Read an excellent article on ETTR by Bob DiNatale over on PhotoPXL,
https://photopxl.com/the-optimum-digital-exposure/I knew about ETTR, but only applied it manually and got shy once the "blinkies" appeared. The attached image was shot on my D850 with EV at +1.3, bracketing at -3F 0.7 and matrix metering at 0 (Bob's methodology). This resulted in a 1/40, 1/25, and 1/15 sec series at f/4. So, if I've done my math correctly (no guarantee
) I was able to squeeze out 2 extra stops at ISO 400, way beyond where I would have started backing off, assuming the EV setting is taken into account by the matrix meter. That being said, I could even recover all the highlights from the 1/15 sec exposure, but I can't hold still that long! Bob also did a great job explaining how LR rounds off the highest channels to bring detail back into highlights. Please forgive if I've used the wrong terms; I'm sure my naive understanding has contributed.
Anyway, I decided to experiment with Bob's method at ISO 64 and ISO 400 under HDR conditions (really bright highlights and black blacks). So far, this has enabled at least a 1.3 EV improvement in exposure, which is what I wanted to understand. I know this is old ground for some, but it was kind of an epiphany for me and a straightforward methodology to achieve better exposures.
Check out the article.