How to read the Histogram

Ever wondered what that graph in your camera when you view a photo with its info? It’s a histogram. A histogram shows how many pixels of each value are in a photo. The left side of the graph represents the black and while the right side represents white.

It may be an advanced topic to someone who is starting photography but believe me its not that hard to digest the basics and it will guide you to have a correct exposure for your shot.

We usually look directly at the photo to know if it’s underexposed of overexposed, we can clearly see it in the magical lcd screen. The problem with viewing it in the LCD screen on your camera is there would be instances that it will be bright when you look it in the dark and vice-versa. One proper way to look at the exposure of your photo is through the Histogram.

I think every dslr camera has a built in histogram you can check.

This way you can check if it’s over or under exposed. If a photo is underexposed the graph will show you that the distribution is on the left side. If a photo is over exposed the graph will move to the right side of the histogram. If you choose to go artistic and want to overexpose or underexpose your shot, might as well get first a correct exposure so you wont lose details and adjust in photoshop.

Related posts:

1. Understanding Exposure: Shutter speed, Aperture, ISO
2. How to create HDR images