Photo How To

Most accomplished photographers pay close attention to their camera's histogram when shooting in the field because this simple graphic can be extremely helpful for balancing all the tones throughout a scene. But one respected pro insists that in certain situations, "the histogram may be lying to you and I'll show you why."

Instructor Mark Dumbleton is an experienced wildlife photographer based on South Africa whose YouTube channel is devoted to helping amateurs elevate their skills when shooting all sort of photos in the great outdoors. In this five-minute episode he explains which non-exposure camera settings impact your histogram, and he demonstrated how to fine-tune them for precise results.

Before getting started there are two factors in need of clarification. First, Dumbleton is referring to the histogram in the camera—not the one in your post-processing software—and secondly, his tips are most effective when working with Raw files.

In basic terms, the histogram is a graphic representing the tonal values in an image, with dark tones on the left, bright tones on the right, and a gradation of midtones between the two extremes. The peaks on the graph indicate which tones are most prominent. As Dumbleton says, "The goal is to capture an image that retains full detail in the shadows and highlights for a well-balanced exposure.

In most cases the foregoing is all you need to know for making whatever adjustments are necessary to get the job done. But here's the rub: According to Dumbleton, "the histogram can be influenced by other camera settings, and it's important to understand what they are."

It's also essential to remember that the live histogram only represents Jpeg data. In other words, "you're not seeing the actual Raw data on the histogram," and this is a source of potential confusion.

Dumbleton walks you through how all this works, explains a few non-camera settings that may cause the histogram to lie, and what you can do to get the truth. Be sure to watch until the end when he shares a powerful pro tip to help you achieve the best possible image quality from your camera's sensor.

Dumbleton's instructional YouTube channel is full of straightforward tips and techniques like this, so be sure to take a look.

And don't miss the tutorial we featured with another accomplished pro who demonstrates how to take advantage of your camera's game-changing "Hybrid Manual" mode  for perfect photographs every time.