The rich blue sky

Dark Shadows

The is a school of photographers who is touting the ETTR practice -- expose to the right of the histogram.  The practice is to make best use of the dynamic range of the digital sensors.  I have been well aware of the practice but was never able to really doing it.  I have a tendency to underexpose my files a little bit to bring out the richer colors (wrong presumption?) but it is against the whole idea of ETTR.  In order to practice ETTR, in a lot of time, I should be overexposing the files a little bit to "retain the shadow details better".  But here's the catch -- shadows are supposed to be shadows and sometimes they are supposed to be dark, right?  There's no point in preserving the details in the shadows, if the details have nothing to do with your subject matter.  On the other hand, I always find details in shadows if I look hard enough, and if your prints are done right.  Look into the dark shadows of a picture and you'll be surprised at what you can see..... unless it is a really poorly exposed picture, or poorly printed.
Ctein threw the ETTR practice out of the door and it has been a relief to me.... no more burden on my shoulder, I can unashamedly underexpose and get that rich blue out of the sky, as in this picture.