Video: Histogram Tales, Detailed Histogram Reading.

by Gavin Seim: Taking the time to watch the histogram is invaluable. Left is dark, right is light on a histogram. But beyond that you can better understand and work the highlight and shadow detail your way, before exporting to Photoshop, printing etc. And it’s not hard.

I recorded this video and hope to do more soon. In it we analyze what the histogram tells us about an image and how we can learn to better understand our images using it.

Starting with presets is a great way to get an image going, but don’t be afraid of those curves sliders to move things around. You can control tone and dynamic range beautifully on the RAW file without losing contrast. Just watch for artifacts or noise if you push things far (see the Six Keys).

Get comfortable with your histogram. It can tell you a lot, both in camera (trust your histogram more than what you see on the camera screen) and in post (just about everything you need to know). Powerful stuff indeed. Lets take a look…

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About the Author

Glad you're here.

I'm from WA State USA and started studying photography in 97. I started work as a pro (using that word loosely because I sucked) using film at age 16. I learned fast but was not as easy to find training then. Sometimes I beat my head against the wall until I figured stuff out.

As digital dawned I went all in and got to study with masters like Ken Whitmire. In 09 I founded the Pro Photo Show podcast. I started promoting tone-focused editing. When Lightroom arrived, I started developing tools to make editing and workflow better.

20 years of study and photography around the country earned me a Master of Photography (M.Photog) from PPA. I got to see my workshops and tools featured in publications across the industry. Once I even won the prestigious HotOne award for my "EXposed" light and tone workshop.

Wanting something calmer, I moved to Mexico in 2017. It's a land of magical light. I'm here now exploring light and trying to master my weak areas. I make videos of that for my Youtube channel, sharing what I learn. I hope you'll stick around and be part of Light Hunters Tribe... Gavin

Gavin Seim

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