The histogram is one of the most important tools on a camera. It gives a graphic representation of the tones in an image, so there should never ever be any excuse to miss an exposure - EVER! That is, if you understand what the histogram is and what it represents!
I would like you to go back and review some pages in the Ultimate Guide. Go back and re-read pages 59 - 61.
In these pages, you should learn - in particular - the autoexposure modes: aperture priority and shutter priority. I can tell you that I use aperture priority 98 percent of the time and I would recommend that you learn and practice in this mode as well.
In aperture priority ("A" for Nikons users and "Av" for Canon. Most other cameras will use "A" as well) you will choose the desired f-stop and the camera will choose the shutter speed for you. Let's face it: most of the time we need to determine the f-stop (and the desired depth of field) first. The shutter speed is secondary.
Then in order to make adjustments to exposure, you will use exposure compensation (page 60) to do so; a "+" will add light, making it brighter and a "-" will subtract light, making it darker. When you change the exposure compensation, you are really changing the shutter speed. The f-stop stays in the same place that you set it.
Make sense so far? Now, how do you know if it is over or under-exposed? That's where the histogram comes in. Look at the histogram examples on pages 60 and 61. The first example on page 60 shows over-exposure. See how the tonal information on the histogram is bunched up against the right side? That right edge represents overexposure, so you would then go to Exposure Compensation and dial in less light - let;s say -1 stop. That will push the histogram over the left by one stop so that, hopefully, you end up with a histogram that looks like the one on page 61. The same goes fro under exposure, except you will add light instead. Overexposure is a bigger problem, however. So much so, in fact, that most cameras have a "highlight warning" also known as the "blinkies" See the paragraph on page 61.
Your assignment for Tuesday is to use your camera in aperture priority mode, find a suitable scene, and then (with the camera on a tripod) take three separate exposures for that scene, changing the exposure with Exposure Compensation. You might have to refer to your camera's manual to find exactly how to change it.
1) Exposure normal
2) Exposure -1
3) Exposure +1
Be sure to post all three and also be sure to re-read pages 59-61 - many times over if you need to!
Ok, it looks like you go it. Do you have any questions?
This is how I prefer to work - in Aperture Priority using exposure compensation to make adjustments for brightness and darkness. The only nit would be that it doesn't look like you used a tripod (the second image is a little blurry) :)
Discussion
4 repliesI would like you to go back and review some pages in the Ultimate Guide. Go back and re-read pages 59 - 61.
In these pages, you should learn - in particular - the autoexposure modes: aperture priority and shutter priority. I can tell you that I use aperture priority 98 percent of the time and I would recommend that you learn and practice in this mode as well.
In aperture priority ("A" for Nikons users and "Av" for Canon. Most other cameras will use "A" as well) you will choose the desired f-stop and the camera will choose the shutter speed for you. Let's face it: most of the time we need to determine the f-stop (and the desired depth of field) first. The shutter speed is secondary.
Then in order to make adjustments to exposure, you will use exposure compensation (page 60) to do so; a "+" will add light, making it brighter and a "-" will subtract light, making it darker. When you change the exposure compensation, you are really changing the shutter speed. The f-stop stays in the same place that you set it.
Make sense so far? Now, how do you know if it is over or under-exposed? That's where the histogram comes in. Look at the histogram examples on pages 60 and 61. The first example on page 60 shows over-exposure. See how the tonal information on the histogram is bunched up against the right side? That right edge represents overexposure, so you would then go to Exposure Compensation and dial in less light - let;s say -1 stop. That will push the histogram over the left by one stop so that, hopefully, you end up with a histogram that looks like the one on page 61. The same goes fro under exposure, except you will add light instead. Overexposure is a bigger problem, however. So much so, in fact, that most cameras have a "highlight warning" also known as the "blinkies" See the paragraph on page 61.
Your assignment for Tuesday is to use your camera in aperture priority mode, find a suitable scene, and then (with the camera on a tripod) take three separate exposures for that scene, changing the exposure with Exposure Compensation. You might have to refer to your camera's manual to find exactly how to change it.
1) Exposure normal
2) Exposure -1
3) Exposure +1
Be sure to post all three and also be sure to re-read pages 59-61 - many times over if you need to!
(I bumped tripod..blur)
This is how I prefer to work - in Aperture Priority using exposure compensation to make adjustments for brightness and darkness. The only nit would be that it doesn't look like you used a tripod (the second image is a little blurry) :)
Glad you got a handle on this!