The histogram might be the most underused feature among photographers – both in the photographing stage, as well as in post production. With the histogram, we have the power to watch for issues and correct them while shooting.
When we get our images into Lightroom, we can see the histogram of the image we have captured as well, and we can actually use it to edit
First, let’s take a look at what the histogram actually shows us. Basically, this magical little chart is a way of understanding what data we’ve captured. Here’s
One quick personal note here; I actually try to avoid using the image preview on my camera while photographing. Instead, I usually will use the histogram to get a good feel for how well I’m nailing the exposure. The truth of the matter is that the LCD screens of most SLR’s just can’t be trusted, so I learned to read the histogram as way of hedging against flaky LCD screens.
Back to Lightroom
Okay, now that we’ve talked about the photographic theory here, let’s jump back to Lightroom to see how we can use the histogram in our editing workflow.
We can use the histogram to help us in a couple of ways in Lightroom. First, I think it’s helpful to use it to protect us against bad computer screens, much in the same way we dodge bad camera LCD’s. Use the histogram to judge your exposure in Lightroom as well.
But more importantly, we can actually interact with the histogram and point and click on it to edit the photo to our liking.
Of course, we’ll be working in the Develop module
Wrapping Up
If you’re looking for a different way of taking on your edits, the Histogram editing is a great exercise to understand one of photography’s most helpful tools. You can easily drag and control exposure with the histogram panel.
Will you use histogram editing? Check in with a comment if you’ve been using it or want to know more.