Understanding histogram plays a vital role in controlling the contrast and tone of the image. In most cases you'll be surprised that the images from the camera lcd are different when viewed in the computer. Most photographers rely on their histograms to tell whether their images are properly exposed, whether how much more they can increase/ decrease their exposure and even tell whether they are losing details of the subject.
Fig. 1 Histogram Properties
Fig. 2 Image with tones most in the shadows area
Fig. 3 Image with tones most in the midtones and highlights area
From the images above you can see how the histogram behaves from each image taken. We can easily see if our shadows or highlights are clipped or the graph escalates so much in the upper left or upper right most part of the histogram. There's also a setting in the camera which shows the clipping highlights of the image, refer to your camera manual for the settings. A dark scene or black surfaces will have clipping in the shadows area while shooting shooting under the sun or bright sources of light will produce clipping in the highlights area. For these kind of scenarios, the clipped shadows or highlights areas are acceptable. You only want to avoid underexposing or overexposing your images so much that you cannot see the details in the shadows or highlights area. Histogram is also useful tool for photographers shooting portraits, as they prefer not to have clipping in the red histogram because it will affect the skin tone of the subject.
Understanding the histogram will make your adjustments a lot easier in your exposure in terms of: by how many stops of light should you increase/ decrease. A great exercise will be taking multiple images with different exposure and observing how the histogram will also adjust for every image taken. There's no such thing as an ideal histogram and it's only a guide for the photographers from what they want to achieve in their images.
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