Interested to hear your thoughts.

[@ian_worth]

That's super interesting and a really valid point. 👍

[@TAdams-hx9lk]

Addicted to your channel...in a good way. Would you consider leaving the exposure info on screen a little longer? My brain needs more time to consider the settings and study the shot. Would be less stressful for viewing imo. Thanks for all your effort and skill.

[@ian_worth]

Sure thing, and thanks for watching 👍

[@lowellprice]

I agree with you. I have shot with full frame Nikon camera bodies (D810, D850, Z7II, and Z8). I believe my best images are from shots taken with balanced histograms. I only use ETTR when there are no highlights present that can be blown out, and foreground shadows need to be lifted a bit.

[@ian_worth]

Same here 👍

[@checkeredflagfilms]

impressive location. imo the tree and one other shot would have been more dramatic and artistic had they been graded for black/white. imo only the final shot with the red sky warranted color. just my opinion of course.

[@garylockley1001]

Once again stunning pictures...if only I could do the same. All the gear, no idea.

[@ian_worth]

Keep practicing buddy, and you will get great shots 👍

[@stevedavies8776]

Hi Ian, great video as ever. However, I find that particularly where there is a lot of snow, getting it to look "White" as opposed to grey, is a real challenge, I assume this is because the camera's metering is trying to under-expose, and for this reason, I do tend to increase my exposure by about a stop, but this can lead to blown highlights. Your images looked white, and I wonder how you achieved this, do you spot meter? keep up the good work, Steve.

[@davidmill7289]

Interesting video thanks Ian and some great images. I guess the dynamic range of the camera may have an impact also? My Sony a6500 APSC seems to handle contrasty exposures a bit better than my Olympus MFT for example. I always try to protect the highlights unless I’m happy to blow out the sun if shooting straight on.

[@ian_worth]

Very true, Thanks buddy 👍

[@ifell3]

You get some really warm shots in cold weather! I think this might have been good to take the same shot with the different adjustments and then show the difference in editing in the software!

[@ian_worth]

Yeah,the sun is very low in the sky during winter allowing those golden tones to come through, the sunset was really colorful too. 👍

[@brendallsterling4117]

I'm always afraid to take my canon out in this weather even though I have a Canon r6 mark 11. Beautiful shots you taken and great information ! Thanks

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 👍

[@adammacsween3230]

Thank you once again for producing another great video.

[@iaincphotography6051]

Not so much as exposing to the right but exposing for the H/Ls, as in make sure they are not burnt out, if they are burnt out no inks will hit the print (yuk). I have one custom setting set for shoot to edit. the film sim settings are all zero so I get something near to a RAW file, in other words I don't shoot to create pretty jpegs on the back screen. Some cracking skies in your shots Ian.

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 👍

[@KasiaCoe]

Stunning photos!

[@ian_worth]

Glad you like them! 😊

[@juergenbaumann8817]

It is worth to consider exposure bracketing, e.g expose for the highlights and get two more shots below. Has it's limitations of course. And some brands might offer some additional metering as Nikon on the Z7ii, that tends to preserve highlights better.

[@ian_worth]

Yes bracketing is always a good option. 👍

[@user-zd8zy5xb6i]

Beautiful images, thank you.

[@Coloradohiker658]

Beautiful images

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy 🙏

[@theradarguy]

Thanks for the videos. Actually, I am always impressed how you just walk through gates to get to your beautiful sites. Around here every property is fenced with few gates and if you went through one without permission (not easy to get) you risk getting shot at.

[@mauriciogarfield7122]

I liked these gloves! Have you cut the thumb and pointing finger tips yourself?

[@ian_worth]

They are from sealskinz

[@Martin-nu6ym]

For my m43 cameras, I find it important to expose for the shadows if the scene has a lot of contrast. With my full frame cameras, it is the opposite, expose for the highlights because it is easy to recover the shadows. For my infrared cameras, I have to check the RGB histograms to see which channel might have highlight clipping.

[@ian_worth]

great advice 👍

[@dronepilotcontractors4094]

Thanks for another good one! I like your comment about exposing to the right if there are not bright highlights! Do you ever use ND filters on you bright snow shots?

[@ian_worth]

Thanks buddy, 👍

[@kencawley3121]

I use ETTR to just ensure I haven't "crushed the blacks" which is a term we used in analogue video when setting camera gain on a waveform monitor. While not truly analogous, I approach the histogram as a WFM turned sideways

[@AlainLafleche1]

I find it difficult to take photos in winter. Lately in my area, the sky is completely overcast, only gray clouds, it seems more suitable for taking black and white photos.

[@ian_worth]

Its been grey here too for the last few days. like you said, perfect for black and white photos 👍

[@michaelwhiles5282]

Hello from the Sunny Dry and Warm UK 😀

[@ian_worth]

Hello there! 👍😁

[@regionalphotos]

I find this ETTR strange; mainly because I used to ETTL (shoot with a -.7 adjustment) to get the detail in the highlights that I wanted. Now that was with Nikon D100's, D70's and D200's. With the later Nikon Cameras I find I no longer need to use such a compensation, in most cases, because the sensors are capable of maintaining the detail in the highlights that I want. Mind you I'm talking mainly close-up and macro although I found using a -.7 on landscapes benefit as well. Hence I have never found the need for ETTR. BTW would love to see you back on VERO.

[@ian_worth]

Cheers buddy 👍

[@cmac1455]

Thanks Ian. Unfortunately my camera can be quite noisy in the shadows so ETTR and exposure occassional bracketing are a necessity. What camera bag are you using? My current 25L is too small for hiking and I'm looking to upgrade.

[@ian_worth]

Its by lowepro 👍👍

[@peterhudson7972]

Hi Ian, i am a fellow Fuji guys and was wondering which film simulation you use in the field for setting exposure?

[@johnhubble5156]

A couple of points: I don't think you mentioned highlight clipping indicators or blinkies. If your are shooting towards the sun even with light cloud cover it is highly likely you will have to accept some level of clipping and the indicators will help you to judge what you feel is acceptable. Also you did mention the amount of information you ccapture but I think it worth pointing out that if you expose by one stop less than ETTR you are halving the information you capture irrespective of how good your sensor is. Of course you can always bracket to make sure.

[@Gavin_Eade]

Setting the cat amongst the pigeons lol

[@ian_worth]

As always, haha

[@justinhopkins8844]

All well and good but I have found that sometime a channel , I.e. RGB can be overexposed. I use a Nikon.

[@ian_worth]

yes, I've noticed that too, its well worth checking the RGB histogram when in tricky lighting situations 👍

[@granddadmark7639]

Final image ❤

[@ian_worth]

yeah got lucky with those colours, 👍

[@aaronclinesmith2286]

I tried ETTR for a while and found in general it was more hurtful than helpful.

[@ian_worth]

I agree 👍

[@WalkingDday]

Where is your back pack available?

[@gwhennessy]

Was going to ask the same. Yours are the videos I make sure I watch every week. Well done and thank you.

[@ian_worth]

you can check it out on my gear page www.iworthphotos.com/my-gear 👍

[@WilsonPhotography1]

With your examples, as you stated, there was no wiggle room to the left or right. I would have liked to have seen and example where you did expose to the right and then took another of the same scene exposed more neutral as you prefer. Then to have seen the amount of difference in the dark areas (noise) when edited to look the same. Also I think your video leaned a bit much to the assumption that everyone is shooting with the latest gear.

[@ian_worth]

I did do an example where i compared an ettr shot with a regular or slightly underexposed shot. You might have missed it. 👍😊

[@nickyfoulkes8476]

What is that white stuff not seen that here sadly. Envious. Thank you.

[@ian_worth]

Hopefully you will get some soon

[@BrunoChalifour]

This "exposing to the right" is not today such a good piece of advice, neither is "exposing to the left" (although this is valid for monochrome cameras that are trickier to use concerning highlights (no blue channel)), it guarantees getting potential blown-out highlights, especially with JPGs (and noisy shadows). I do agree with the video that with what the sensors can achieve now (dynamic range, and shadow rendition), it is better to give oneself some "wiggle" room. It is now amazing what one can retrieve from the shadows in post. "Protecting highlights" as is mentioned near 9'30" is for me a more useful piece of advice than "exposing to the right" (except as mentioned here there are no bright lights in the frame): the eye, and the viewer's eye always goes where the light is and there should rewarded by legible information. Each image has to be exposed right for the situation under which it is taken. JPG are not "typically" more contrasty, they may show more contrast and color saturation by default but that can be easily be adjusted through the camera's menu.

[@jaceacekalgoorlie]

I exposed to the right and got slapped.

[@user-ep4sz9cc4w]

🙏💐🌿🌹🌿💐🙏

[@jcben]

ETTR only ever made sense with Canon dslr because their sensor was garbage. It has improved since

[@badtweed2087]

ETTR is great if you don't mind unrecoverable blown highlights. No thanks.