You will often hear photographers talk about the perfect histogram while they’re checking the back of their cameras.  If you’re new to digital photography, you may think this is just another example of something you need to learn.   Just as soon as you learned the difference between an aperture and ISO, some smart-alec throws in a new term – what the heck is a histogram?

A histogram is a simple graph, displaying the levels of brightness in your photograph.  You read it as the darkest levels on the left to the brightest on the right.  The height of histogram is a reflection of the number of pixels that fall within that brightness level.  Almost every digital camera can display the histogram.  Here is a “normal” histogram.

"Normal" Histogram

The distribution pixel brightness in many scenes, at proper exposure, will be even, but you need to consider the image. You can, instantly, get good information about your photo’s exposure values by checking it often.  But, like many so-called rules, there are exceptions.  With no knowledge of the corresponding image, you’d think that these histograms are bad.  The first one is too dark and the secpmd is obviously too bright, right?

Too dark?

Too bright?

Not necessarily true.  If your scene is dark – and it’s supposed to be – the majority of your pixels will fall to the left side of the scale.  Think of a black cat, lying on a piece of black velvet.  Not too many bright pixels in that scene.  The top histogram is from my day my grandkids took me to Luray Caverns.  I’ve told you (quite proudly) that the oldest occasionally has an interest in cameras.  She borrowed the point-and-shoot and went crazy down there in the caverns.  I caught this one as she paused to admire her photos.  There was very little light down there, and her face was dimly lit by the LCD on the back of the camera.  It is a dark photo, resulting in a histogram that is skewed to the left.  I wouldn’t want to brighten this just to make a “normal” histogram.

Likewise, a bright scene will have pixels that fill the right side of the scale.  In this photograph, there is still quite a bit of dark pixels, but the majority are clearly on the right. 

There are other ways to use the histogram as you work on your photography.  There is plenty of information  on the web if you want to go to greater depths.  We’ll get into some of them on another day.  I hope that answered the question.  You can always ask questions here or on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/efcubed.

Everyone likes a sharp, crisp photo, but sometimes conveying motion requires a little blurring.  A blurred background on a relatively sharp subject brings that feeling of motion to your viewer.

While we were goofing around in Fairbanks, Alaska, my son asked me to take some photos of him and his buddy jumping their ATVs.  The fact that it was after 11 p.m. really wasn’t a problem for us, since the sun didn’t set until well after midnight that day. and it never got dark.  (Have I said enough that I love Alaska?)

The best way to shoot these kinds of photos is panning, or moving your camera in conjunction with your subject.  This allows you to keep the subject in good focus and blurs the background.  Set your camera to shutter priority and practice several shots until you find the amount of blur you prefer.  You can leave it there, but I prefer to use that setting as the starting point for my session and move the camera into manual mode.  Depending on the location’s background, you may have differences in the light.  If your camera is set to shutter priority, the camera will try to adjust the aperture setting as you move through the background.  Manual mode puts an end to that and gives you a constant exposure setting that you can tweak as you look at the LCD to review your shots.  The boys (OK, they’re Army officers, but they were boys that night) were happy to repeat the jumps, so I had no worries of getting everything right on the first capture.  They liked the dust hanging in the air to make the photos look grittier.  My wife even joined in on the fun.

You should use a tripod with a ball-head to steady the camera.  Just loosen the ball-head enough to keep your panning smooth.  You can do this hand-held, too, but my tripod kept the background and the panning consistent, eliminating one more movement factor in the composition.  You should try it both ways.   

If you want the background to be in focus and capture movement within a scene, you can set your exposure to properly capture the background, with your shutter speed low enough to allow the blur of the subject.  In this example, the carnival ride (at a fest in Augsburg, Germany) is moving fast enough to blur the riders, but the colorful evening sky and lights are properly exposed and in focus.  This was back in the film days, so I didn’t know I was successful until a few days after the shot.  The “good old days” weren’t always perfect.  Give me today’s digital technology and instant feedback on my LCD.

There are certain photographs where the subject’s movement occurs in only a small portion of the photo.  In this shot, Josh Willingham, of the Washington Nationals, hits a ball foul.  The shutter speed is high enough to freeze him in action, but the bat and the ball are blurred.  I believe the Nats even won that night. 

So don’t be worried about a little blur in your photos, now and then – especially if you plan it.  Think about the amount of movement you want in your image before you push the shutter release; verify that you have the appropriate settings; and capture something dynamic.  Have fun.

Dragon boats on the Potomac River

As we’ve both said before, you should understand and adhere to the basic rules of composition.  You don’t have to be a slave to those rules, but they exist for a reason.  They were developed through the years to help you create a composition that is pleasing for your viewers.  

Patterns and rhythms are powerful devices to help make your photographs grab the viewer’s eye.  The combination of similar shapes, lines, and even colors, in regular intervals, creates these patterns.  You’ve seen natural patterns in flowers, water droplets, or rows on an ear of corn.  

Man-made patterns are equally easy to find in buildings and the way we organize our lives.  Whether these patterns are natural or man-made, they bring a photo together and impart a harmony of composition (how’s that for artsy-fartsy?).  

If you understand the concept, you can create a violation of the rule and drive your viewer’s focus to an interruption of the pattern.  The window in the shot below disrupts the pattern of the siding of the church.  The leaf on the plums performs the same function.   

As with all rules, once you’ve learned how to see and use them, you can try new combinations and have fun with all the possibilities.

Macro photography is close-up photography. A macro lens reduces the minimum focus distance to a very short distance and allows you to fill the frame with small objects.  At this distance, the depth of field can be measured in millimeters.  Focus is absolutely critical since any change in the camera to subject distance will cause a change in the area of focus.  You should use a tripod to help you maintain the focus exactly where you want it.  A remote trigger or cable release also helps prevent any camera movement.

In order to create a greater depth of field, I frame the object carefully, and manually focus on different planes, taking several photographs.  In Photoshop, I create a stack of these photos and blend the photographs together, masking out the out of focus portion of each photo and leaving the sharp elements.  The remaining composite reveals a sharp macro photograph that cannot be recreated with the camera and lens alone.

The steps are easy.  Place all the photos into one image file, with each photo in its own layer.  Select all layers.  In the Edit menu, choose Auto-Align Layers, and let the program ensure all layers are exactly aligned.  Back in the Edit menu, choose Auto-Blend Layers, and Photoshop creates the masks for each layer.  You may need to crop slightly to compensate for the any ragged edges created in the alignment step.  Nothing to it. 

Just in case you didn’t know, Photoshop CS5 is now shipping.  Both of us have our copies.  I believe the upgrade is worth every penny.  We’ll probably throw in a few blogs in the near future about some of the new features.   Lightroom 3 should be out soon, as they are now in their second public beta.  Another worthwhile upgrade in my opinion.  Lots of fun new toys for the upcoming summer!

Roger has been carrying the load for this blog for the last few months, as I have been reminded on a near daily basis.  Unfortunately, I have been off writing big proposals to try and get new business, thereby allowing me to continue my photography addiction.  Finally, I’ve caught a brief break and have recommenced my housekeeping chores including taking care of my camera. 

I often forget that the brains behind my camera is only partly me—yes Roger, a very small part, I’ll save you the trouble.  There is a lot of embedded software, called “firmware”  inside your cameras and the manufacturers are continually looking at how they can improve the operations of their systems.

We are all used to getting the updates for whatever image editing programs we are using, be it Photoshop Elements, or Adobe Lightroom.  You have to work a slight bit harder to update the firmware, but it is definitely an important part of being properly prepared as a photographer. 

For Nikon owners, you can go to  http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/list and select your camera model and computer operating system and follow the directions.   Nikon software has an A and a B side and you need to do both.   It involves using a blank memory card and your card reader to download the upgrades and they have step by step instructions on how to do it. 

For those CANON shooters head over to http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetProductLineAct&productLineID=3 and dig around under your camera model. 

For me, here are just a few of the updates in the new software load

The following improvements have been made in version 1.10

- The Highlights playback display option has been moved from Display mode > Basic photo info > Highlights in the playback menu to Display mode > Detailed photo info > Highlights. 
- The size and color of “Demo” displayed in the monitor with playback when No memory card? in the Custom Settings is set to Enable release, have been modified. 
- The range of settings available for ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed in the shooting menu has been increased from 1/250 – 1 s to 1/4000 – 1 s.
- When shooting in hand-held live view mode and the frame is magnified prior to autofocusing, operation has been modified so that display returns to the magnified display rather than full-frame display. 
- Images captured with Rotate tall, in the playback menu, set to On are not automatically rotated for display immediately after capture (image review).
- A Copyright information item has been added to the setup menu.  When Copyright information is enabled, the copyright symbol (©) is shown in the shooting info display. 

It also improves the display of GPS data, which is a topic that Roger can and does go on forever about. 

So, go check your manufacturers website and make sure the smart part of your camera is up to speed so you, the creative part can get the most out of your partnership.