The Missing Digital Photography Hacks [May. 11, 2004]

Here’s a couple of interesting digital camera hacks. The first one, an explanation of how the camera histogram works, is something I kept meaning to learn about for a while now!

What you want to be leery of is when the graph information bunches up on one side or another. A graph heavy to the left usually indicates underexposure with the image appearing dark (move exposure compensation to +1). If everything is scooted over to the right, that often indicates overexposure with blown highlights and washed out shadows and midtones (move exposure compensation to -1).

Later… There’s another 10 hacks on the book sample page!

Critiques I like

Wow! This critique made me sit back and think. I dragged my camera around town on Saturday afternoon and while I didn’t get any great shots Luis’ words were ringing in my ears. Thanks, much appreciated!

There’s lots of “picturesque”, risk-free, sentimental images….that look like a standardized catalog of themes I can only characterize as “safe” and “pleasant”. They confirm, but do not challenge the average viewer’s expectations of the world.