How to Get the Perfect Exposure Using Your SLR Digital Photography Camera's Histogram
Understand what a histogram is., Find your camera's Histogram Function., Once you have found the function turn it on and look at how the graph displays in the viewer. , Read the next section for the explanation of how to use the histogram to gauge a...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Understand what a histogram is.
A histogram is essentially a stack of pixels for each tonal value between 0 and
255.
A histogram is a digital representation of the tonal values of your image.
As you may or may not know, a digital camera works similar to how a computer screen works.
There are 256 values ranging from 0
-
255.
Please note when I use the term "tonal value"
I am not referring to color.
Color (or hue) is represented by three values RGB (Red, Green & Blue), while tone is represented in the numbers 0
-
255.
To get a hue you actually take the values of each color and add them together.
For instance, a color Red: 200, Green: 125, & Blue: 60 would produce a darkish orange-brown.
A lot of red, a little more than half of that green and about *half of that blue.
So, that hue, which turns out to be a hue of 20º will always be that orange color and can be made more or less saturated and more or less bright but the main hue is the same.
If you were to take a bunch of ceramic tiles and make a motif and you only used gray tiles with values from 0 (Pure Black) up to 255 (Pure White and everything in between (128 being middle gray, etc), you would have a good representation of how a digital camera sees an image.
Now, you have a gray scale motif of hundreds of tiles on a wall.
If you were to now walk up to that wall and knock all the tiles off and then stack them in their respective colors, you would have a "histogram" of that image. -
Step 2: Find your camera's Histogram Function.
If you can't find it, refer to the owner's manual probably under "Manual Exposure" On a Canon EOS, there is a button on the back of the camera next to the image review screen that says "Info".
Press that while reviewing an image you just shot from your shot list. ,, -
Step 3: Once you have found the function turn it on and look at how the graph displays in the viewer.
-
Step 4: Read the next section for the explanation of how to use the histogram to gauge a proper exposure.
Detailed Guide
A histogram is essentially a stack of pixels for each tonal value between 0 and
255.
A histogram is a digital representation of the tonal values of your image.
As you may or may not know, a digital camera works similar to how a computer screen works.
There are 256 values ranging from 0
-
255.
Please note when I use the term "tonal value"
I am not referring to color.
Color (or hue) is represented by three values RGB (Red, Green & Blue), while tone is represented in the numbers 0
-
255.
To get a hue you actually take the values of each color and add them together.
For instance, a color Red: 200, Green: 125, & Blue: 60 would produce a darkish orange-brown.
A lot of red, a little more than half of that green and about *half of that blue.
So, that hue, which turns out to be a hue of 20º will always be that orange color and can be made more or less saturated and more or less bright but the main hue is the same.
If you were to take a bunch of ceramic tiles and make a motif and you only used gray tiles with values from 0 (Pure Black) up to 255 (Pure White and everything in between (128 being middle gray, etc), you would have a good representation of how a digital camera sees an image.
Now, you have a gray scale motif of hundreds of tiles on a wall.
If you were to now walk up to that wall and knock all the tiles off and then stack them in their respective colors, you would have a "histogram" of that image.
If you can't find it, refer to the owner's manual probably under "Manual Exposure" On a Canon EOS, there is a button on the back of the camera next to the image review screen that says "Info".
Press that while reviewing an image you just shot from your shot list. ,,
About the Author
Nicholas Garcia
Nicholas Garcia has dedicated 3 years to mastering lifestyle and practical guides. As a content creator, Nicholas focuses on providing actionable tips and step-by-step guides.
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