Reading your Histogram

Here is a good article on the basic understanding of the histogram and how it applies to your photography. Often we pass on images that are too bright or too dark. This helps you understand how to achieve optimal exposure and also reinforces the advantages of shooting in RAW format.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-read-and-use-histograms/

I understand, but only looking at the histogram does not only give you the right information in some cases.

Sometimes it looks like images get rejected only by looking at the histogram. That's not exactly the way it is suppost to be, right?

Daan, I don't think any screeners turn down a photo by looking at the histogram alone. I can't speak on behalf of them but what I do is take a glance at the finished image and quickly scan the equalized version to look for anomalies (noise, dust spots, halos, etc). When I've made my first impression I use the histogram to verify what my eyes interpreted (exposure, whites, blacks, highlight/shadow clipping, etc).

The histogram is your most accurate assessor to your work, hence why you should look at it for every shot you take.

I know Andre. But in Angelo's post it just looks like its just being rejected for the histogram. Just to make things clear.

The most common exposure problem is too dark, and this shows up clearly in the histogram as a main distribution that does not reach full scale (255). The opposite problem is too light which shows up as a main distribution that does not extend to 0. Both of these scenarios also lead to reduced contrast. Thus, at a minimum checking both ends of the histogram should be part of your workflow, to see if you've missed a chance to do better job editing for exposure.

An image is never rejected purely on the shape of its histogram. Rather an image that is too dark or too light is confirmed by reviewing the histogram. Many photographers may simply not realize they have made an error until a second set of eyes has seen it. Because a histogram is a purely technical measure of exposure and not subjective, it is always available as a neutral opinion.

There is no such thing as a histogram rejection. The histogram is used as a tool to back up what the screeners say during a rejection. It should also be used by photographers to help improve their photos.

More judgement is needed during unusual lighting circumstances as the histogram then becomes very difficult to read.

My intention was not to convey that we accept/reject based on histogram alone. For instance, a moody sunset shot with a gorgeous backdrop will be leaning to the left most likely. That's ok. Likewise an airshow shot in the day as the plane passes through it's own white smoke might lean right....no issues there either. What I am trying to get across is to understand that under normal/non-creative lighting your histogram will tell you if you've got it right. I am just trying to keep folks from dealing with a rejected shot for simply being too dark or highlights too bright.