Not getting a full histogram

sirch

sirch

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I'm just going through a load of holiday snaps and I have noticed that on many the histogram is quite narrow, I have attached an example. My question is is there anything I could have done about this in camera or is it just the conditions being uniformly grey?
Histo.png
 
The histogram is correct. Your image has little to no shadows and no blacks.
Not every image will produce a full histogram. However you can probably pull out a bit more detail in this image but setting you black and white point.
 
ecoleman said:
The histogram is correct. Your image has little to no shadows and no blacks.
Not every image will produce a full histogram. However you can probably pull out a bit more detail in this image but setting you black and white point.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thanks I understand that, I was really wondering if there was anything that could be done in camera to capture more of the detail, probably not but you never know?
 
ecoleman said:
The histogram is correct.
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely.
sirch said:
Yeah, thanks I understand that, I was really wondering if there was anything that could be done in camera to capture more of the detail, probably not but you never know?
Click to expand...
I personally, when shooting a higher reflective scene
with water or even snow, use the EV to control a bit
more the capture. I will set a compensation of -,7 or
more to take the shot and bring the take more to the
middle of the histogram. Not a dramatic tweak but it
helps with the highlights in PP.
ecoleman said:
you can probably pull out a bit more detail in this image but setting you black and white point.
Click to expand...
…you can certainly pull out a bit more detail in this image by setting you black and white point.:)
 
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sirch said:
Yeah, thanks I understand that, I was really wondering if there was anything that could be done in camera to capture more of the detail, probably not but you never know?
Click to expand...


Not really... it's a shot with a long lens, and the sea spray is diffusing the light. Go Google "Aerial Perspective".

There's nothing wrong with that image, or it's histogram.
 
Unless you're dealing with a grab shot, review the scene using the histogram at the time you compose to get the best exposure at the time.

In the situation shown in your example, I'd have taken a test shot and used it to set exposure compensation which would probably have done me for a while, as it seems the weather conditions weren't too changeable.
 
JohnX said:
Unless you're dealing with a grab shot, review the scene using the histogram at the time you compose to get the best exposure at the time.

In the situation shown in your example, I'd have taken a test shot and used it to set exposure compensation which would probably have done me for a while, as it seems the weather conditions weren't too changeable.
Click to expand...


He'd have still got the same histogram. The only difference exposure would have made was moving that chunk of data up or down the histogram. The only way to get a black from that scene in camera is to under-expose it.

There's 'nowt wrong with his shot - it's a low contrast scene. If you want more blacks, adjust the levels in post (at the raw stage).
 
Does it mean anything when the spike there goes off the top of the grid. Should it all fit in horizontally and vertically ideally
 
AshleyC said:
Should it all fit in horizontally and vertically ideally
Click to expand...

The vertical peaks only indicate how much
of any given luminance and/ or chrominance
in the spectrum was recorded. It has not
impact on the final quality but is only used
as visual ratio reference.
 
AshleyC said:
Does it mean anything when the spike there goes off the top of the grid. Should it all fit in horizontally and vertically ideally
Click to expand...


No. The vertical (Y) axis represents how many pixels are recording that particular part of the histogram. The Y axis has no bearing on exposure.

Example:

Here's a fully grey image filled with grey (128R, 128G, and 128B)

345345.JPG


Obviously the Y axis is filled from top to bottom because all the pixels are the same colour. The histogram is a single line because all the colour is the same grey.

Oh... and the spike is dead centre because it's RGB128... exactly in the middle of the 8 bit colourspace (0-255 levels per pixel - you count the zero so 256 discreet levels)

You'll hear people talking of the perfect histogram as a bell curve... just laugh at them... they're idiots. The histogram above is a perfect histogram for that image. I can replicate this in real life as my walls in the digital darkroom are painted 18% grey. (note the image is not rendered as 18% grey, as most camera meters are not actually calibrated for 18% grey any more... close... but not 18)

6y53etyhe.JPG

The histogram is no longer a single spike as there are variations in the grey due to the textured wallpaper, but the majority are still recording a very similar shade of grey, hence still a full deflection on the Y axis and a very narrow range of the histogram being occupied.

This however is a perfect histogram for this shot.


I can stretch it out to fill it and get a "bell curve"....

43fd3f4r34f.JPG


...but it looks s***!


You don't necessarily need a full histogram if the scene you shot didn't generate one.

There's nothing wrong with the OP's shot, and in my opinion, getting a black will lose the sense of distance, and lose that feeling of a bracing on shore breeze and salt spray, but this of course is subjective.
 
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If you want the camera to do the processing of a low contrast scene just up the jpeg contrast setting. That's what it's for. Conversely, if you want to catch the maximum dynamic range in a camera processed jpeg in a high contrast scene, lower the jpeg contrast setting in camera. If you're lucky your camera will also allow you to exploit some of the extra dynamic range of RAW without using RAW by using an in-camera DRO setting, either auto or set by you. There are probably also some mode settings which will affect the in-camera jpeg settings, depending on your specific model.

All of these settings will affect the histogram displayed as well as the appearance of the image, because that's derived from the in-camera jpeg.
 
chris malcolm said:
If you want the camera to do the processing of a low contrast scene just up the jpeg contrast setting. That's what it's for. Conversely, if you want to catch the maximum dynamic range in a camera processed jpeg in a high contrast scene, lower the jpeg contrast setting in camera. If you're lucky your camera will also allow you to exploit some of the extra dynamic range of RAW without using RAW by using an in-camera DRO setting, either auto or set by you. There are probably also some mode settings which will affect the in-camera jpeg settings, depending on your specific model.

All of these settings will affect the histogram displayed as well as the appearance of the image, because that's derived from the in-camera jpeg.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't do ANY in camera processing.. it's pants. Shoot raw and deal with it when you're on a decent screen and using software that allows you to take full control.
 
Thanks all, confirms what I thought. @Pookeyhead is right it is a long lens shot, 300mm equivalent and it was shot in raw so I can pull it a bit.
 
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