My ETTR / EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT Photography Technique | The Wilderness Photography Expeditions S1E1
This video discusses my ETTR or expose to the right photography technique on a 6 backpacking trip into the rain forest.
Here are the resources & links mentioned in the video.
Color Theory Photography Guide:
Exposure Guide:
Camera Sensor Size & Image Quality Guide:
Exposure Bracketing Technique Video:
MY LATEST PHOTOS:
Enjoy,
Dave
#ETTR #ExposeToTheRight #WildernessPhotography
Good information, Dave, thanks. I know you don't get hung-up on gear, but have you thought about upgrading to the D850? Also, do you have a favorite lens for your landscape work? If too off topic, no need to reply. Thanks!
that is actually exposure bracketing and then picking the brightest img that is not blown out
Nice explanation ! ETTR, ok ! Do you work with auto iso on landscape photography ? Thks.
Thank you. You just explained what I was looking for. I was taught to expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights on film, managing it through zones, but my DSLR images never quite captured what I wanted. Now I see the DSLR equivalent and I have a whole new process to build. Great job explaining and demonstrating this, wish I'd found you earlier.
Great video, and I'm following the new series with great interest. I just took a trip out to the Grand Canyon and shot it using some focus-stacking tips from one of your older videos. Always learning … ETTR … a new tool.
Very helpful, thank you! What is the metering mode that you’re using? Is it center weighted, it spot metering? I’m not sure I understand How to control where the camera is exposing from. Ty again!
Thank you so much Dave for all the effort you put into sharing your journey and skills with us all.
Thank you so much for the best explanation of 'Exposing to The Right' ever! Now I get it! I have never seen such a full and detailed tutorial. Thanks for a great walk through the landscape too. This is BRILLIANT!
Dave, honestly, I think you are confusing people.
The video is not about ETTR, but mostly about the fact that your Jpeg instagram doesn't match RAW instagram.
You can go to your camera settings (Set Picture Control -> Standard/Neutral/../Flat/Custom) and make your Jpeg instagram look exactly like RAW instagram.
Me too, used to get nice preview but "ugly" raw images in Lightroom. After I changed my camera settings I eliminated this extra variable from the process of guessing how RAW file will look later on computer.
Hey Dave, I was thinking a bit more about this technique. And I noticed you go into the "Adobe neutral" profile in LR. Would this be interchangeable with "adobe standard" profile? Visually it seems to be what you are talking about but just wanted to check in and see if you knew.
First video I’ve seen of yours and one that I’ve learned the most from regarding actual application of technique. Subscribed, great work.
Thanks for a great video Dave 👍🏼✅ The Best complete explanation of ETTR, simple & concise !! Looking forward to your next video ✅😊
Probably the best explanation on landscape photography exposure! Liked and subscribed!
This also shows how ridiculous the claims of some certain very successful YT-photographers regarding ISO and exposure are.
Genuine question: When you expose to the right, you risk over exposing the image, because while a blown out jpg doesnt mean a blown out RAW, it could definitely come to that. Youre shooting still life with a multi second exposure anyway. Why not expose normally (without jpg blown out), take 2 or 3 shots, and stack them with a median filter? I do something similar for macro photography and it creates an equivalent picture of a much lower ISO for a much higher SNR. Stacking 2 shots at ISO 64 would be the same as ISO 32, and stacking 4 would be the same as ISO 8. It accomplishes the same thing without the risk of losing data to blowing out your images.
Great video Dave , very enlightening , many thanks.
i am divided on the new intro i thought the previous one had dynamics and a sense of foreboding it felt like i was 8 yrs old and watching stingray for the first time i couldnt wait to see what would happen but hey ho
Quality content and great scenery. I appreciate your work and what you are trying to offer to your audience.
thx you …finally a purist photographer…thank you so much for this….
Tks so much Dave. I'll be trying this technique
Super informative, great presentation. You gained a subscriber…
Just had a Eureka Moment, your explanation was very concise and to the point.
Suggestion for a video topic: Talk about organizations like NANPA (which seem to have outdoorsy and intellectual property values aligned with yours) and whether membership in those are a plus or minus to your photography mission. Many of your viewers may have either joined or considered joining such organizations, but my sense is that you would find such even benevolent organizations to be a drain of your time and/or distraction from your creativity.
Printing?
Great video as always.
It possible to know how do you set up on camera menu the center exposure metering (8-12-15 ecc)? Thank you
ETTR – what a great issue to focus upon. Very insightful to highlite the difference between what you see in the LCD & what's in the RAW image. Many times I have limited my EV adjusting because of what the LCD is telling me where I should have pushed the EV to capture more detail in the darks. Your Videos are Insightful. Thanks.
Right on Dave, great tutorial. Old habits die hard (or what an idiot I was). I started backpacking with a film camera back before the days of digital. It took me sometime to change the way I exposed in the field with a digital camera. I finally started to grasp the power of the extended dynamic range of a good DSLR. Yellow and Red light, long wave lengths and faster speed. I'll make sure and check out you're color theory info. Thanks and thumbs up.
Very inspiring, those forests look very beautiful and love the technical aspects of the process. Thanks for doing it Dave! Cheers!
Thank you, Dave. You always post the most interesting and informative technique videos.
great video and information – have found viewing in LAB rather RGB as 'closer' to the scene. Going from scene to processing with your comments is wonderful. Thank you
Great job as always. If only the video had the automatic generated captions on, as usual, it would help those of us who do not have English as our mother language… Keep it up, man!
Great new intro Dave, fantastic series ! Just awesome 👏
The one thing that I wanted to ask you Dave, is looking at the environment in the many areas that you do, what changes are you noticing that are becoming obvious. Are you able to wander into areas reasonably uncharted by humans or are they expeditions to areas which are frequented by hard core travellers like yourself. There are very few areas now, not even in our country that have not been touched by man. Tasmania ! if you get across this neck of the woods, this would be one of those places you would enjoy mate. 😉 great video, thank you 🙏🏿
Great stuff Dave, more informative than a 200-page book and perfect information for Landscape photography, you really are living the dream.
Excellent, detailed tutorial!
Excellent Video Dave you need too come to Australia cheers
BTW I love the new intro!!!
I've been telling people for years now, they should spend less time on the internet fighting about which camera has 1/10 of a stop better dynamic range, and spend more time out in the field doing THIS, actually getting to know their camera's histogram and how it translates from the back of the camera to post-production, so that they know exactly what they can get away with in the field, and nail their real-world exposures to within 1/3 or 1/2 a stop of "perfect" for any scene.
So glad you made this video to help explain the process and the reason behind it!
Every time, week look, like great video. you helpful for all…, Thank! Dave.
WOW! amazing info Dave. I have been trying this in manual and maybe I should try it in AP…Thank you so much for the lessons…
Perfect examples of ETTR followed thru to the end with specifics. Mission accomplished! I love furry trees-can’t wait to get back onto their glorious depths.
Hey Dave,
Excellent video as always. A little more technical, which is what a lot of us intermediates crave. Thank you.
I've noticed ETTR is very important for wildlife photography, as we have to live in the high ISO ranges to keep our shutter speed high. I've noticed when you expose to the right you do much better with noise, even at ISO 6400+. Noise really lives in the darker parts of the image, so as long as you don't blow out the highlights, you want to raise the RAW capture to combat that. I may be misunderstanding this, but I believe that is due to the amount of data your sensor collects when more of the histogram is on the right (a lot more). The more data you have, the cleaner the image. Martin Bailey discussed this in a podcast/blog post a couple years back and it changed the way I shoot.
One question for you about Lightroom Profiles. Have you experimented with Camera specific profiles, instead of Adobe ones?
One last thing, I wanted to thank you for your last video and it's message. I have put out my first video and I'm excited to do more when the weather gets better.
Cheers,
Daniel
Hey Dave, your quickly becoming a mandatory part of my Wednesdays (Tuesday USA time). I really enjoy your laidback style. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on ETTR and how that plays out against what seems to be a popular topic at the moment, ISO invariance. All the best from the other side of the world.
Nice intro, Dave.
Great video Dave. I wasn't aware that the camera's histogram is a bit off from the computer's histogram. I'll definitely go out and test my camera to see how far I can push it. Thanks!!