Histograms, Mountains and the Halfpipe

Recently, I had a theft from my car and part of the loss was a Minolta Flashmeter IV and a Color Meter. A sad day?  NOT!  I have a histogram on each of my cameras, and I’ve not missed the meters at all. Here is why?

Simple Lighting. Even if there are multiple heads to be used I start with my main or fill or a combination of the two at levels determined by the look I’m going for. After getting those set for the needed exposure determined by the histogram, I add accents as needed keeping details in the highlights. The detail in the highlight can also be checked with the histogram. This all applies to artificial or natural light.



This is the overall shot. Check out the highlights.


More than once the accent lights were adjusted to keep detail in the highlights. SO USE THE HISTOGRAM. On my cameras it can be visible, while having some transparency to it, so you can still see your shot. Models by Colors Agency.

Step One: Turn it on or master how you can access it as needed. Whether it’s a menu selection or a scrollable choice of how you view the small preview on the back of your camera. I prefer, in many situations, to see it more than the photo itself. Because, I just saw the photo in the viewfinder. Learn to make it appear and disappear.

Step Two: Make exposures with the histogram in the shape of a mountain. That guarantees that you have detail in the shadow and the highlight, as well as having the best ability to tweak, if needed, after shooting. If you know that you should have detail in the shadows and highlights, then your “mountain” should have air on the left and right. The main thing is that you are creating a “negative” that is “perfectly” exposed. What about situations where images have black without detail? There will be those situations where images have a pure black background. The exposure of the three men above is one example. There are areas of black with no detail in that image and its histogram shows it. There are images at weddings where the background is not lit and shutter speeds have to be high enough that areas photograph black without detail. That is a situation where we move to the half pipe (that’s right, the thing that skateboarders use). Here is another example with black background and see how the histogram is shaped because of it. Halfpipe.

Step Three: Confirm that what you have captured and what you want to show in your photograph match what is reflected in the histogram. The photograph above is a great example. We have a major amount of black in the image and that is shown in the histogram. There are just a few areas that are blown out highlights. The two round-down lights in the photo are blown out, and that is shown by the small bump on the right edge of the histogram. So when the exposure is made we can see how successful the image can be. Adjustments can be made as needed.

Conclusion: This all has to do with a concept that Ansel Adams fathered. Previsualization. If you know that your image (the interpretation of what you see) will have a major component of black without detail, watch for that on the histogram. If you know that you will have detail in every highlight, watch for that. The main thing to realize is that you have a very advanced meter in your camera and it informs you with the histogram.