video: episode 5, camera meters and histograms
April 21, 2008 – 5:00 amCan you always trust your camera’s light meter? The answer is all in the histogram…
(subscribers, video may be viewed on the website):
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| Here are some selected books on the topic of photographic exposure. |
| Reference photographs used in the video | ||
| normal histogram | overexposed histogram | underexposed histogram |
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| Canon 20D on aperture priority auto / no exposure compensation | ||
| black card | gray card | white card |
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| black/gray/white cards | ||
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8 Responses to “video: episode 5, camera meters and histograms”
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.
By Chris on Apr 21, 2008
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
By Calvin Hill on Apr 21, 2008
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.
By NormMonkey on Apr 21, 2008
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
By Udi on Apr 27, 2008
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.
By Jim Talkington on Apr 28, 2008
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.
By Dave Aldrich on May 12, 2008