DESN350_Winter2021: #3 Histograms
RESEARCH
CAMERA EXPOSURE COMPENSATION EXPERIENCE
When looking at the histogram in the camera, the right side shows the bright, light areas. On the other hand, the left side represents the darker colors, like shadows or blacks in a photo. Also, I learned that if the graph is taller on one side, for example, if the the graph is leaning more on left side, it means that there is too much darkness in the picture, therefore the photo would be considered underexposed.
PHOTOSHOP HISTOGRAM EXPERIENCE
When looking at the histograms through the camera, I was able to grasp the gist of the way the histogram worked. After studying the camera histograms, I was able to guess the majority of the time of how the histogram would look. There were times when I thought the picture looked just fine since the bright colors were popping and it looked great. However, when looking at the histogram, I saw that it was too bright. And when I got to look at the darker pictures, the histogram showed that it was too dark. Overall, looking at the histograms is useful, but sometimes I would want a photo to have more dark’s that way it gives off a certain vibe. I guess it just depends on how you want your photos to be interpreted.
REAL LIFE/APPLICATION:
You can tell if your photo is correctly exposed if, when looking at the histogram, the graph is evenly spaced out and there are no spaces in between the graph or any peaks. From the image above, if you look at the top three photos there are underexposed. The histogram appears to be more heavy on the left side, which means that the dark's are too dark and the pictures are overexposed. Now the photos on the very bottom row, have the histogram looking the opposite of the one just mentioned. The graph shows more peaks on the right side, meaning that the brights are too overpowering. Lastly the center row has a mix. The graphs appear to be more level and have less peaks. To me histogram is a graph that represents the highlights, lights and the dark, or shadows in an image.
Exposure compensation to me is a setting on a camera that allows the photographer to brighten up or darken a photograph before taking the picture but without having the hassle to go to a separate app to fix the lighting mistake.
DEFINING THE TERMS:
WHITE BALANCE
Under some lighting, photos appear too warm or too cool. However, with white balance applied, the photograph has an even tone. When selecting white balance in your camera settings it adds the opposite color that the camera picks up from the original color. For example, if your photo looks yellow, and then you select white balance, the camera adds in some blues to even out the photo and bring down those yellows. By doing this, the photo can look more natural.
HISTOGRAM
A histogram is a graph that can be seen in a camera or on a app which tells you about the lighting of a photograph. This type of graph shows the shadows, otherwise known as the dark's in a picture, which is seen on the left side of the graph. The amount of highlights, or the brightness/lights, are located on the right side of the graph. Now the midtone is located in the center of the histogram. They represent the mix of highlights and shadows, otherwise said evenly exposed.
Website Explanation: https://photographypro.com/histogram/
BRACKETING
When taking photos, sometimes taking the same shot but with different exposures. This is helpful since you can merge the different photos to make one unified picture later on. When you have this opportunity you can choose where you want the highlight to be and how intense you would like the shadows to be. This type of style is often done with photos that deal with landscape and involves changing the ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
Website Explanation: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-bracketing-photography-definition/
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
Exposure compensation provides a great opportunity to make your photos a little bit better. This is a setting that allows your already set (manual or auto) settings to stay the same while increasing or decreasing the exposure of the image. A way to identify this type of setting is to look for the black and white box that has a positive (+) and a negative (-) inside. The positive side, or the right side, brings up a bit of brightness. While the negative side, or the left, adds a bit more of a shadow or darkness to the photo. Take for example the photo above. By bumping up the exposure value to +1.5, I was able to brighten up the photo and the rest that followed.
Website Explanation: https://photographylife.com/what-is-exposure-compensation
UNDEREXPOSED
When taking a photo, sometimes the image looks much too dark. Also, while looking at an underexposed photo, the details that are originally in the frame become unnoticeable. This happens because there is not much lighting that is going through the camera lens. A way to fix this is to go to your camera and take a look at the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. These are often the settings that affect the amount of light that is let in through the lens.
Website Explanation: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/underexposed-photography-technique/
CORRECTLY EXPOSED
An image that is correctly exposed is a photo that has both shadows and highlights. The photograph would have details that are recognizable and highlights that are not blown out. Normally, with the digital cameras that are used, there is a scale that shows where the aperture and shutter speed are. When looking that the scale, the meter should often be close to the zero, but of course, it depends on the lighting that is present when taking the photograph.
Website Explanation: https://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1319/how-to-correctly-expose-an-image/
OVEREXPOSED
An overexposed photo is the opposite of an underexposed photograph. When a photo is overexposed, there is too much light that is being let into the camera lens. Once this happens the photo appears to be blown out and much too bright. As for the details, they become lost and appear to fade, and the shadows are nonexistent. A way to fix this issue when taking photographs is to check the aperture and shutter speed settings, try bringing these down to a lower number to reduce the brightness.
Website Explanation: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-overexposure-in-photography/
