Personally, I'll always expose for the highlights. Generally you'll still get the data in the dark areas and you can as you said, use PS to recover the detail in them. When something clips because of overexposure, it's just lost detail.
PS curves + a noisefilter (I use neatimage) will work wonders on shots you may have event lost hope for.
Choosing exposure in contrasty scenics
in Canon EOS Mount
Posted
Personally, I'll always expose for the highlights. Generally you'll still get the data in the dark areas and you can as you said, use PS to recover the detail in them. When something clips because of overexposure, it's just lost detail.
PS curves + a noisefilter (I use neatimage) will work wonders on shots you may have event lost hope for.