def heatmap(x, y, step=None, min_pt=None, max_pt=None,
                 colormap='Blues', alpha=1, grid=False,
                 colorbar=True, scale='lin',
                 vmax='auto', vmin='auto', crop=True):
    """
    function to take vectors x and y and hist them
    """
    (x_vec, y_vec, hist_matrix) = calc_2d_hist(x, y, step, min_pt, max_pt)

    # simple in this case because it is positive counts
    if scale == 'log':
        for row in hist_matrix:
            for i, el in enumerate(row):
                row[i] = 0 if row[i] == 0 else log10(row[i])

    # plot
    fig = plt.figure()
    init_heatmap(x_vec, y_vec, hist_matrix, fig, colormap=colormap,
                 alpha=alpha, grid=grid, colorbar=colorbar,
                 vmax=vmax, vmin=vmin, crop=crop)

    return fig