Digital Photography - How to Use Your Camera's Histogram

You have a digital camera and one of the functions you least use is the Histogram function? Well, you are not alone. Many people aren't aware of the features of this function, thinking of it as a statistical function. Hence, majority of digital camera users do not use this function.

But the histogram function is a really really useful tool which you can use to avoid exposure issues and hence create some great photos.

This digital photography article will show you how you can utilize the histogram function to better your photography.

So what's a histogram? A histogram is actually a graph that displays the distribution of light in your picture. The left side of the graph represents the shadows, whereas the right side represents the highlights.

In simple terms, that means that if the histogram has a high peak on the left hand side, you can tell that a lot of pixels in the picture are dark, or in shadow. A peak on the right side of the graph means that a lot of pixels are bright, or in highlights. Peaks in the middle of the graph represent pixels in the mid-tones of your exposure.

So how should a histogram of a good photo look like? When a graph shows that there are no peaks on either the left side or the right, this means that that no part of the scene is overexposed or underexposed. This kind of histogram represents a good shot.

So when you can see a peak on the left side of the graph, and the right side is not in balance, then the photo is underexposed. Whereas, when the peak is on the right side of the graph rather than the left, the photo is overexposed.

So when composing your photo, always make sure that the histogram doesn't have spikes/peaks at either extreme end of the graph, where you'll lose data and have under- or overexposed parts of your picture. Learn to apply the above tips, use them and soon you'll be taking better pictures!

Peter C Davis
Digital Photography
http://www.digitalphotographypedia.com

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Single Serve Coffee Maker is Designed For Everyone!

People always asked me if there is a universal coffee maker, a coffee machine that is meant for everyone. Finally, I found one, and it is known as the single serve coffee maker!

Single serve coffee maker is a coffee machine that is very easy to fall in love with. It comes with the ease of instant coffee and the quality of roast and ground. I know that there would be some coffee snobs out there that would disagreed with the quality of single serve coffee machine, so let's just say that is a personal view.

So, how easy is the ease of use for a single coffee machine? There is no grinding, no dosing or tamping to get the correct coffee pack prior to extraction of your espresso. If you want to drink espresso, simply choose a espresso coffee pod, insert it into the single serve coffee machine, press a button and out come your espresso.

Yes, it is that simple. But, what it make up for in quality, there is some area which it can never provide and that would be the experience. Espresso is about the knocking sound, the grinding, the tamping, the dosing and the hissing sound of the steam (if you are making cappuccino), a single serve coffee maker at this moment cannot provide such an experience.

However, if you are someone that like to wake up to a aromatic espresso that is brewed on the spot and not drip overnight by some programmable coffee maker, then this is the machine for you!

Then again, which coffee drinker can refuse a freshly brew coffee in the morning and that is the reason why I said that single serve coffee maker is designed for everyone!

And it is also a fact that single serve brewer is the fastest growing segment for coffee makers, there are more consumers buying these coffee pod brewers than any other coffee machines.

But, the critics of single serve coffee always bring out the issue of closed system, trying to use that to discourage people to buy. Sure, in the past, single serve coffee machines operate in a closed system.

One can only purchase coffee that the coffee machine represent. So, for senseo you can only buy douwe egberts, and Melitta, you can only insert Melitta pods. But, that has since changed with the changes in business model for some of the machine manufacturers and also with the introduction of some great devices.

currently, some of the machines manufacturers allows other brands of coffee pods to be used on their machines if they are in their partnership network. Then, there are some cool devices that would allow you to make any coffee pods you like!

One of the easiest to use would be the Perfect Pod maker. You only need to choose the coffee ground you like, put it into the filter paper they provide then use the perfect pod maker to seal it into a coffee pod.

With devices such as Perfect pod maker, you no longer have to worry about the limited range of coffee blend, and there is no longer any closed system for single serve coffee maker.

So, not only do you get a coffee maker that is easy to use and easy to maintain, your choice of coffee is similar to what you can get for a drip filter coffee maker, isn't that something like a perfect coffee maker?

Ebenezer Heng, the owner of On Coffee makers does the research for on any machines related to coffee. As long as you are looking for a machines to better your coffee experience, chances are you can find it at http://www.oncoffeemakers.com and also more information about single serve coffee maker

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