How to adjust histogram of photo taken in fog

[bill_wetzel1]

I am conflicted between the teachings of Ansel Adams - roughly: "every photo should have a little black, a little

white, and the remainder of the scene spread out between those extremes" - and my own judgment as to what "looks

good" when adjusting photos taken in the fog.

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Adams argues that adjusting a photo to include both black and white will make the best use of the very limited

dynamic range (typically 50:1) of paper.

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The histogram produced by my D200 on a foggy day occupies roughly half of the space between black and white and

is located about in the center of the range.

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Without a dark foreground subject when I pull the low end of the histogram to black the image becomes unnatural

and the contrast is too high. Likewise, when I pull the high end to white the contrast goes up further and the

image look too bright. Yet I'm afraid that by not doing it the image will be too flat and muddy.

<p>

Here is a link to three photos I took recently. The two dock photos use the full range from black to white. The

boat photo is starts a little above full black.

<p>

<a

href=http://flickr.com/photos/wrwetzel/sets/72157607545227979/detail/>http://flickr.com/photos/wrwetzel/sets/72157607545227979/detail</a>

<p>

I would like to know how others adjust the histogram of fog photos.

<p>

Thanks,<br>

Bill

[SCL]

I think you do what is appealing to you, not what is appealing to others, unless they're paying you for a particular look. I personally think there is too much definition in the pictures based on the fogs I'm familiar with, but that is just my preference. Interesting shots.

[g dan mitchell]

I think that the "rule" (which isn't really a rule at all) about some black and some white breaks down with subjects like

this - and you get to more or less go where you want with the image.

 

One thing to do is think about the tonal range that was actually there in the scene itself. In a typical foggy scene, part of

what makes it look foggy is that there are perhaps no whites or blacks - it isn't light enough to get pure whites and the

fog grays out anything that would otherwise be black. While you could push the dynamic range to the point that you get

full blacks and white, that would not likely recreate the feeling of the original scene if that is what you are after. (There

are some situations in which this _could_ still be a viable approach.)

 

Another approach is to go for a much lighter rendition of the scene. This works if you had or are trying to create the kind

of foggy condition in which the fog is brightly illuminated - perhaps in thin fog. Here you could go for an overall high key

image.

 

But I think it is really up to you.

 

Dan

[crabseye]

Well if you "give" it contrast or dynamic range, then it isn't like the fog was any more. The best fogs I've seen have a dynamic range of like .5 I think (guessing). I love the mood of it.

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/5292811-lg.jpg

[roger_smith4]

For fog I wouldn't have any true blacks in the image. This goes against instinct, so take a look at some of Sam Abell's photos before editing and jacking up the contrast.

[patricklavoie]

go with your instinct..dont always follow the rule, because as you can see, your image lost there fog look now.

 

i would drop the contrast a bit, a big bit personnaly.

 

I dont personnaly really use the histogram, i work on a calibrated monitor and go visually with the look i want most of the time..strangly i got better image..with more feeling : ) and the histogram are not bad either!

[tonmestrom]

use your eyes (and in some cases your memory) and forget the histogram. It never ceases to amaze me that some people who could produce perfect wet prints end up with crappy dig photo's. Just go by what you want to see and not by what you see in a graph.

[Spearhead]

<i>"every photo should have a little black, a little white, and the remainder of the scene spread out between those extremes" </i><P>This is just one way of looking at photographs, there are plenty of others. There is no "rule," this just happens to have been an attempt to create one. Fortunately, lots of photographers ignore this type of autocratic statement.

[bill_wetzel1]

Many thanks for the comments and encouragement to go with what I like. I'll have another go at the photos.

 

Bill

[ellis_vener_photography]

"Bill Wetzel , Oct 01, 2008; 04:48 p.m.

 

I am conflicted between the teachings of Ansel Adams - roughly: "every photo should have a little black, a little white, and the remainder of the scene spread out between those extremes""

 

As far as I remember Adams never made such a hard and fast rule. I know I've see nseveral of Adams' master works that don't obey that rule.

 

Last night Arnold Newman protege Gregory Heisler ( http://www.gregoryheisler.com ) who is well known and wel lrespected in his own right, gave a talk atthe High Museum of Art in Atlanta. He printed for Newman nd one of the tests Newman had for him when he hired him (And I assume other assistants) was to try and match on contemporary (this was the mid 1970s) black and White papers some master vintage prints Newman himself had made in the 1940s and 1950s. One of the things he discovered by going through boxes and boxes of prints was that back i nthe day photographic sensiblity was much more attuned to long tonal scales with an emphasis on getting lots of juicy mid-tone values all the way from near black to near pure white. which was possible when papers were really heavy with silver. As times moved forward into a more contemporary period , silver content dropped off and also photographic sensibility changed to wanting more contrasty images. Heisler thinks this was due not just to the change in the print media but also to changing social expectations due in large part to what we have gotten used to from watching so much television with its very limited dynamic range.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with very rare exception, Ansel Adams worked almost entirely in black and White and while it seems obvious on the face of it, Black and White photography is very different from color photography.

 

If you are working in color, visually speaking, black is a very powerful color. Physiologically and aesthetically it anchors an image. White I think is not necessarily so important unless it is important to particular images.