A perfect exposure is the Holy Grail of every photographer. Although there are various methods and ways to understand what correct exposure is all about – The histogram today is one of the most useful ways to understand Exposure in photography.

They are an essential aid for digital SLR photographers striving to achieve consistently correct exposures in-camera and are a more accurate method of assessing exposure than looking at images you've taken on the LCD monitor. Therefore, if you are not already in the habit of regularly reviewing your image' histogram, it is time you did so

In basic terms, a histogram is a two-dimensional graph, often resembling a range of mountain peaks, which represents an image's tonal extent. Whilst, at first glance, histograms might appear quite complex and confusing, they are actually very simple to read. A histogram is a graph counting how many pixels are at each level between black and white.

· Black is on the left. White is on the right.

· The height of the graph at each point depends on how many pixels are that bright.

· Lighter images move the graph to the right. Darker ones move it to the left. Easy!!!

The histogram therefore, quite simply, shows 256 levels of light (tones) that are present in an image. The peaks indicate a large volume of pixels in a particular tone and the troughs appear where there are fewer pixels.

In effect, by simply looking at an image's histogram, a photographer can tell whether the picture is made up of predominantly light, dark or mid-tones.

So what should a histogram look like? This is a tricky one to answer. Despite what some people may say, there is no such thing as the 'perfect histogram'. It simply tells us how a picture is exposed, allowing photographers to decide whether - and how - to adjust exposure settings. However - A few points to note are:

· The vertical scale is of no real consequence (it’s just an indication of the number of pixels at any given light level).

· Low contrast images will have a very narrow histogram, whilst high contrast images will cover more of the graph.

· Techniques such as high dynamic range (HDR) photography (and tone mapping) can be used to increase the light levels captured in the image - effectively increasing the exposure latitude.

· For finer control, individual histograms may be viewed for red, green and blue colour channels or the luminosity.

This is a really great tool to have built into your camera! It lets you get a quick idea of what the exposure was like--whether it was improperly exposed, or whether your scene exceeds the dynamic range of your camera (take a shot from inside your house through a window and you'll run into this problem--too dark inside, too light outside).

The Levels and Curves tools in Photoshop allow you to manipulate your photo's histogram in your image editor. In particular, the Levels tool allows you to stretch your histogram to increase contrast and extend the dynamic range of the photo.

We shall cover the concept of the camera's limited "dynamic range", (the range that it can distinguish between dark and light areas in a frame) & "High Dynamic Range" (HDR) photography, a fun subject for another post.

Until then – Happy clicking!!!

Hari Kumar Balasundaram

Here goes the Pic-O-Week .

Photographer  : Jayi
Place              : 2nd Chennai CTC photowalk
Home Page     : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimaa/



Cheers,
Bhagath
http:www.flickr.com/bhagathk

How would you like to celebrate your birthday !!! Cut a cake ; go out - party - have some fun rite !!! Well - Chennai calls you this month to celebrate her birthday in panache & style !!!

Yes Folksies - the theme for the month is - CHENNAI ...

the erstwhile 'madrasapattinam' changing lanes to become a slow giant in 'madras' and transcending an all important millenium into a beautiful IT powerhouse yet retaining the old world charm as it is - Our very old Chennai welcomes you to freeze her different facets, her beautiful self in its various forms starting from sunrise until midnight where life does not seem to slow down at all .. Anything about chennai is welcome .. there are no restrictions in the form of shots taken or colour or theme - Simply go out there and shoot and bring chennai back to life in your frozen frame.

However, Pics from the street photography sessions are a strict no-no ... you can shoot wherever you would like and however you would want anytime and post them ..

THEME : Chennai - anything and everything that encompasses chennai ... b&w, colour , whatever format you choose .. just ensure that you choose chennai as the central theme ..

Start Date : 5.08.2009

End Date : 31.08.2009

Posting URL : http://www.flickr.com/groups/ctcstudio/discuss/72157621827147689/

Are u ready People - Lets shoot chennai in all her glory and make the CHENNAI DAY / MADRAS DAY a special one .

cheers

hari kumar balasundaram

Hi All,

Here goes Assignment :Black and White Results

Flickr Pro Account Winner is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris1804/2589872460

[Note : not able to publish the photo here.The flickr link is totally restricted !!! @Rare Breeze you have to do something about this]

A Good natural black and white Try!!!

A comment f for the photo in flickr:
What a wonderful view. I can imagine how you felt looking it personally. My photography is taking second place for this view than the pleasant enjoyment.


Other Photos,that catch our eyes in this competition :("ctcStudio picks" we can say)

1.Glow-Bali


2.Sethu-sankar



3.Karthickz


4.Raghu



5.John




Note : I Note able to publish some 3 more pics here due to Image copy/Link restrictions in flickr.


See You aGain.

Cheers,
Bhagath makka
http://www.flickr.com/bhagathk

After one month ...I am back ;-)

Here goes the Pic-O-Week .

Photographer  : Diwakar
Place              : <unknown> (may that's not so important for this pic)
Home Page     :  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bay_range



Personally ...I fella pleasant deel from these colour combination.


Cheers,
Bhagath makka
http;//www.flickr.com/bhagathk

"When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn't believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street." Henri Cartier-Bresson

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Following our first steps into the foray of street photography through a photo walk session in the city of chennai - here's a precursor to what photography in the streets is all about - Read on !!!

Street photography is an approach to photography rather than a location, although the streets are the usual place it happens.

Street photography captures candid mood and situation and it is generally practiced at public places streets, parks, sea-beaches, malls and political and social gatherings. It is pretty easy to take photographs at these places without seeking any permission.

A street photographer can also take the pictures of historical buildings and archaeological monuments.

Street photography can be and often is: Odd things in the fore ground; no central focus; odd crops.It is sometimes referred to as no rules photography.

The plethora of equipment (tripods, lenses, filters, lights etc etc) associated with "serious" photography is left at home, or better still in the camera store. Its just too heavy and bulky to cart around, takes way too long to set up and by the time it is set up the moment is gone.

Street photographers see the usual, the every day with fresh eyes. The reflection in a rain puddle, the colours in a crowd, the balance of a negative space. Their minds are open to all the stimuli that they see and they curse the days when they leave their camera at home.

Street photographers are optimists, for them the glass is always half full. They go out on a photo shoot with no plan in mind secure in the knowledge that this wide world of ours will provide. A subject, a situation, a scene will present itself all they have to have is the presence of mind to capture it when it does.

Street photography is, what all photography is, a snap shot. What shines through is the photographer, his/her interpretation of the scene, what they see in the situation, their reaction to the stimuli, the art they see in their every day walk of life.

Technicians take technically correct and often pretty pictures. Visual artists, whatever their medium, create images that stimulate the mind, the heart and validate the human condition in all its guises. Because, after all, pretty is in the eye of the beholder and consequently very subjective, whereas art speaks to all who are prepared to listen.

content reference : excerpts from bateman's blog & other digital camera resources

Hari Kumar Balasundaram

Before:



After:



Steps:
1. Crop the photo. Here its little tight and given some breath space where the subject is looking into.
2. Adjust the Brightness and Contrast
3. Slightly adjust the saturation and the vibrancy for the mood.
4. Add a border to the canvas, which will give the picture complete.