I shot in RAW now what??

iluvphotography · Jul 31, 2006

So as was recommended by gurus in this forum, I took some shots of the fireworks in RAW, but I don't know what to do now??

xfloggingkylex · Jul 31, 2006

depending on your camera, you need to get a program that will then read the RAW files. Mine came bundled with my camera (pentax *istDL) but I have yet to use it.

Big Mike · Jul 31, 2006

That's right. Use your software to open the RAW image...it should give you the options to adjust things like exposure, white balance, saturation, sharpness, contrast etc.

You should then have your image as an output from the RAW software...it could be a Photoshop PSD file, or a TIFF file or a JPEG etc. Then you just edit the image as you normally would.

It's really not much different than editing a JPEG shot, except that you have to go through the initial RAW conversion step. It is that step, however, that gives you more leeway than if you were editing an image that was shot in JPEG mode.

rmh159 · Jul 31, 2006

Not to start up the JPEG vs RAW debate but is that extra editting power worth the disk space? What size hard drives to RAW fans have or is there any other trick to archiving shots?

I was psyched to finally shoot RAW after getting my D50 but when I saw the files were 17 megs I rethought it. I think I'll save the RAW shots for the ones I KNOW I'll want prints of.

Big Mike · Jul 31, 2006

Actually, that's what I do most of the time.

I shoot JPEG for my everyday stuff but switch to RAW (or bracket JPEG shots) when I'm not sure about the exposure. When I'm anticipating that I will want more options for a shot (large prints etc.) then I'll use RAW.

RAW has more latitude as well...give you a better chance of not loosing detail in shadows or highlights. When it's a once in a lifetime kind of thing...you often want the best chance of getting a great shot.

I guess you could even say that anytime you are shooting...you could catch a once in a lifetime shot...you might regret not capturing it with as much detail as possible.

Actually, digital memory is getting cheaper all the time. You can get large hardrives for a lower price everyday. It's cheap to store images on CD or DVD. Memory cards get cheaper all the time as well.

iluvphotography · Jul 31, 2006

Big Mike said:
You should then have your image as an output from the RAW software...it could be a Photoshop PSD file, or a TIFF file or a JPEG etc. Then you just edit the image as you normally would.

I lost you there.. What do you mean by "Have your images as an output from the RAW software"? You mean save it as PSD , JPEG etc file?

Big Mike · Jul 31, 2006

iluvphotography said:
I lost you there.. What do you mean by "Have your images as an output from the RAW software"? You mean save it as PSD , JPEG etc file?

I wasn't sure what software you are using. Let's take Adobe Camera RAW for example. I would open Photoshop and then open a RAW file. A separate window will come up (this is A.C.R.). This is where I can make the RAW adjustments. Then I would click OK...then A.C.R. closes and I'm back to Photoshop with the image (I think it is then in the default image format (PSD, TIFF etc.)...I can then save it as what I want (PSD, TIFF, JPEG etc.).

If you were using a separate RAW program, you would open it and make your adjustments...then save it as a file type of your choice (this is what I meant by output). Then you can open and edit this new file just like any other.

Typically you want to retain as much detail/information as possible...so save the file as TIFF or PSD. If you save it as a JPEG, you will loose some information because of the JPEG compression.

Does that help at all?

bitteraspects · Aug 1, 2006

rmh159 said:
Not to start up the JPEG vs RAW debate but is that extra editting power worth the disk space? What size hard drives to RAW fans have or is there any other trick to archiving shots?

I was psyched to finally shoot RAW after getting my D50 but when I saw the files were 17 megs I rethought it. I think I'll save the RAW shots for the ones I KNOW I'll want prints of.

i have a couple 4G ultraII cards i use. so i dont really worry about the disk space

markc · Aug 1, 2006

Big Mike said:
I guess you could even say that anytime you are shooting...you could catch a once in a lifetime shot...you might regret not capturing it with as much detail as possible.

This happened to me when I was shooting film. I don't have many keepers from when I was starting, but I do have one, and it was taken on 800 speed film. I really wish I had put 100 speed in that day. I always shoot with RAW now. You never know when you'll get a shot worthy of an enlargement.

hobbes28 · Aug 1, 2006

markc said:
This happened to me when I was shooting film. I don't have many keepers from when I was starting, but I do have one, and it was taken on 800 speed film. I really wish I had put 100 speed in that day. I always shoot with RAW now. You never know when you'll get a shot worthy of an enlargement.

I totally agree with this. I also notice that shooting RAW, you start to be more careful with your shot selection like back in the film days because you don't want to waste space with bad ones.

markc · Aug 1, 2006

hobbes28 said:
I totally agree with this. I also notice that shooting RAW, you start to be more careful with your shot selection like back in the film days because you don't want to waste space with bad ones.

That's another good point. I didn't really change my habbits when I switched from film to digital, so it works really well for me.

hobbes28 · Aug 1, 2006

When I switched, I turned into a tourist. :lol:

Torus34 · Aug 2, 2006

Adobe has the beta 3 version of their new Lightroom[tm] software available for download in Apple[tm] and Windows[tm] versions. Right now, it's a freebee. It's geared to the pro whose shooting in RAW. You have to register at the site, but it's no real bother. There are two versions; bare and bare with photo example files. The latter will be a long, long download [>118 MB] if you're on dial-up.

964 · Aug 2, 2006

My RAW files are around 10MB each - 17MB would seem awful big for a 6MP D50??

xfloggingkylex · Aug 2, 2006

bitteraspects said:
i have a couple 4G ultraII cards i use. so i dont really worry about the disk space

if that 4G stands for 4 gigs, and if by a couple you mean 2 or 3, that isn't a whole lot of space, but of course you are talking about memory cards while the original poster was concerned with harddrive size.

Now that I am getting into photography I will be upgrading my harddrive soon to a 200GB SATA drive. I save every picture I take as long as it is exposed correctly and in focus. Even though I may never use them for things, it is fun to go back and see how you improve your shooting and I am just the type that doesn't like to throw things away if I dont have to. Of course this way of life works much better in the digital world.

Fill a 1GB card up with RAW shots and the look at how many pictures are on the card. Use that as a guideling for what size harddrive you'll need. I have yet to use RAW but I am sure I will in the near future. Right now I am learning basics as far as post processing goes with photoshop, so RAW will be next.