Exposure/histogram question

I am trying to learn how to properly expose portraits.

I took this shot yesterday with the 40D, 60mm macro, Av, ISO 100, RAW, spot metering, with single point focus on the face.

The shot is clearly underexposed. I have my LCD at level 4 brightness; it looked fine on the LCD when I took the shot, but clearly her face is underexposed on my computer monitor.

Before you crucify me, I know I should use the histogram to check exposure, which I do, but.....

How do I use the histogram in such a situaton? I know how to utilize the histogram for landscape use, but how do I use the histogram to check the exposure of one particular area within a scene; what part of this histogram represents her face?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Nice photo
With the brightness turned up so far, using the LCD to chimp is a total waste of time.

You didnt say if your using P, AV, or M mode
Which camera are you using as well?

Learn your cameras metering and get to know if it slightly under or over exposes especially if your using AV

Other then that id say turn your brightness back down or turn your display to show the histogram and chimp till you see the little white flashies on the things you dont want Then dial it back a little and look at the histogram and take note of what it looks like

Tom

Troopa wrote in post #4121726
Nice photo

You didnt say if your using P, AV, or M mode
Which camera are you using as well?

Tom

Thanks for the reply. Please re-read my post - its all there, you must have missed this info.

This is an excellent article recently posted by Andrew Rodney, aka The Digital Dog. A must read.
http://www.digitalphot​opro.com/tech/exposing​-for-raw.html

Ok, semi crucify. What part of this histogram do you think is right? All the data is in left hand side of your shot. CLEARLY underexposed on the histogram.

Your's looks like this:

versedmb wrote in post #4121626
I am trying to learn how to properly expose portraits.

I took this shot yesterday with the 40D, 60mm macro, Av, ISO 100, RAW, spot metering, with single point focus on the face.

The shot is clearly underexposed.

And there is the root of your problem. You spot-metered on the face, so the camera is trying to do the right thing: make the face the same brightness as 18% gray. Or, if we can believe other sources, 12% gray. Either way, much darker than the face is in real life.

The camera doesn't know the face should be brighter than 18%, you have to tell it. You can do that by spot metering on the face and adjusting the exposure compensation to +2/3 or +1 stop.

Spot metering often causes this kind of problem. Like a post a couple of months ago where the OP shot a white duck with spot metering. Sure enough, the duck was gray.

-js

I have never used spot metering, ever. I have no use for it.

versedmb wrote in post #4121626
what part of this histogram represents her face?

Oh, forgot to answer your question. There is no part of the histogram that represents her face.

Up, down, left, right in the picture are all mashed together in the histogram. The luminance values of her face will be mixed in together with those of the house and her backpack straps because they're all about the same brightness.

Not much help, I'm afraid...

-js

cosworth wrote in post #4121792
Ok, semi crucify. What part of this histogram do you think is right? All the data is in left hand side of your shot. CLEARLY underexposed on the histogram.

Your's looks like this:

You did a search on proper exposure and histograms right?

I aim for this:

Actually, this is my histogram from the shot, but I see your point.

Also, in all fairness, the "ideal" histogram example that you provided is impossible to achieve in the above portrait due to the dynamic in this scene, except perhaps with fill flash, which I did not want to use in this shot.

number six wrote in post #4121887
And there is the root of your problem. You spot-metered on the face, so the camera is trying to do the right thing: make the face the same brightness as 18% gray. Or, if we can believe other sources, 12% gray. Either way, much darker than the face is in real life.

The camera doesn't know the face should be brighter than 18%, you have to tell it. You can do that by spot metering on the face and adjusting the exposure compensation to +2/3 or +1 stop.

Spot metering often causes this kind of problem. Like a post a couple of months ago where the OP shot a white duck with spot metering. Sure enough, the duck was gray.

-js

Now this is helpful info; your response makes perfect sense - the fog has been lifted!! - thanks.

Funny if you know so much why did you screw it up so bad and have to come here nad ask?

I know what the histogram is from your picture, I opened it up and looked at it. About 2.2 stops too dark. It's easier to google a histogram shot than to take a screen shot, crop, upload to my server blah blah.

Drop the spot metering, position subjects as best as possible and get off the no flash kick. Sometimes you just need to do it to get what you want.

The flash IS adjustable. Stand near a white car. there ar eplenty of creative ways to fill a subject's face. Frankly in this shot, with fill flash it would have looked just fine.

cosworth wrote in post #4122186
Funny if you know so much why did you screw it up so bad and have to come here nad ask?

I know what the histogram is from your picture, I opened it up and looked at it. About 2.2 stops too dark. It's easier to google a histogram shot than to take a screen shot, crop, upload to my server blah blah.

Drop the spot metering, position subjects as best as possible and get off the no flash kick. Sometimes you just need to do it to get what you want.

The flash IS adjustable. Stand near a white car. there ar eplenty of creative ways to fill a subject's face. Frankly in this shot, with fill flash it would have looked just fine.

I knew the shot was not exposed correctly, I was just trying to figure out how to get it right in camera the first time.

I now know that I would have had to accept more blown highlights in the background in order to expose her face properly.

I really couldn't have used fill flash as my the max flash sync is 1/250 Sec on the 40D. The shot was taken at 1/5000 Sec; thus in order to achieve a SS of 1/250 Sec I would have had to use a much smaller aperature, eliminating the background blur that I was after.

cosworth wrote in post #4122186
Funny if you know so much why did you screw it up so bad and have to come here nad ask?

Gee what a di.. oh never mind.

heh, I quite like that photo, to me it looks quite good under exposed with the bright blurred background around her neck, maybe it needs a little more exposure around the face, but still, suppose everyone to their own

versedmb wrote in post #4122225
I really couldn't have used fill flash as my the max flash sync is 1/250 Sec on the 40D. The shot was taken at 1/5000 Sec; thus in order to achieve a SS of 1/250 Sec I would have had to use a much smaller aperature, eliminating the background blur that I was after.

If you have a Canon flashgun, you can set it to high speed synch mode and it will fire a rapid burst, which gets around the shutter not being fully open at any point. So you can synch at fast shutter speeds in these sort of situations.