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Histogram question


12 years 3 months ago #192639 by Tclean95
Can someone tell me how to use the histogram on the camera to correct things then and there? Even in post? I know how to pull them up but I don't know how to read it. On my camera it will just blink in different places and in PS I just see colors and the seismic activity. Thanks. I really would like to get into portrait photography, but every time I shoot a portrait outside, either the photo is over or under expose and I see the issue in the histogram, but not sure how to fix it.
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12 years 3 months ago #192641 by ZiggyMissy
Histograms are basically pixel counts. If they peak on the left, the image is counting a lot of dark pixels. If the histogram peaks in the middle, your exposure means everything is close to 'good' exposure. To the right, it's overexposed. This is just a guide, however. A single, small red rose with a black black ground will show a histogram far to the right, but the rose might still be properly exposed.

Some cameras only show one histogram, a combination of red, blue, green, and luminance. Some will show all four separately.

The thing to really look for is a peak so far to the left or right that the peak is at either end of the graph.... that indicates either no shadow details (left) or blown-out highlights (right).

The blinking in places is probably telling you that those areas are pure white and will never be able to recover any detail no matter what you do in post.
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12 years 3 months ago #192643 by g1na3
Your histogram is divided into 5 equal parts, see?


| | | | | |
dark/black | dark grey | middle grey | bright grey | bright/white |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

If the peak is in middle grey, that means the camera has "registered" the most values from the middle grey part. If the peak is in bright/white, the camera has registered a very bright scene. When highlights are blown, the graph exceeds bright/white and shoots upwards. That's when you lose detail in the highlights. The same goes for black.

An image with a very narrow peak will be low contrast. Contrasty images have both dark and bright areas.

What I use the histogram for, is to check whether I've blown anything (although I use the blown highlights thing as well) and to see if I've got enough signal on the sensor in any given part of the histogram that I want. If I'm shooting silhouettes, then I want much of the graph in the dark area. If I'm shooting snow, I want much of the graph to cover the white/bright part.
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12 years 3 months ago #192647 by Tclean95

ZiggyMissy wrote: Histograms are basically pixel counts. If they peak on the left, the image is counting a lot of dark pixels. If the histogram peaks in the middle, your exposure means everything is close to 'good' exposure. To the right, it's overexposed. This is just a guide, however. A single, small red rose with a black black ground will show a histogram far to the right, but the rose might still be properly exposed.

Some cameras only show one histogram, a combination of red, blue, green, and luminance. Some will show all four separately.

The thing to really look for is a peak so far to the left or right that the peak is at either end of the graph.... that indicates either no shadow details (left) or blown-out highlights (right).

The blinking in places is probably telling you that those areas are pure white and will never be able to recover any detail no matter what you do in post.


Ok that makes sense about the blinking! I've noticed that in post. Thanks so much for explaining!
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12 years 3 months ago #192653 by Tclean95
So what is the "blown highlights thing"? I think thats what I mainly need to be using since a lot of my skies tend to get blown.
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12 years 3 months ago #192654 by ZiggyMissy
Keep in mind there is no all-purpose, universal look to a histogram. If you want a low-key image, then you'll get a peak to the left. High-key shots will peak at the right. And completely black or white backgrounds tend to throw things off to make an all-image histogram meaningless.

If you can zoom into a portion of an image in your camera's LCD while viewing the histogram, see if it changes as you zoom in. If they do, then you're seeing the histogram for just that portion of the image. This is a great feature to have, and can really help you narrow down 'proper' exposure while in the field as opposed to trying to correct it in post.

"Blown-out highlights" means the camera has recorded pure white... no colors and no details. It's white, and the only thing you can do with white in post is to make it gray (unless you want to edit something else in instead). Darkening the image in post will not gain anything in that area except a sick-looking gray in a very dark image.
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12 years 3 months ago #192658 by Tclean95
Thanks, this helps more then you know. :thumbsup:
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12 years 3 months ago #192681 by effron
You could use a good read.....
www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm
Why so serious?
Photo Comments
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12 years 3 months ago #192688 by Tclean95

effron wrote: You could use a good read.....
www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm


Thank you, I will check it out. :thumbsup:
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12 years 3 months ago #192862 by johns1947
just like with film, once an area is 'blown' is hopelessly gone. There's no recovery.
If your slightly underexposed, you can recover.
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12 years 3 months ago #192871 by Henry Peach
My tip is that histogram is just a fancy word for bar graph. I think the first hurdle in understanding the histogram is realizing that it's much simpler than most people assume. Not only is it a simple bar graph, but as photographers we are only concerned with one axis: the horizontal axis. Check out that Cambridge in Colour link. They've got lots of great info. And just remember that it's a very simple tool that helps you assess your exposure.
mattneedham.zenfolio.com
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12 years 3 months ago #193220 by johns1947
We have it SOOOO much easier today, than it was 30 years ago.

We used to 'meter twice' and Still bracket the exposure on important shots.

What we need to do today is pay attention to the highlights and shadows on your monitor,
Watch your highlights, in particular, and if you're close, it's salvageable.

You have enough clues with the highlight alert, the histograms, and multi modal metering, disasters should never happen.

Gone is the suspense and near heart stopping thrill of seeing that 'contact sheet', three days, and 600 miles after the shoot.
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12 years 3 months ago #193250 by johns1947
I see you've got a Canon,...

Canon has several free software routines they bundle with their camera’s that (imho) are excellent and easy to use. They also have free ‘classes’ to assist learning to use the cameras and software at Canon Image Gateway: www.cig.usa.canon.com Tips on things like getting White Balance, adjusting highlights, how to understand and use the histograms, etc.

you'll probably have to register to get into this site, but you should be able to access it from the 'registration' page for your camera.

This is a dynomite resource,... USE IT.

:judge:
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12 years 3 months ago - 12 years 3 months ago #193348 by Henry Peach

johns1947 wrote: We have it SOOOO much easier today, than it was 30 years ago.


This statement has been consistently true since Niepce.

"It is not easy for the new generation of photographers to understand the difficulties through which the beginner of thirty years ago had to grope his way. To a modern dry plate worker it would be like listening to a foreign language if I told him of some of the difficulties of the collodion process. What does he know of comets, oyster-shell markings, and lines in direction of the dip? In apparatus, also, the early photographers had to put up with what they could get, and what was not always very convenient for use." -HP Robinson commenting on how easy dry plates were compared to wet plate photography. Imagine what they thought when roll film came along. :)

The interesting thing is that even though the technical side has consistently become easier over the last 150+ years it's still just as hard today as it was way back then to create a truly intriguing photograph.
mattneedham.zenfolio.com
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