Use Histograms to guide your exposure adjustments

Examine the histogram

In the Folders window, browse to under_exposed_ start.jpg. Double-click its thumbnail for a larger view. The Histogram panel shows the spread of tones in the shot. The graph peaks at the left, showing strong shadows. There’s no highlight information at the right.

Adjust brightness

Set the Histogram panel’s RGB drop-down menu to Brightness so that the tones will be displayed as a straightforward, single white graph. Click the Tone icon and drag Brightness up to 26. The graph’s underexposed dark tones slide right towards the brighter end of the histogram.

Se lective adjustment

The Brightness slider makes equal changes to all the tones of an image. To selectively lighten the darker tones without clipping the highlights, click on the Tone (Detail) icon and drag Shadow Protection all the way to 32. This lightens the midtones to reveal more detail.

Boosting the colour

The Histogram graph is now spread wider to show more detail has been revealed in the midtones and highlights. When you lighten up shadows, the colours can become drab. Click back on the Tone icon and drag Saturation to 62. As you can see, these changes made the colours more vibrant.