Lightroom Tip - Use The Full Histogram For Your Photos

When I visit Flickr or 500px, I often see photos that are composed well, have an interesting subject and great detail, but have an overall appearance that is very lackluster and blah. I rarely "favorite" these kind of images because they just don't impart any visual interest or excitement.

If you notice that some of the photos you take fall into this category, there is a way to help these kind of images become much better visually. The first step is to realize what the problem is to be able to solve it, and the problem often lies in the histogram.

A histogram of each image is a graphic representation of all of the tones in an image from dark to light. Photographs that have a good representation of tones across the full spectrum, or display, of the histogram tend to be visually interesting and a feast for the eyes to behold.

But sometimes, such as on cloudy days or in heavily shaded areas, the tones are severely confined to a small part of the histogram, typically in the center. This means that many of the lighter and darker tones are simply missing in the image, and so the image lacks visual interest. It just doesn't pop!

So how to solve this? Well, there are several things that can be done to make the image better but in Lightroom one of the easiest ways to make these lackluster images more interesting is to stretch the tones that have been recorded in the digital file by widening them out across the entire histogram. You can accomplish this with the sliders entitled "Blacks" and "Whites".

In the Develop module of Lightroom, these can be found in the Basic Adjustments area. The histogram of each image is usually displayed at the top of the right column of tools to adjust your image, and the Basic Adjustments section is often right under the histogram. If the histogram shows that the majority of pixels in your image are confined to tones clustered in the center of the histogram and very little to none showing at the far right and left of the histogram, you have an image that is often visually uninteresting.

To remedy this, simply adjust the "Blacks" and "Whites" sliders so that the tones in the histogram are more evenly spread across the entire histogram from side to side. You will immediately see the difference in the photo as it's displayed in the center of the screen. Just keep playing with the sliders till the image starts to look the way that you want. if you overdo it a little, just bring the slider back to the center "0" point and try again. It's really that simple.

This is an easy way to make many of your photos look better with very little effort.

Here is an example of a shot I took of a zebra finch in a very shaded area that required some serious adjustment in Lightroom. After playing with the "Blacks" and "Whites" sliders, this image shows a lot more visual pop than it did initially.

Zebra finch in heavy shade

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The Value Of Patience In Wildlife Photography

Wildlife, and birds in particular, are notoriously uncooperative photographic subjects. They are constantly on the move, and who can blame them? After all, their food doesn't come from a grocery store, so every day is a constant search for something to eat. Besides that, who knows what else is out there on the prowl, so it's no wonder that they are always looking around to keep an eye on what's happening while trying not to stay in the same place too long.

This is all so understandable. But from the perspective of a nature and wildlife photographer, it can also be extremely frustrating. Just when you think you have the shot you are looking for, the animal turns its head, starts cleaning itself, or just walks off altogether.

Interestingly, the difference between a so-so photo and one that engages the viewer can be so small. Just a subtle shift of the head angle, or a closed eye, or a shift of lighting can change the entire look of the shot. So what are we to make of this?

Well, first of all, if wildlife photography was easy, everybody would be taking award-winning shots. So, the difficulty is also part of the charm and challenge and it's good to remind oneself of that fact from time to time, especially when frustration sets in.

That is why a successful wildlife photographer needs to develop extraordinary patience. For instance, birds in particular love to go into preening mode, where they use their beak to clean and adjust their feathers. And they can make a preening session last for what can seem like an eternity to a photographer who has all the pieces in place for a great shot, but needs a decent head angle from the bird to get the right look. It's in these moments that many photographers just give up and walk away. I know, because I have been sorely tempted to do the same thing on many occasions myself.

But that is when you need to just hang in there. Take some deep breaths, relax, and wait for it. Sometimes the shot never comes. But I can't tell you how many times I've had it work out in my favor too.

Just the other day I went to Lake Morton in this area to test out a new Tamron 150-600mm lens and see if it's as sharp as everyone says. The great thing about Lake Morton is that there is never any shortage of water fowl and birds. But on a few occasions that day, I had to go into super patient mode and wait a long time to get the shot I could envision in my mind.

In this first example, a white egret was standing under a tree where the sun happened to be shining on him while the background behind was in dark shadow. I love situations like this where the subject is really highlighted and there is no competing background. The eye of the viewer is drawn exactly where you want it to go. But on this occasion, the egret was obsessive about preening, and it went on for a very long time. Fortunately, I had the lens on a monopod so it allowed me to hang in there without having to support the full weight of that long and heavy lens. In the end, I took several shots, but finally got the one I wanted. Here it is (you can even see a small feather stuck in his beak):

White egret in front lighting

Farther along the lake path, I encountered a Muscovy duck that I thought would make a good subject. But this duck was in constant movement. He didn't seem to be upset by my presence, but he had some kind of agenda in mind that kept him in perpetual motion in and out of good lighting. Just as soon as I had the right shot in focus, off he went on another tangent. I hung in there though and finally I got this shot:

Muscovy duck at Lake Morton

(Some people think these ducks look ugly, but I think their facial wattles are interesting.)

These are just a couple of examples of the need to be patient and wait for the right shot in nature and wildlife photography. The more patience you develop the better photographer you can become!

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To Get That Great Photo You Want - Just Be There

You've probably heard the old saying that "80% of life is just showing up." Well, the truth is that photographic success is kind of similar.

You can have the best gear and know all the great techniques. But if you aren't putting yourself out there in the field regularly enough, you just aren't going to get the results you want. This is especially true in nature and wildlife photography. Of course, as a nature photographer, I do my best to put myself in the right place at the right time to get the shot that I am looking for. But honestly, nature has a mind of its own.

Sometimes, it all works according to plan and everything falls in place. More often though, it's a struggle to acquire the images you have in mind. This is because all sorts of factors are in constant flux. The time of day and therefore the position of our light source, the sun, is always moving, albeit kind of slowly. The weather can change in an instant. The animals themselves can change their behavior and simply not be available at times. And on it goes ....

But there is one equalizing factor to all of this uncertainty - being there often. The more chances you give yourself to get the shots you want, the more you will find that good and fortunate things just seem to happen to you in the field.

Case in point - a few days ago I went to the Circle B Bar Reserve in our local area to spend a few hours there, as I can usually come away with something that I'm pleased with even if it's not what I expected. But I was so disappointed to find that a couple of the main trails had been closed by the officials, in many cases because of dangerous alligators. I only found a few wading birds on the trails I was allowed to use, so I was not a very happy photographer at that point.

But as I was heading back to the parking lot, sure enough, serendipity happened! All of a sudden, a mature red-shouldered hawk just appeared out of nowhere and landed on a branch within 10 yards of me. Not only that, he wasn't even bothered by my presence at all, so he just stayed on the branch and gave me pose after pose as I clicked away for about 20 minutes. I tried different angles, compositions, and lighting. And through it all he just patiently stayed put and looked around.

Later on that day, I was just thinking how disappointed I was initially about the trails being closed at Circle B Bar. But just because I was there, a very fortunate occurrence happened that I've never experienced before. It wasn't due to my skill as a photographer, or to anything I had planned for this outing. It was just simply because I was out there making myself available to whatever nature would send my way.

Now, let me be clear. Nature doesn't doesn't always throw me a bone like this on slow photographic days. But, I find that the more I make myself available to nature, the more serendipitous success I have.

So, if you aren't happy with the images you are getting lately, maybe you just need to put yourself out there in the wild more often!

Here are a few of the shots I took of that red-shouldered hawk:

Red-shouldered hawk

Red-shouldered hawk with backlighting

Red-shouldered hawk from a different angle

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Photographing The Long Piers Of Florida

One thing Florida has plenty of is coastline on both sides of the state. And wherever there is a long stretch of seacoast you can usually find a long pier that juts out into the water for fishermen to enjoy.

On the west side of Florida, the side that faces the Gulf of Mexico, you also get the advantage of having incredible sunsets over the water. And since you don't have anything in the way between you and the horizon when the sun sets over the gulf, you often get this incredible big ball of a sun just before it actually dips below the horizon and disappears.

Then if you add a long pier in the shot for foreground interest, you can get some pretty spectacular sunset shots. Also, many of the larger birds like to hang around the pier to feed on the small fish hiding in the shadows underneath and also the spoils that the fishermen leave behind, so if you happen to catch them flying around the pier at the same time that the sun sets, that's a great image to capture as well.

One of my favorite piers to photograph on the gulf coast is the Redington Long Pier. The owner has a a reputation for not being very cooperative with photographers, so you may have to search for a good parking space, but usually one is available on Gulf Blvd. within pretty easy walking distance.

Another pier that I visited just a few weeks ago is the Venice Long Pier. It's situated really close to a public parking area, so getting a close parking spot is easy to do.

Taking photos of these piers can be done in a wide variety of ways, ranging from wide-angle to telephoto. The key is knowing how much of the pier to include in the shot, because you can rarely get a good composition that includes the entire pier.

Here are a few shots I have taken with different lenses, of the piers I mentioned above:

Redington Long Pier during a cloudy sunset (notice the birds flying)

The sun setting behind the Redington Long Pier on a clear day

The Redington Long Pier after sunset during blue hour

A telephoto shot of the Venice Pier at sunset

A long exposure shot of the Venice Pier just after sunset

As you can see, you have a lot of options for shooting long piers and they don't have to be at sunset either. In fact, when the sun goes down and the lights come on, that can produce some of the best long pier shots when the orange and red of the sunset is still visible just over the horizon.

And long exposure shots can be spectacular if you have the right combination of weather conditions and cloud formations helping you along. So if you have a long pier in your area, why not scout out a good spot for sunrise, sunset or blue hour shots including the pier?

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