Exposing to the right in its extreme, in its blind application, that is while trying to keep all and every highlight from clipping, is exposing to the left when it comes to midtones and shadows.
The purpose of the article is to point out that with current metering there is at most 3 stops from the metering point to highlights; and to help realize that if the range of brightness found in the scene is higher then 3 stops from midpoint to highlights trying to keep highlights necessitates underexposure of midtones and shadows. The price for that and the latitude (that is, by how much one can underexpose still getting acceptable image quality) depends on the camera, ISO, light, colour of subjects in the scene, raw converter in use and some other factors.
I would say with current top cameras, especially in 14-bit mode, underexposure of 1.5 stops at base ISO is relatively safe for outdoor scenes. This allows to have close to 4.5 stops headroom in highlights.
It is also necessary to take into account that it is very difficult to judge the amount of underexposure using histograms on the back of the camera. In our opinion metering and trusting the meter is easier and more predictable for now.
Exposing to the right in its extreme, in its blind application, that is while trying to keep all and every highlight from clipping, is exposing to the left when it comes to midtones and shadows.
The purpose of the article is to point out that with current metering there is at most 3 stops from the metering point to highlights; and to help realize that if the range of brightness found in the scene is higher then 3 stops from midpoint to highlights trying to keep highlights necessitates underexposure of midtones and shadows. The price for that and the latitude (that is, by how much one can underexpose still getting acceptable image quality) depends on the camera, ISO, light, colour of subjects in the scene, raw converter in use and some other factors.
I would say with current top cameras, especially in 14-bit mode, underexposure of 1.5 stops at base ISO is relatively safe for outdoor scenes. This allows to have close to 4.5 stops headroom in highlights.
It is also necessary to take into account that it is very difficult to judge the amount of underexposure using histograms on the back of the camera. In our opinion metering and trusting the meter is easier and more predictable for now.