Do You Check Your Histogram?

When studying/learning about photography, one of the first terms you’ll hear about is the histogram. Your histogram basically shows you the pixels from your image in graph form. On the left side of the graph, you’ll find your blacks and shadows, and on the right side, the whites and highlights. We’re taught that a well exposed photo will have a “bell curve” look, showing equal distribution of lights and darks, shadows and highlights.

So, the question of the day is, do you check your histogram?

My answer? It depends.

As a fan of dark, shadowy food photography, let me show you what my histogram looks like 99% of the time.

Yeah, it’s small and kind of hard to see, but in the top, right corner there, you can see it. Not very bell curve-like, is it? Nope. It’s pretty much hugging that left side. As it should. I like me some dark food photography.

Even after increasing my shutter speed to bring in more light and move my histogram over a little bit, I ended up with an image that looked like this:

(straight out of camera…)

Even then, my histogram still looked like this:

So, yeah, it moved a bit, but it left me with an image that I don’t like. It’s way too bright and not shadowy enough for my preferences. So, I fixed it.

Thank you, Lightroom.

You’ll notice similar issues if you’re a person who likes to photograph food using lots of whites. Your histogram will be right up on the right side and will at first, make you think you’re doing everything wrong. But, you’re not. You’re just creating an image with lots of whites and highlights. If that suits your preference, go with it.

All that being said, I’ve found my histogram to be particularly helpful when I’m shooting portraits…especially if I’m outdoors and checking the image on the back of my viewfinder can be difficult. I go off what I can see on the back of my viewfinder and then consult my histogram to double check my work.

So, while your histogram can be helpful and provide some valuable information, it’s important to realize that it will be more valuable to you at certain times than at others.

Before I take off, can I just mention the cookies I photographed today? Arnott’s Tim Tam Original Value Pack 330g (Made in Australia) have become my favorite store bought cookie. The chocolate is delicious, the cookie, the mousse like filling in the middle. It’s a chocolate lover’s dream and I wished I’d learned about these goodies long, long ago. (If you follow me on Instagram, you may have caught a photo of my daughter trying to load our cart with Tim Tams at one point. I agreed with her, in theory, but my wallet and my desire for healthier eating made me say no…)

Well done, Aussie friends, you’ve created a super tasty treat with these cookies! (or biscuits???)

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