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Do You Use Your Histogram
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Jun 29, 2020 11:13:18   #
BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere
 
via the lens wrote:
You state you are a beginning photographer. Assuming that, I'll give you my answer. The histogram on the camera is an indicator of exposure for any subject, moving or not moving. It is a tool to help you get the exposure you desire for any shot. Let's say you are photographing wildlife (you don't say what you are photographing with motion so I'll use that subject). You grab your gear and head out, when you are onsite you look around and take stock of where you will most likely be shooting from, based on the light. At that point you can take a test shot and take a quick look at your camera histogram to determine if the general exposure is where you want it to be. Having said that, exposure is a choice made based on intent and does not necessarily imply that the histogram will be "hill-like" in its setting. However, if you are in mid-morning light and you want a moving animal to show up exposed within a certain range your histogram would most likely be "hill-like." Thus, not overexposed and not underexposed. There is a lot to learn about exposure and it may take you awhile to figure things out but do use all of the tools available to you. Understand that every time you move and the light changes the exposure needs to change, too, so it's somewhat of a moving target. Eventually you should begin to understand how it all works. When I'm in the field shooting and things are moving quickly I'll sometimes take a quick test shot and view my histogram really quickly to see if I'm within an "acceptable" range. Shooting wildlife quickly is a test of one's ability to have the brain and the body work together as one and takes practice and knowledge of your gear and light. This would all apply to other settings as well.
You state you are a beginning photographer. Assum... (show quote)


I think you misunderstood my comment. I'm not a beginner. I meant to imply that if a beginner read histogram articles on the internet, they might get confused trying to adjust their exposure if trying to use the histogram on a moving subject.... such as a BIF.

Yes, your guidance is pretty much what I do when shooting.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:17:25   #
via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP
 
BooIsMyCat wrote:
I think you misunderstood my comment. I'm not a beginner. I meant to imply that if a beginner read histogram articles on the internet, they might get confused trying to adjust their exposure if trying to use the histogram on a moving subject.... such as a BIF.

Yes, your guidance is pretty much what I do when shooting.


If a beginner read any article on photography anywhere they would get confused! Photography is confusing in the beginning. You might consider posting what you do to help the beginners who might read your post.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:19:14   #
User ID
 
BooIsMyCat wrote:
I have been reading up on the use of histograms and find one issue missing - motion.

Most articles end with something like: "Never use your LCD for exposure again!" or something to that effect but, can you expose your image using the histogram when your subject is moving? Sounds pretty obvious but, for beginning photographers, this glaring omission could frustrate the daylights out of the newbie.

Do you use your histogram in your photography or is it a tool that is overlooked and left alone in the Menu section of your camera?
I have been reading up on the use of histograms an... (show quote)


I use it, but I never “obey” it.
Motion has been a non-issue.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:20:25   #
BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere
 
morkie1891 wrote:
Motion is a focus issue. Histograms will get you to the desired exposure but do nothing relative to focus.


Agree but, after reading multiple Histogram articles, I didn't find one where the author mentioned WHEN to use the histogram. Not even in the Histogram for Beginners' articles. I just thought that odd.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:31:46   #
User ID
 
BooIsMyCat wrote:
I think you misunderstood my comment. I'm not a beginner. I meant to imply that if a beginner read histogram articles on the internet, they might get confused trying to adjust their exposure if trying to use the histogram on a moving subject.....


Internet research will be confusing and riddled with conflicting versions of good advice. More than one way to skin a cat ! And let’s not ignore more than a mere sprinkling of actual bad advice online :-(

It’s really up to the noob to realize the nature of internet advice, and then experiment with it to see what’s what.

“The Internet” cannot do your work for you. If you do expect tech to do all your work for you, just dial up the “Green Mode” on your camera and accept the results. EZnuf.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:37:46   #
RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia
 
I use a histogram to check my exposure and when post processing.
Nowdays I use a live histogram, visible in the viewfinder all the time, when shooting.

Showing or freezing subject/camera motion is an entirely different thing.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:38:38   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
One needs to understand what a histogram is. It's merely a statistical tool. Additionally, my in-camera histogram is crammed so far to the right side, it almost looks like a vertical line.
--Bob


BooIsMyCat wrote:
Interesting.

I usually either zero out my meter or use some version of ETTR but, I find that using Live View with the RGB histogram, if I adjust my exposure based on whichever color-channel has data farthest to the right, my exposure comes out perfect every time.

This works well with bright flowers such as white or red ones.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:57:53   #
User ID
 
via the lens wrote:
If a beginner read any article on photography anywhere they would get confused! Photography is confusing in the beginning. You might consider posting what you do to help the beginners who might read your post.


Having had to train many new users, one sure thing is that sharing about how I do things would be an instant failure. I wind up tasked with training cuz I’m an expert practitioner. How and why I do what I do tends to be incomprehensible to the new user. A case of “too much too soon”.

One major reason many new users get confused is that they’re trusting in online “experts” for training. Unfortunately the internet is overcrowded with egos overly anxious to lay out their “advanced user knowledge”. As mentioned above, that’s the fast lane to failure.

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Jun 29, 2020 11:58:11   #
jimbuckley Loc: Arizona
 
The time when I most often use the histogram is when I don't want to blow the highlights AND anticipate that I will have to be opening some deep shadows in post. In this case, I'm pushing the histogram all the way (but not past) the right end.

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Jun 29, 2020 12:06:18   #
Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida
 
Yes, on camera, but more so when post-processing in Lightroom.

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Jun 29, 2020 12:17:52   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
"Unfortunately the internet is overcrowded with egos overly anxious to lay out their “advanced user knowledge”.

So I've noticed.
--Bob
User ID wrote:
Having had to train many new users, one sure thing is that sharing about how I do things would be an instant failure. I wind up tasked with training cuz I’m an expert practitioner. How and why I do what I do tends to be incomprehensible to the new user. A case of “too much too soon”.

One major reason many new users get confused is that they’re trusting in online “experts” for training. Unfortunately the internet is overcrowded with egos overly anxious to lay out their “advanced user knowledge”. As mentioned above, that’s the fast lane to failure.
Having had to train many new users, one sure thing... (show quote)

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Jun 29, 2020 12:34:15   #
User ID
 
rmalarz wrote:
"Unfortunately the internet is overcrowded with egos overly anxious to lay out their “advanced user knowledge”.

So I've noticed.
--Bob


It’s the “other epidemic”.

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Jun 29, 2020 14:57:56   #
BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere
 
RichardTaylor wrote:


Showing or freezing subject/camera motion is an entirely different thing.


I think you too, misunderstood my comment about motion.

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Jun 29, 2020 15:37:55   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
I find the highlight warnings (aka blinkies) to be the more useful and relevant tool than the histogram.

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Jun 29, 2020 16:49:22   #
BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
I find the highlight warnings (aka blinkies) to be the more useful and relevant tool than the histogram.


Can you expand on that?
Blinkies are not so important on areas of little concern and don't they only indicate over-exposure?

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