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I have to admit something. I am having a love affair with the histogram. We first met on the back of my camera over 10 years ago, and it had been getting stronger ever since.

I love the histogram so much that I can’t imagine I world without her. She is my secret weapon for perfect exposure.

I was shooting a job on Saturday with a second shooter. I was reviewing his shots and one looked a bit off. I asked to see the histogram, and he said “you’re one of those histogram people” with disdain. I was shocked. Who doesn’t LOVE the histogram?

After I calmed down I realized that he might not know the true magic of the magic mountain. If you are like him, please indulge a fool in love.

I first fell for the histogram when I learned that the LCD on the back of my camera was a liar! I would review a shot on the back of the camera and it looked great. There was detail in the shadows and all was right with the world. When I got home and looked at the same file on a calibrated monitor it was another story. There was a walk of shame so to speak. The darks would be muddy and detail free. I would have to work to get the file to look something like it did in that LCD.

I learned not to trust the playback, but when a door closes, a window opens. In this case the window was only a press of the “info” button away. This got me to the histogram, and all has been right in the world ever since.

But what is the histogram and how do we read it?

The histogram shows how many pixels there are in different parts of the image. These parts are the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. The higher the mountain is in a part of the graph the more information there is in that part of the images. So an image with lots of dark areas will have a histogram with the peak of the mountain in the shadow section of the graph. The shadow section is on the left side of the graph, the mid-tones are in the middle and the high lights are on the right.

In the image below we see both the preview of the image and it’s histogram. You can see that there are no bright whites or very dark areas in the shot. The histogram is concentrated in the middle of the bottom axis. This tells us that the information in the images is mostly in the middle with a slight elevation in the shadows on the left side. This corresponds to the dark sweatshirt and shadows in the foliage in the background. This is a perfectly exposed image and the histogram shows that.

Depending on the general lightness or darkness of the scene we are shooting, a properly exposed image will have a different looking histogram. A light image like the dog on a beach below, has more information in the highlights and the mid-tones than the image above. In a darker image, say one with lots of shadows, the histogram will have more information on the left side of the graph. Perfectly exposed images will have different histograms depending on the scene being shot.

There are times however when we don’t get a perfectly exposed image. What does the histogram look like then? Well, before we go deep into this, we should stop and say that learning how to read a histogram takes a bit of practice. With these guidelines, you will be up to speed in a short time.

You need to take your scene into consideration when analyzing the histogram. However if you look at the image below you can see that the mountain should reach both sides of the graph. The under exposed image can be worked on in PP to make it acceptable but it is not an optimal situation. The over exposed image is trickier.

When the mountain goes past the edge of the graph it means that there is no more information being recorded. The right edge of the graph corresponds to where the printer is not putting out any more ink on the paper. This is paper white. The far left is where the paper is getting the maximum amount of black ink it can get. Going past the edge means that information is lost. See below.

This loss of information is called clipping. This is why the camera has the highlight alert. This is when the light parts of the scene flash black and white during playback. The highlight alert tells us that there is no information in that part of the image. I always shoot with the highlight alert on. There are a couple of times when it’s OK that the highlight alert is going off, say if you have the sun in your scene, or a candle.

Generally I like to have the mountain come up from sea level on one end of the graph and then return to sea level on the other end of the graph. Even if it’s only for a little bit of the graph.

By looking at the histogram you can see if your image is properly exposed for the scene you are shooting. If it is not she tells you and you can adjust till you get it right. I love her for this. This has saved me more times than I can count.

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Hi! I’m pretty much new to Photography over all, but especially new to Macro.

I like the shot. My family and I do a lot with coffee, so this photo appeals to me in a more personal way. With that being said, I feel I’m biased toward it, therefore I would like opinions from you all.

So my questions are:
1. How is the focus? I feel I did not get an exact focus, rather than a slight blur on all of the buds.

2. Thoughts on the lighting? Is the streak of sunlight too distracting?

Of course, any other thoughts would be appreciated.

EXIF data:
Camera: General Imaging CO X500
Focal Length: 4.9mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
Aperture: f/3.0
ISO: 80
(My apologies, I forgot to add the EXIF)

Thanks in advance!

-Sarah

Last edited by TrueBluePicasso; Today at 02:06 AM.

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I believe this is a 12 spotted skimmer. I’m not too crazy about the limey green colors but if I try to change it, the brown of the dragonfly is incorrect. I’m sure there is a way to artistic this up but I do not have the skill in photoshop.

Cropped for composition

F 8.0

1/500

ISO 400

focal length 300mm

Nikon D3100

Lens 55-300mm

Experience – Beginner (taking classes), Equipment-Nikon D3100, Particular Interest – Nature, Macro (mostly I needed a reason to get out of the chair, away from a computer and out of doors!)
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This is a first attempt at shooting faces at night with my Kit lens on my new T2i. Can anyone give me the wrongs/rights of this photo. I think I could have done better at focusing. I’m quickly learning much about lighting. Fire away!!

EXIF data:

Camera model: Canon EOS REBEL T2i

Aperture value: 4.970854

Exposure time: 2 seconds

Flash mode: Compulsory fire

Flash fired: Yes

F number: 5.6

Focal length: 55

Shutter speed: 2000 milliseconds

White balance mode: Auto

ISO speed rating(s): 400

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Today I was given (I love gifts! ) a Sunpak 6060XL tripod, and I was having fun playing around with it. I’m participating in the Scavenger Hunt 101 flickr group (Flickr: Scavenger Hunt 101) and one of the prompts was “My Camera” so I set up the tripod in front of the mirror, set the timer, and held a white lid behind the camera so in PP I could get a completely white background. Then I tried a selfie holding the lid behind me so I had something to clone off of when editing. Here’s that shot:

After much cloning, a crop, flipping it around so the text was not backwards, and a B&W conversion, here is my final image:

The one problem with it though (I’m sure there’s more than one, but the most noticeable to me) is that in my edit I’m up against a completely blank background, but if you look in the lens you can see the rest of the room.

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Hello all!
I wanted to share a couple of close up shots of a few flowers I found at the end of a long hike I went on yesterday. I’m really excited because I think I figured out how to get around my bridge camera’s insistence upon focusing on everything and trying to make everything sharp. Here are my results =)

Make:GENERAL IMAGING CO.

Model:X500

Shutter Speed:1/400 second

Aperture:F/6.5

Focal Length:45 mm

ISO Speed:80

Make:GENERAL IMAGING CO.

Model:X500

Shutter Speed:1/450 second

Aperture:F/6.6

Focal Length:5 mm

ISO Speed:80

Make:GENERAL IMAGING CO.

Model:X500

Shutter Speed:1/400 second

Aperture:F/6.6

Focal Length:5 mm

ISO Speed:80

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Most people do not realize how important photography is, especially in today’s society. However, the truth is that a picture is worth a thousand words and there are photographers, such as Sean McCormick, who prove how true this statement really is. Some people think that just because they have a camera, they are automatically a photographer. This is entirely untrue because being a quality photographer takes practice and experience. It is actually more of an art, some people have what it takes and others simply do not. Some people use that camera as if it is their pencil or paintbrush and the places and people they take pictures of play the role of the canvas and those are the people who master the art of photography, capturing true beauty on film.

There is one picture, in particular, that Sean McCormick, a well-known photographer, has taken that truly captures something special. The picture depicts a young boy, doing something he loves to do, riding a skateboard. While the picture shows a young man participating in an activity, the picture actually comes alive, to the point where you can actually feel as though you are in the street with him, riding side by side on a skateboard too. The way that he takes his pictures, with motion in the background, brings the picture to life. When you look at it, it will feel as though you can feel the leaves of the trees blowing and the wind behind you as you skateboard down the street. You might feel like that young man in the picture is actually you.

And, this is generally what photography is all about. It is more than switching film and taking pictures of things. Photography has a lot to do with capturing some of the most imperfect moments and turning them into the perfect picture. It is about having the right angles and doing all the right things, the type of thing that will allow you to get a fantastic shot, the sort of shot that other people will question, wondering how you got such a perfect shot. A good photographer can capture just about any image, regardless of movement. A photographer that knows what he or she is doing would even be able to capture the image of a young boy rapidly skateboarding down the street as sweat drips off his head. So, what does photography mean to you?