Thanks for the tip on the Luminous Landscape artice, I've readit and others like it. The simple fact is that due to the way our digital sensors work, thegreatest number of tonal values, 2,048 for camera's with 12-bit sensors,are recorded within the first stop which ishalf of the 4,096 tonal values that can be recorded with a 12-bit sensor. Also, these 2,048 tonal values are brightest onesandthis is why imaging software can more easily correct overexposure since there is more information to work with.Comparatively, by the time you get to the "left" side of the histogram where the darker tonal values are, youhave maybe 512 tonal values to work with which makes it hard to correct underexposure without making "noise" visible in the dark areas of the image. To maximize the capabilities of your sensor, as you pointed out it does make sense to bias your exposure somewhat to the right especially if you are shooting RAW, but not too far to the right that you end up with blown highlights. Itry hard to get the exposure right in the camera to minimize as much as possible the amount of time I have to sit in front of the computer post processing my images. The imaging software available today can do amazing things, but I'd rather be out shooting instead of sitting in front of a computer.