Q&A ~ Image Selection and Histograms

It's that time again to answer a few questions I've gotten in the last week. Thanks for sending me your questions, btw! I love to help out in any way I can, so keep those questions coming. Once I get a few, I'll post another Q&A post.

1. How do you select which image to use?

I don't think there is any real science to this for me, but here is my workflow. First, I load all my pictures onto my computer, and import them into a software program called Lightroom. Lightroom has a rating system, so you can quickly run through all your images and rate them on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars. I typically rate 1-3. 1- maybe, 2- like, 3 love. Some may ask, why have a maybe? Well, I have a hoarding problem...I kid (maybe). Seriously though, I have been able to make some fun artistic images out of those maybes.

After I rate them, I'll immediately start to edit my 3 star images. By the time I've fully edited those in both Lightroom and Photoshop, I've been away from the initial emotional connection I may have with some of the images, and I can be a bit more objective and critical of the shot. Try it for yourself. If you take a ton of pictures of your kids, only pick 3 to edit. Don't look at the remaining images for 24 hours or so, then come back and see if you still love all of those images. The question I ALWAYS ASK myself is "Would I hang this picture on my wall? Is this art?" Try to be really honest with yourself.

2. What is a histogram?

A histogram is a great way of evaluating whether the lighting in your image is balanced, and if you are utilizing your camera's full dynamic range of highlights and shadows. Too much? Hm...simply put, it tells you if your shadows and highlights are over or underexposed. Does your image have detail in the shadows? Is there any detail being shown in a black shirt, for instance? Or for highlights (think your whites), can you see definition in the lights areas of your image? Can you see a clear definition in a white shirt?

Most digital camera's give you the ability to see your histogram. There are four columns on a histogram (Blacks, Fill Light, Recovery, Highlights) Think of it as the color range from black to white. (Black, Grey, Light Grey, White). After you take a picture, check your histogram for that image. If you can see spikes in all four columns, then you have a nice dynamic image. Good job! If not, take the shot again, but try to improve your shot based on what your histogram told you. If there is no evidence of blacks, then try lowering your exposure to improve your shot, or change your angle of your shot to ensure you have both shadows and highlights in your image. It really does make a HUGE difference in the quality of your image.

As promised, I never blog without a photo. Here is another one of my favorites from yesterday's session with the S Family. How freaking adorable is this family?

(photoshop geeks, does anyone have a suggestion on getting your web quality images sharper? they look great in photoshop, but then when i upload it to the web they get blurry. it's driving me crazy!)