histogram of a photograph

The histogram of above shot. The height of the gray area represents the number of pixels at a certain brightness level. On the very left are the darkest pixels, the middle represents intermediate brightness levels, and the rightmost edge the brightest pixels. In a well exposed image, the histogram spans from the left to the right sides. An underexposed image’s histogram will be bunched to the left, an overexposed to the right. Yes, you can fix moderately over- and underexposed shot after the fact with your photo processing software, but this will posterize your photographs – the number of distinct colors will get less and less the more you correct the poor exposure. Not good. Many digital cameras show the histogram after a shot – learn to read it, and look at it!!!