Histograms
Understand your camera or your editing
app's histogram and your images will benefit in no time
If your camera has a histogram function on
it, it’s good practice to check the image and histogram after every shot you
take. Don’t just shoot hundreds of photos, then check playback and discover
they’re all over- or underexposed. Get to grips with histograms and do
something early on to save yourself a lot of frustration and wasted time in the
long run!
Histograms are a visual representation of
the tones within your image. In a technically well-exposed image, your
histogram should have representation in all areas of the chart and also have a
smooth peaked hump in the centre. There might be times when you want to over-
or underexpose your image on purpose for creative effect, and your histogram
can help you do this as well.
Tones to the left of the histogram show the
shadow or dark areas in the image, and tones represented to the right show the
highlights. If there are clipped tones, eg where the chart has lots of data at
these extreme ends, then you are likely to see missing pixel information where
the photo cannot be easily recovered from highlights or shadows. You might be
able to improve your photos in an editing program, but it’s better to read the
histogram after taking your shots and correct your exposure in-camera rather
than have to rely on editing later on.
Disp. button
If your camera has a histogram function,
you can call it up via the Disp. Button
Shadows
Data recorded in the shadows of an image
show on the left-hand side of the chart
Midtones
The centre of the histogram is where the
midtones of the image fall
Highlights
Data recorded in the highlights of an image
will show in the far right-hand side of the chart
Peak
You are aiming to have a peaked hump in the
middle of your histogram
How a histogram should look at different
exposures
The same shot taken at three different
exposures has resulted in three very different histograms
A Underexposed
This image is too dark with too much data
in the dark tones or shadows. The histogram shows bunching on the left of the
chart
B Overexposed
This image is too light, with colour lost
from the midtones - shown by a flatter histogram focused on the right of the
chart
C Well Exposed
Our best result has a histogram that has
data in all areas of the chart and a smooth peak in the centre of the midtones
Using histograms in editing
As well as histograms on cameras, you can
use them
Rescue work
You can save some of your under-or
overexposed photos in editing programs. If you have an underexposed shot, these
tend to be easier to save than overexposed shots. Open your photo and head to
lmage>Adjustments>Levels.
Pull the sliders
The idea here is to pull the little arrow
sliders underneath the chart in line with where the data starts. So drag the
highlights slider (on the right) to the start of the data, as shown in our
screenshot and then do the same with the shadows.
Final touches
It’s still a little on the dark side, so
we’re going to adjust the midtones slider to the left, which will lighten the
overall tone of the photo. It won’t be as good as our well-exposed in-camera
photo, but you can rescue it to an extent.
Reader Question!
How can I sharpen my shots in Elements
I recently purchased a new camera
and find that some of my shots appear noticeably blurred with many not in
focus at all. Is there any way I can rescue them in Elements or is it too
late?
Sharpening up your shots in Elements is a
great way to improve their appearance, however not all images can be rescued.
Try the following three steps below to bring back detail in your photos, but
always strive to get them right in-camera first in order to save you time
later
Step-by-step
Photoshop Elements Sharpen my shots
1. Open your image Open your soft
image in Elements. Begin by duplicating the original layer via
Layer>Duplicate Layer. Rename your new layer ‘Sharpen’ and click OK. To
begin sharpening up your shot, go to Enhance>Unsharp Mask. 2. Use Unsharp Mask In the Unsharp
Mask dialog box, click the preview button and increase the strength slider to
around 100-120%, this will ensure the entire image is affected by the
sharpen. Now increase the threshold slider to around two. 3. Move the slider Slowly bring
the slider up to add in the effect. Avoid setting it higher than around five
pixels to reduce the chance of noise in your shot. Then flatten your layers,
Layer>Flatten Image and save your newly sharpened shot.
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