Shot in RAW... now what?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what RAW files are? I was under the impression that the file is basically exactly what the lens "sees" in exactly the natural conditions. If that's the case, then these photos could totally be saved. Am I misunderstanding what RAW files are?
The lens 'sees' only light.
That light hits the sensor and is turned into a digital signal/info. That info is what the RAW file contains.

Before the light gets to the sensor, it has to pass through the aperture and the shutter. The shutter speed and the aperture control the exposure (the amount of light)....so if you don't have the right amount of light, the RAW information won't be what you want it to be.

If you were shooting in JPEG (instead of RAW) the information goes to the camera's processor and get's processed before it's saved to the card. When we shoot in RAW, we skip that that step and take the in-camera processing out of the equation. That's why we shoot RAW.
 
I think the 2nd one could be salvaged into something usable..but not so much on the first.
 
What the image sensor sees, is not what your eye sees.

Actually, the image sensor can only see what you let it see by dent of the aperture, shutter speed, ISO values and/or shooting mode you have the camera set to.

As always, the main goal is to get it right in the camera rather than plan on 'fixing' with an image editor later in post processing.
 
@ McMommy:
Do not take this personal!

Before you shoot RAW it is imperative to understand what RAW is and what the benefits are compared to shooting JPG/TIFF.

I believe you understand this by now after all the response you have received.

Also it has to be understood that a (more expensive) camera (aka D-SLR) is not a machine that pops out professional images just because a certain program is dialed.

Especially when you are shooting in a very uncontrolled environment, especially outdoors and even more importantly where you have lots of direct sunlight AND trees with lots of shade you are operating in very difficult conditions.

Settle for a certain area where you want to take pictures. Kids will always be all over the place but you might be lucky and they will come back (usually when rewarded with sweets). Following the kids wherever they go will leave you with sore muscles, back aches and messed up shots.

Photography is only about the lighting. You need to get your exposure right. Without proper exposure your not getting far. RAW will give you some leeway to compensate missed in camera settings but it's not a miracle cure.

Read as much as you can about exposure, taking images outdoors and practice as often as you can to avoid such mishaps. Shoot both in RAW and JPG but you need to look at your JPGs to understand if you got your settings right in the camera. The better you learn how to work your camera the better the results will be once you start working with RAW!

Keep shooting!
 
Nikon D5000. Thank you! I'll try that link now...

These are two of the photos I feel like I can save and re-do:
Emily156.jpg


Emily070.jpg


Oh dear your settings where way off on those 2 shots didn't you check your histogram while you were shooting, RAW is not a miracle cure

Well... yeah they were way off! I was chasing a 2-year old from shadows to lit up spots, lol. I am brand new to shooting in manual, so I didn't always remember to check the -/+ thing in my viewfinder, like I said in my OP. I think that the RAW photo, if it is what I thought it was, wouldn't be so severely under and over exposed for those photos. It wasn't that bright or dark outside by a long shot, but my settings were obviously way off.

Just sayin.... don't hate on the beginner when I flatout admit I don't know what I'm doing. :lol:

Never think that your camera can see light as well as your eyes, you would have been better in aperture priority if you cannot alter your camera quickly enough for the changing conditions
 
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what RAW files are? I was under the impression that the file is basically exactly what the lens "sees" in exactly the natural conditions. If that's the case, then these photos could totally be saved. Am I misunderstanding what RAW files are?

Thats what it did, but you didn't have the exposure set correct
 
Thanks guys! I clearly had the wrong idea of what RAW would be. Now I get it! I think I'll just set everything back to JPEG only and just keep working on my learning!
 
If you want to keep shooting full manual, when you are in a location where the kids will be going from shade to sun...meter both and remember the settings. Keep your finger on which ever wheel will adjust your shutter speed, or aperture (whichever you prefer), so you can quickly adjust. Since you can see this info in the viewfinder, you can swiftly adapt and never take the camera from your eye.

No, it may not be proper, but at least you will be closer than what you were.
 
I think the underexposed (darker) shot would be a very easy fix-up, but that the overexposed shot looks borderline; I suppose you could throw some Highlight Recovery at the overexposed shot, but the highlights look like they might show odd color artefacting even with a Minus 3.0 Highlight Recovery setting applied.
 
Thanks guys! I clearly had the wrong idea of what RAW would be. Now I get it! I think I'll just set everything back to JPEG only and just keep working on my learning!
I would still recommend using RAW...but you should get your workflow figured out.
The biggest issue that people have against shooting RAW, is that it takes longer for processing, or that it's too complicated. But with the right software and/or workflow, shooting RAW doesn't have to be long or complicated.
I know that not everyone can run out and buy new software, but I will say that Lightroom has significantly improved my workflow.

Also, keep in mind that you can always get a JPEG file from a RAW file....but you can't go the other way.
 
Yup, you should have been shooting in some type of auto mode, otherwise you aren't really learning anything and are just creating more work.

On Adobes website you will find the update ACR plug in that will open your raw files.

Like someone mentioned, raw files aren't magic, but I feel as though that underexposed shot is fixable (not sure at your level though).
 

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