video: episode 5, camera meters and histograms
21 April 2008
11 Comments
Can you always trust your camera’s light meter? The answer is all in the histogram…
(subscribers, video may be viewed on the website):
 |
| Here are some selected books on the topic of photographic exposure. |
| Reference photographs used in the video | ||
| normal histogram | overexposed histogram | underexposed histogram |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Canon 20D on aperture priority auto / no exposure compensation | ||
| black card | gray card | white card |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| black/gray/white cards | ||
 |
||
 |
Hi Jim,
This was a great explanation of Histograms. Thanks.
Can you do a video on the importance of setting appropriate white balance?
Keep up the awesome work.
Love the logo BTW.
That was very good. I am going to watch that at least three more times to help burn into my brain :). I agree with Chris, a video on white balance would be good. I use a grey card for setting the pre-white balance on my camera. If I forget the card ( 8×10 card), I always have a backup where it is a small card. I am not able to pre-white balance with the smaller one but I can take a picture of it and then in the digital dark room use it for the white balance (doing a batch process). Do you have any other suggestions of when you might forget both cards?
Thanks,
Calvin
Another excellent video, Jim. Thanks!
Great idea on suggesting a whitebalance video, Chris. I second the motion. Perhaps covering gels, too? Maybe that by itself is enough for one video.
Jim,
This is a great tutorial. (and a great experiment. I guess exposure compensation tutorial is something that I’d love to see next).
There is yet something I am not sure of. how come On the tri-segment picture, how come the black dont go all the way to the left and the white dont go all the way to the right?
- udi
Udi, that’s a good question. There are a couple of answers, I think. The cards are definitely black, grey and white, so your thoughts are accurate.
The black card has a little shine on it, though, from the angle of the sun, so it wasn’t a deep, rich black. Something like black velvet would have registered farther left because it really sucks up the light.
The white card wasn’t truly brilliant white. If it had been more like a specular highlight it would have registered to the very far right.
This is what I consider a “safe” histogram, though. The information is all there and in basically the right places. If we want to create a rich black and brilliant white, the levels can be stretched just a bit for more contrast. I hope this helps, I’ll write a bit more in tomorrow’s tech post.
Hi Jim
Thanks for these videos and all the info on your site. I’m graphic designer by trade who does photography more as a side. I’ve got a good eye for what makes a good photo but so lack the technical side for understanding how to make the technology work for me better. I found your simple explanation of the histogram very helpful.
It must be on my end Jim. The vidoe doesnt show up the only thing I see is “Subscribers, video is available on website. Do you ever plan to compile your videos to DVD? The ameture strobists would eat that alive. Including me.
I knew all that, but it’s still fun to see it spelled out. Kewl.
I made a donation, keep up the good work.
Brilliant. It made me understand why and when i must use under - and overcompensation
Leave your response!
Search Prophotolife.com
Recent Articles
Further Reading
Pages
Categories
Archives
Top Commentators this month
Recent Comments
Most Popular Posts
Related Posts
Most Commented
Tags
approach around the net assisting bulbs business creativity customer service education equipment exposure film fine art gear history insurance interview lenses lighting logo design marketing nature photographer photographers pinhole portrait preview professional organizations RAW review stick-in-a-can studio taxes technical video workflow