public debate

NIKON D3200 + AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED
ISO 640, 300.0 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000

in darktable, turning the filmic rgb > look > contrast down can help with harshly lit photos. a lot of the improvement seems to come from allowing you to use a much higher latitude %, which would normally go out of bounds if you tried to go that high. compare the following, clockwise from top left:

• default (4.56ev to -7.65ev, 1.000 contrast, 0.01% latitude)
• reduced contrast (as above, but 0.000 contrast)
• increased latitude (as above, but 60.01% latitude)
• reduced dynamic range (as above, but 4.16ev to -5.35ev)