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Take a deep dive into the often misunderstood histogram and discover the critical role it plays in capturing great photographs.
A few weeks ago I published the first of a series of articles on histograms, “Mastering Exposure – Histograms Part 1.” I eventually want to talk about different types of histograms and how to work with them in the field and during the post processing. But before getting into that I want to take a deeper dive into the histogram itself.
Continue reading “Mastering Exposure–Histograms Part 2”
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An example of how to process a difficult capture.
I was working on a photograph last night that turned out rather well. It was taken during a recent photography workshop in Zion National Park in Utah. I took the group to the famous bridge to photograph the Virgin River and the Watchman Tower at sunset. It’s a must photograph. It seems every photographer in Zion with a tripod is there. But we also returned for sunrise and had the bridge to ourselves.
There is a time of day when exposure becomes very tricky. This is during twilight when the sun is a little below the horizon so the earth is dark but the sky is very bright. You end up with what I call the “Grand Canyon” histogram – there’s a huge spike at the shadow end and a similar spike at the highlight end with a large gap in between. This is a challenging situation that, if you master, can provide some spectacular images. In this blog I’d like to walk you through the process.
Continue reading “The Making of a Photograph–Watchman Tower”
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Alas, the histogram is misunderstood…, or not understood at all. I often run into students on photography workshops who say they’ve noticed the histogram but never knew what it was nor paid much attention to it. But the histogram is one of our most effective tools we have for getting the correct exposure. And a correct exposure is essential to a compelling photograph. So, what is a histogram? Read on as we explore the ins and outs of this powerful tool.
Continue reading “Mastering Exposure–Histograms Part 1”
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There’s something I’ve been puzzling about for a long time. So I finally decided to check it out and share the results with you. I wanted to know the relationship between the camera’s built-in light meter and the histogram. OK, sounds geeky so what exactly am I talking about and why do I care?
Continue reading “Photography Tutorial – Light Meter”
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