Histograms

&

LECTURE IX
By: Ar. Pranav Sharma
 Introduction

To get the best results from your camera’s light meter its important to understand exactly how
it performs. Knowing how your meter measures light and what its limitations are will help you
to manipulate and interpret its results.

Knowing, for instance, that your camera's imaging sensor has a vastly more limited dynamic
range (range of contrast) than your eyes and brain is supremely important in interpreting the
information provided by your meter.

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01
HISTOGRAM

PRESENTATION BY SLIDESGO
How to read it
 Histogram
Perhaps the most valuable tool available
to you as a digital photographer is the
luminance histogram. This chart
horizontally maps the tonal values of a
scene from pure black at the far left to
pure white at the far right-on a scale of 0
to 255. The vertical axis shows the
number of pixels in each particular tone.
Your camera sensor is limited in its ability
to capture only a certain range of tonal
values. These limits can be very bright
(mostly highlights) or very dark (mostly
shadows).

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 Histogram

What is the optimal histogram? The most

important goal is to prevent your
histogram from bunching up too much at

?
the far ends, which indicates that detail
is being lost in pure white or pure black.
Ideally, your histogram should start at
the bottom left corner, rise into a
mountain, peaking in the middle of the
chart (the mid-tones), and taper off back
down to the bottom right corner.

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02
TTL Meters
Its all about the light
 Introduction
All in-camera light meters fall into one
broad common category: TTL-type
meters. Standing for Through-The-Lens,
TTL metering means that the light is
being measured (by a separate metering
sensor) after it has passed through the
lens and typically is measured at (or
close to) the imaging sensor. This system
creates an extraordinarily accurate
means of light measurement because the
light is being measured after it has
passed through the lens and any lens
filters that you might be using.
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Metering
control
 Continue..
Conversely, in pre-TTL cameras if you used a lens filter you had to take
the amount of light that was absorbed by the filter into consideration
when calculating your exposure. This compensation, known as the
filter factor has been rendered virtually obsolete by TTL metering.
While calculating the filter factor wasn't difficult, measuring the light
after it passes through a lens filter is very much more accurate.
Also, since the light is being measured internally, the meter does not
have to make adjustments for other types of lens accessories like
close-up extension tubes or telephoto extenders. Even the light from
your electronic flash is measured-and the flash output controlled-after
the light has bounced off your subject and passed through the lens.
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 How light meters see the world
● There is a very significant difference between the way that you see the
world and the way that your meter sees it, Until relatively recently, light
meters saw the world only in a palette of grays-metering sensors were
monochrome, and their goal was to average all the shades of gray they
detected, then pick an 18-percent average that would safely (or to the best
of its ability) capture both shadows and highlights. (And incidentally, the
reason that 18-percent gray is halfway between black and white, rather 50-
percent gray, is because the math is based on an algorithmic scale, not a
linear one.) The reason that this system works so well is that whatever you
aim your meter at, will be recorded as middle gray. If you are careful to
meter a subject that happens to be middle gray then that subject will be
exposed perfectly and all of the other tones will naturally fall into their
proper place. Those tones that are lighter than middle gray will record 13
lighter and those that are darker will record darker. The perfect system.
 Middle gray ?
is a tone that is halfway between black and white. It's also
known as neutral gray, 18% gray, or Zone V.

In color photography, middle gray can also refer to a color,

such as middle red, middle blue, middle magenta, and so
on. The point is that the color isn’t important; it’s the tone
that meters are programmed to understand. Therefore, we
could just as easily say middle tone instead of middle gray.
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 Continue..

Some newer cameras, however, feature RGB metering

sensors, meaning they can distinguish between colors.
This is useful in a number of ways-for instance, sensors
are generally more sensitive to red light, and are
therefore prone to underexposing scenes that heavily
feature red subjects (including skin tones).

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In search of Middle
gray
Finding it simpler than you guys think. Most outdoor scenes,
natural and man made contain a number of nearly perfect
middle tones for metering.

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 Clear blue sky

A dark blue sky on a sunny day makes

setting exposure for landscapes easy.
Blue skies are particularly useful when
the scene contains large areas of light or
dark that might fool the meter. Metering
the sky is also useful in very contrasty
lighting, or when the scene is backlit by
strong sunlight. But it needs to be a clear
day with a rich, blue sky, clear of haze or
cloud cover that could skew your
reading.

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 Light Green Foliage

For a scene that has a lot of green

grass or light-green foliage, you can
set a very accurate exposure by
metering those areas, particularly
useful for a landscape that contains
tones that might fool your meter.
For a dark, rocky outcropping with
green trees, just meter from the
foliage and the rest of the tones will
fall into place.
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 Gray or red brick building

Old, unpainted barns are ideal,

naturally gray metering targets, as
are the boards of an old wooden
farm cart or a pile of weathered
lumber. An old school house or the
side of a red-brick store are also
excellent—the key is to make sure
they are reflecting the prevailing
lighting conditions and not cast in
shadow.
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 GRAY CARD
● One reliable method
is to use a mid-toned
gray card. These are
available from
camera retailers and
reflect exactly a mid-
gray to the camera.
The card reflects 18
percent of the light
reaching it, and the
reason for this
number is the
nonlinear response of
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the human eye.
 Lock Selective Readings

● To use any of these naturally occurring middle tones you will have to isolate them from the
rest of the scene, either by using a selective-area metering mode, zooming in to fill the
frame with just that subject, or simply by moving closer to it. Whenever you meter
selectively it's important to lock that reading in before you recompose and shoot the final
scene. If you don't, the meter will override you and set the reading it would have chosen.

● Most cameras allow you to lock a meter reading by keeping the shutter button half-
pressed. As long as you keep your finger on the trigger, the meter reading will remain
fixed. Because this feature typically also locks focus, it is only useful if the subject you are
metering and the one you are shooting are the same distance. If not, you may have to set
the exposure directly. Some cameras have a separate exposure-lock feature. 24
Expose,
then
compose:
For this
scene, the
camera was
pointed down
so the green
grass
occupied the
full frame,
then-keeping
the shutter
release half-
way down-the
scene was
recomposed
and shot.
 Metering

03 Modes
Which one is for you
 introduction
● All digital cameras contain TTL-type meters that utilize at least one of three different types
of metering "modes" to calculate exposure. Compact cameras typically offer only one
metering mode, while more advanced cameras may offer all three. The difference in how
each mode operates is based largely on how much of the scene the meter is viewing.
Switching from one metering mode to another is simple-normally just the press of a button
or the turn of a dial. It's worth trying out each mode so that you're comfortable with how to
access it and how to use it.

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 1. Matrix Metering
● Also known as multi-segment or ● In this mode the meter divides the
evaluative metering, in this frame into a set pattern or grid of areas
mode the camera looks at the that can range from a very basic half
entire scene and considers the dozen or so segments to more than a
lighting as it reflects from thousand on some high-end DSLRs.
numerous specific areas Once you activate the meter by partially
throughout the frame. This is depressing the shutter release, the
the default mode used in camera analyzes the amount of light
almost all digital cameras. It is coming from each of those segments
the most complicated and and then compares the pattern of
sophisticated form of light illumination to a library of subjects
metering. stored in the camera. 28
This
landscape
shot, with
blue sky,
green mid
and
foreground
elements
and plenty
of sunlight
is perfectly
suited for
matrix
metering
This landscape
shot, with blue
sky, green mid
and foreground
elements and
plenty of sunlight
is perfectly
suited for matrix
metering
 2. Selective Metering

● One of the downfalls of matrix metering

(which are mild and relatively rare) is
that the meter is always considering the
entire frame. In most situations this is
helpful, but there are times when the
● CENTER-WEIGHTED METERING
most important subject-the one that you
want metered accurately-takes up only
a small portion of the frame, and this is
where center-weighted metering can be
very useful.
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 2. CENTER-WEIGHTED METERING

● Though it still considers the illumination information from the entire frame,
the center-weighted metering mode biases or "overloads" its readings to a
small central portion of the frame. The center-weighted area is indicated
by a circle in the viewfinder and typically the meter concentrates 60 to 80
percent of its readings from that area. Center-weighted metering is ideal
for situations where a relatively small important subject is surrounded by
an excessively bright or dark background.

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Skin versus
snow:
While it
doesn't
completely
ignore the
edges of the
frame, center-
weighted
metering mode
recognizes
that whatever
is in the center
(in this case,
the portrait
subject) is
what's
important.
Don't worry
about the
edges:
Center-
weighted
metering mode
allowed the
edges of the
frame to be
pushed into
the highlights,
in order to
capture the full
tones of the
inner folds of
these rose
petals.
 3. SPOT METERING
● Spot metering takes the
● One significant difference is that in spot-
idea of center-weighted
metering mode the camera is not taking any
metering to the extreme
other portion of the frame into
and reads an even smaller
consideration. The meter reads exclusively
area of the frame-usually
from the indicated spot area. Spot metering
an area that is between
is useful when the subject takes up a very
one and five percent of
small part of the frame-but when you meter
the viewfinder area. On
off such a small area, it's important you've
most cameras this area is
chosen the optimal area to read. Remember
indicated at the center of
that the reading is telling you what settings
the frame, but on some
will reproduce that small area as a mid tone
you can change its 36
placement.
Spot-metered
silhouettes:
Silhouettes are a
situation in which
you don't want to
meter off your
subject at all.
Here, the colored
background was
spot-metered,
leaving the two
figures completely
underexposed.
Spot lit subjects:
Spot metering is
excellent for
dramatically
capturing a spot lit
subject, ensuring
only the brightest
area is properly
exposed and
letting the rest of
the frame fall off
into shadow.
 Limit yourself to spot metering

● Your camera's spot meter is designed to read a very finite area of the
frame-often only a few degrees in angle of view. But isolating those few
degrees can be the only way to precisely meter the important areas of a
complex scene. By acknowledging that your meter wants to render that
area as a neutral gray, you'll know exactly how to set exposure for the
most important part of the scene. Whether the surroundings are overly
bright, dark or even intensely dappled with both, by metering just the key
area you have control over setting the best possible exposure.

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Mont Saint-
Michel:
Many
monuments
and iconic
buildings are
lit in such a
way that spot-
metering off
their surfaces
creates an
exposure that
accentuates
their structure
while the rest
of the frame is
left more
subdued.
04 Colour temperature
Light is not always white
 Introduction
● All light sources produce a unique color of light, and they are rated by their color
temperature in degrees Kelvin (a system named after William Thomson, also known
as Lord Kelvin [1824-1907]-though it's not likely that anyone will ever ask you). Color
temperature numbers increase as the color of light goes from red to blue or
from warm to cooler. Sunlight in the middle of the day, for instance, ranges
from about 5000-5400K (depending on the latitude and exact hour) and is
considerably more blue than tungsten lighting which is at about 3200K.
Every light source that emits by burning (such as the sun or a tungsten filament) has
a unique color temperature, though in most cases those temperatures vary to some
degree as lamps get older, or as the sun rises and sets.

● To the human eye, however, all ambient lighting-natural or artificial-seems

acceptably white to us after a relatively short period of exposure to it. 43
Here, the
more
significant day
lit subject has
been given
more bias,
while the
shadow area
to the right
has been
forced to take
on a slightly
blue color
cast.
THE PRACTICAL
SCALE OF
COLOUR
TEMPERATURE
 White balance control
● Digital cameras, on the other hand, have a built-in white-balance control
that lets you assign a color temperature so that you can either "correct" the
ambient lighting or exaggerate its color. The white balance, in effect,
enables you to tell the camera exactly what type of lighting that you are
using daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, etc. Most DSLR cameras even have a
further refinement that lets you tweak the color temperature of a given
source (setting 3150K instead of 3200Kfor tungsten, for instance).The white
balance control is a terrific tool when you want to eliminate the color cast of
a particular light source. The classic example used to be interior tungsten
lighting, which would give a heavy orange color cast if a proper white
balance wasn't set.
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 Continue….

● Fortunately, White Balance is 100% adjustable after the fact, as

long as you are shooting in the Raw format. During Raw
conversion, you have the ability to choose any color temperature or tint
that you want, or to simply click on an area of the image you want to
set as your 18% neutral gray. You can even assign separate white
balances to different areas of the same image. However, the goal
should still be to set an accurate a white balance when capturing the
shot.

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 Means of setting white balance

● (1) Automatic white balance adjusts the color response of

the camera continuously and automatically. As you
change from one light source to another, the camera
responds instantly. Typically the auto response will
operate in a range of (roughly) 3500-8000K.

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 Means of setting white balance

● (2) Source-specific white balance presets let you dictate

exactly how you want the camera to respond by telling it
the type of existing light. These vary from camera to
camera.

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 Means of setting white balance
● (3) Manual or Custom WB mode is the most precise, because in
this mode you take a test shot and then set that temperature
manually. The specific steps for creating test settings varies,
but the general idea is constant: first you take a clean, white
surface and photograph it in the same lighting conditions as
your subject-taking care not to have any shadows, and making
the white target fill up the frame; then, you instruct your
camera to use that as the custom WB. For all subsequent shots,
the camera will use precisely the white balance setting that
rendered your target subject pure white 50
YOU CAN SET A CREATIVE WHITE BALANCE

Feeling blue While white balancing off the snow

or ice would have given an accurate coloring.
the result wouldn't have had the same chilling
effect that this blue color cast gives, which was
achieved with a tungsten WB setting
05 HDR Imaging
Lets solve extreme
contrast riddle
 Introduction

● HDRI is simply a process whereby the entire dynamic range, however high, is
captured in a sequence of different exposures, and then all of them are combined into
a single image file. So far, so good, but this combined image file (saved in a special
format such as RGBE or Open EXR) can still not be viewed on a normal computer or
television screen.
● It needs a second stage of being converted back to a viewable image by a process
known as tone mapping, in which you decide where exactly to distribute the full tonal
data that you've collected throughout the limited dynamic range capacity of a given
viewing platform (i.e., a paper print or a digital display).

54
 Continue…

● The simplest way to capture the requisite exposures is to set your camera to its Auto
exposure Bracketing mode, in which the camera will take a series of shots (i.e., a
bracket) with only one being at proper exposure and others in the range of +-2 stop.
The effect is that you have now expanded your dynamic range by six stops: three in
the highlights, and three in the shadows. Depending on your camera-and the
processing power of your computer-you can shoot extremely wide brackets of, say, a
dozen shots covering a vast range of tonal values, but this is almost always going to
be overkill. Usually, expanding your camera sensor's native dynamic range a few
stops in either direction is sufficient, and the resulting files easier to process.

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Go for a
graphic take
This shot
demonstrates
a subtle use
of HDR, in
which one
shot is
exposed for
the outside
and pillars,
with a second
capturing
detail in the
graphic
pattern along
the vaulted
roof at the
upper-left of
the frame.
Balancing land and sky:
The severe underexposure
required to capture the rich,
saturated tones in the sky
meant the foreground dock
would have to be almost
pure black. So a simple
HDR combination of one
shot exposed for the sky,
and one shot exposed for
the foreground, meant all
the tones could fit into a
single, final image .Anti-
ghosting tools kept
movement in the waves
from being distracting
Thank you 

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