HISTOGRAMS EXPLAINED

Learn how to judge when the exposure is spot-on

Neutral exposure

When all of the Histogram graph is contained within the horizontal axis, the exposure is OK. But if the ends of the graph don’t reach the extreme left or right of the horizontal axis, then you don’t have any pure blacks (left) or whites (right) in the image.

Incorrect exposure

If the graph goes over the left (shadows) or right (highlights) of the horizontal axis, this means that you have lost detail in the image. It’s often possible to retrieve some detail (especially in raw files), but this will affect the quality of your final result.

Exposed to the right

A good way to make sure that you get the best quality and least noise in your image is to set the exposure so that the highlights just reach the extreme right of the graph. This means that you will have the widest range of tones without any burned-out highlights.