About evaluating exposure

Histograms are good tools for evaluating exposure. For example, a series of peaks in the darker side of the histogram often indicates an underexposed image that consists mainly of dark pixels.

Figure. Side-by-side comparison of an underexposed image and its histogram, with the peaks concentrated in the left side of the graph.

A series of peaks in the center of the histogram often indicates a balanced exposure because a majority of the pixels are concentrated within the midtones of the histogram. They’re not too dark or too bright.

Figure. Side-by-side comparison of a correctly exposed image and its histogram, with the peaks concentrated in the center of the graph.

However, a series of peaks in the brighter side of the histogram often indicates an overexposed image because most of the pixels in the image are too bright.

Figure. Side-by-side comparison of an overexposed image and its histogram, with the peaks concentrated in the right side of the graph.