The Histogram

Asian Koel - female

Eudynamys scolopacus

นกกาเหว่า

By consequence of being laid low I took some time to look carefully at some of my digiscoped photographs over the last year. Somehow or other I found myself learning about tonal histograms and "blinking highlights". In other words incorrect exposure and as a result the many might-have-been shots on my hard drive. More to the point I have discovered what I should know already: how to use the histogram to get a good image.

Now the depressing thing is that in a lot of my shots the highlights are blown as are my shadows.And I went out tonight to try and give effect to what I have learned. I am really very pleased with this female Asian Koel which I shot in dodgy light in the final hour of daylight today. It's a lovely bird and bucks the trend of the male bird having the good looks. Thanks to the bird being quite settled I was able to take a few shots, look at their histograms and then make adjustments. There are no blown highlights in the above and the shadows and blacks are likewise within scale. This is a first step and as I say the light wasn't very good so I am pleased to get this shot of this bird. I am pleased with the detail. It's another step up the learning curve and I hope it's going to give me some decent shots.

Ashy Woodswallow

Artmaus fuscus

นกแอ่นพง

 I am equally pleased with this Ashy Woodswallow, a bird I have found very difficult to photograph. Once more I am pleased with the range of tones especially the lighter ones in the bird's bill which nevertheless have some good detail. This is a very exciting moment in my development!