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I know it is bad if all of the data is piled up against one side of the histogram, but for instance say if a person has data spread throughout the histogram but there is also data touching the edges of both or either side of it is that still bad? Should the data never touch the edges at all? Thanks!
5:35 am
VIP Student
September 15, 2012
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Hello Melissa…
Welcome to our group.
I hope you enjoy our small place in your computer and we anticipate seeing your photos.
Histograms…. They can get confusing. I am still having trouble with the Lightroom Red, Green, and Blue… but that’s another story.
Yes… It’s best to have the data spread in a bell curve from left to right without touching the sides.
The bell will be more to the left in darker pictures and to the right in lighter pictures. This is good.
Touching the sides… Yes this should be avoided, but a little doesn’t hurt.
Touching means that data is being lost… it’s gone to either pure black (left) or pure white (right).
Sometimes the data can be recovered in post processing.
-- Mandrake --
Cool thanks! Ignore my question in my other post. I forgot I posted this. Thank you. I’ve noticed alot of mine touch the edges but also spread throughout the histogram. My meter flops back and forth as I’m getting ready to take the pic, so it’s hard for me to tell if the exposure is right. The meter just keeps moving a little each way and won’t stay still. Why does it do that?
11:18 am
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September 15, 2012
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melissahall456 said
My meter flops back and forth as I’m getting ready to take the pic, so it’s hard for me to tell if the exposure is right. The meter just keeps moving a little each way and won’t stay still. Why does it do that?
I have not used a Canon, but would expect that your light meter is only visible in Manual mode. Try shooting in Aperture Priority mode and this will not be a problem. The camera will set the exposure depending on the aperture and ISO settings that you have selected. It will adjust the shutter speed for proper exposure. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it’s not too slow and if it is, increase your ISO to compensate.
In Manual mode the meter will fluctuate as you move the camera or as light conditions change. The amount of movement will depend on your Metering mode. Spot metering will be more sensitive than Matrix or Center Weighted. I usually shoot in Matrix unless there is a special reason for Spot. Dale would argue differently.
-- Mandrake --
Thanks. For some reason any time I try to use Aperture Priority I’m not having luck. It always shows underexposed on the histogram and even increasing ISO doesn’t seem to help or it makes me go too high so I just forget it and change to manual. I’ll try AP in daylight more and see how it does. Maybe I am moving a little more than I realize (usually trying to capture kids who are moving quick) and that’s why the meter is all over the place. I’ll keep working with it. I’m using my husband’s older Canon and it doesn’t have matrix … says it automatically sets it to center weighted average in manual mode. Thanks for all your help!!
If you most of the time have a problem with underexposed image, you can set exposure compensation towards “+”. This will make you image brighter. You can try different numbers and see what works best. Also shoot Raw, when you will have more flexibility with exposure in postproduction.
Increasing ISO would not change how the camera matters in Aperture mode. It will still gives you the same exposure. The only reason to increase ISO is when your shutter speed gets to slow to hold the camera at certain aperture. So even if you use Aperture mode, still pay attention which shutter speed your camera sets.
7:05 am
April 18, 2013
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“My meter flops back and forth as I’m getting ready to take the pic, so it’s hard for me to tell if the exposure is right. The meter just keeps moving a little each way and won’t stay still. Why does it do that?”
yes i had this i was shooting M mode but now back to A mainly , for this reason.
i did about 50 manual product shots and when i went to upload most were underexposed or over exposed i noticed the needle fluctuating and tried to get it as near as possible i have toadmit i did forget to check meter on some , i did have it on spot meter though
so ill try matrix next time (thanks MD), with manual and taking lots of product shots it hard to remember every check prior to shutter button pressv, A mode makes it a bit easier but still a challenge i did about 50 this mourning and forgot shadows and wasted a lot of photos , could do with lighting subjects better .
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