I'm not sure if it is just my camera (Canon Rebel XT), but it seems like almost every picture I take I end up adjusting the levels because my histogram is flat on the right 25%, so I have to slide it over to brighten up the picture.
Is this normal, or is something up with my camera? Should I shoot with everything overexposed by 1 stop? I would prefer to not have to edit every picture after the fact.
I guess it depends how you're shooting, if you're shooting manual then yes, over-expose or up your ISO. MY camera chooses to take everything dark as generally you don't want to have peoples faces blown out as it can be difficult to recover the detail. I think cameras have their own personalities and you just learn how your camera likes it and act accordingly.
You need to understand the histogram first. A histogram shows you the levels of the color spectrum from black through all the colors to white, from left to right respectively. Try this: shoot a photo of a black piece of paper in full sunlight at 100 ISO, f/8 @ 1/125. Then do the same with a white piece of paper. Then look at the differences in your histogram.
The histogram shows you the levels of the color spectrum. When I shoot photos at night, such as star trails or street photography, my histogram drops to flat about 1/3 from the left.
When I shoot photos on the beach, my histogram drops to flat about 1/5 from the right. It all depends on what you are shooting.
Now, if you are shooting photos that have a large spectrum of colors from black to white, then yes you should get the Belle Curve design in your histogram. But as @scrivna mentioned, it's all about the camera. This is why it is so important to learn how to manually control your camera.
In a program mode, the camera sensor takes the light values it can see and tries to determine your settings. If you point the camera at someone wearing a white t-shirt, the camera thinks everything in the frame is really bright and then you end up with an underexposed image. Vice versa for someone wearing a black t-shirt: everything would be overexposed.
Instead, learn how to set the camera manually. Once you have full control over your photos, you'll find your exposures looking a lot better.
And just a little FYI: I always have to tweak my levels just a bit. I usually need to pull the blacks and whites in about 1/10 the width of the histogram. But that is just photography: you are trying to properly expose for the whitest white and the blackest black at the same time. It's rare to get it perfect in camera.
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The histogram shows you the levels of the color spectrum. When I shoot photos at night, such as star trails or street photography, my histogram drops to flat about 1/3 from the left.
When I shoot photos on the beach, my histogram drops to flat about 1/5 from the right. It all depends on what you are shooting.
Now, if you are shooting photos that have a large spectrum of colors from black to white, then yes you should get the Belle Curve design in your histogram. But as @scrivna mentioned, it's all about the camera. This is why it is so important to learn how to manually control your camera.
In a program mode, the camera sensor takes the light values it can see and tries to determine your settings. If you point the camera at someone wearing a white t-shirt, the camera thinks everything in the frame is really bright and then you end up with an underexposed image. Vice versa for someone wearing a black t-shirt: everything would be overexposed.
Instead, learn how to set the camera manually. Once you have full control over your photos, you'll find your exposures looking a lot better.
And just a little FYI: I always have to tweak my levels just a bit. I usually need to pull the blacks and whites in about 1/10 the width of the histogram. But that is just photography: you are trying to properly expose for the whitest white and the blackest black at the same time. It's rare to get it perfect in camera.