First Time with RAW

[onedayillknowbetter]

I got my Canon 40D last week, after owning my 350D for almost 2 years. I have some university schooling on photography, but film, and I definitely feel humbled in the presence of my 40D. I have decided to go back to the books and re-learn the basics, since the past two years with my 350D have resulted me heavily dependent on the Program setting. I can still expose an image and I know how to use my light meter and all that, but I really feel like a skipped a step going from color film classes to working with digital on my own.

A friend suggested that I work in RAW because of the advantages it offers, and I took his advice and shot in RAW last night. I've read about it and know that I need to convert the images somehow...or something? That's kind of where it trails off. I'm not certain of what I need to do to get these images into a viewable space where I could work with the adjustments and such. I work with Adobe CS2 and just started trying out Adobe Bridge today.

This is my first time posting on here, and I am already impressed with all the helpful and talented people on this forum. Any suggestions, including books that could help me learn RAW a little better are greatly appreciated!

 

[Dave_D]

I believe CS2 has raw processing (been using CS3 for a while now and can't remember). Camera RAW affords you the ability to make final adjustments to the image before you covert it to jpeg or tiff or what have you. When you shoot in jpeg mode, the camera processes the image based on built in set parameters for white balance, contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc. Working with camera RAW in your converting software, you make those adjustments before converting. It is like being in a digital darkroom going through everything you would do working with a negative in an enlarger when printing. You have full control of the output. Your camera should have come with a disc containing its' OEM converting program. If not, CS2 should be capable. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Garbz]

You can get Camera RAW for Adobe Photoshop CS2 as well. I'm not sure if it integrates quite as well with adobe bridge, but either way it's a free download from adobe's website.