I was reading..

[mostly sunny]

and I will warn you. I become dangerous when I read.

Umm, should I always take pictures in RAW? I was reading that is the best way to take pictures. As when saving as a JPEG is destroys ?? something about the picture.

??

 

[TJ K]

Well JPEG is easier. The RAW file is the complete and unedited file while JPEG edits and compresses the file. It already does the WB and colors settings and all of that stuff. The RAW is basically what you took with no edits or anything done. I shoot in JPEG but if it's harsh lighting I will do RAW because you can recover blown out areas much better. If you're just having fun shooting go ahead and shoot in JPEG also you can shoot in both if you really want to. GL
TJ

 

[Goontz]

TJ summed it up pretty well and I know a search on the forum would probably turn up PLENTY more reading for you to do, hehe. JPEG is processed and compressed by the camera, RAW is basically the exact data from your image sensor, untouched. RAW gives more room when post processing, but ALWAYS needs to be post-processed. I always shoot RAW.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Here is the quick and dirty for the digital world:

JPEG is the digital equivalent of Polaroid. You get what you get. Once the Polaroid comes out of the camera there is nothing much you can do about it. It will look the way it will look.

Raw is the digital equivalent of a negative. A negative can tweaked all day long until you get the ultimate photo.


This is a very simplified explanation. Some people learned to tweak Polaroids and some people sent their negatives to be processed by mini labs that do not know how to tweak them if they even knew what that means.

What this means is that for snapshots, photos of the family vacation, etc, JPEG is just fine. For anything more serious, you will want to shoot in RAW which gives you more control.

Cheers and have a Merry one.

 

[Dominantly]

I shoot purely in raw.
If you shoot Jpeg, I recommend you edit the photo however you want right off the bat and then save it at image quality 12 and leave it be. Every time you reopen a Jpeg file and edit it, you will have quality loss with the compression.

A raw file can be converted to Jpeg, and it gives you the ability to edit, re-edit, and not lose any quality. The raw file itself also contains more quality then the jpeg as the cameras processor while compressing combines "like" colors, and "like" contrast, where as the raw files give you everything.


Would you happen to be reading something by Bryan Peterson?

 

[DScience]

I always see these posts. So I decided to give you a real-world example. Here are two pictures. This first one is SOOC (straight out of camera) with NO edits what so ever, shot in RAW:

Now, here is the EXACT same shot but edited in Lightroom2. Yes, it's cropped slightly. But I don't think it's cropped too much to see the obvious changes in color, lighting, tonal qualities, and many other factors:

I hope what these show you, is with RAW, you have the ability to really manipulate everything about the picture in post. If this isn't something you enjoy doing, or even want to do, then shoot in jpeg and have fun. I personally enjoy the editing aspect of photography almost half as much as actually taking the pictures. Simply because you take it, and it's only part way done. Once you put your own artistic tweaks to it in post, it becomes a truer vision of your own thoughts and imaginations.

 

[mostly sunny]

Thank you all..

 

[random2]

Now I was noticing I had to convert the file before I can begin to edit.. am i doing something wrong? Any help would be lovely. Or is that the point- convert the file then edit while you maintain the Raw/actual negative.

 

[Goontz]

Now I was noticing I had to convert the file before I can begin to edit.. am i doing something wrong? Any help would be lovely. Or is that the point- convert the file then edit while you maintain the Raw/actual negative.

What program are you using? It sounds like you need an update or plug-in so that it will recognize your RAW files. If you convert to jpeg then edit, you're pretty much losing the point of shooting in RAW to begin with.

 

[random2]

I'm using photoshop cs3... very amatuer here.. I'm trying though..

 

[Goontz]

I don't usually upload directly into Photoshop, but I think it's an updated version of Camera RAW that you need to find. It should be available on Adobe's website. Hopefully someone else can chime in if I'm wrong.

 

[DScience]

yea, you definitely DON'T want to convert from RAW then edit the photo. hehehe


You should open the photo via a RAW editing program...ie Lightroom, Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture....Then once you save or upload convert to whatever.

 

[random2]

thanks Kev!!

 

[Dominantly]

Open the raw image with something like PS, then adjust it to your liking. You can do a few things here, you can underexpose and over saturate the image to get the sky colors you like, then save that image for later use in a layer. Then go back and properly expose your subject and open that file into main PS. You can then import images you created using your single raw file into PS and layer them to create what you envision.

I'm not sure if that makes sense or not, but basically what I am getting at it is you just do whatever you want to the image using the raw file and save it as many times as you want, leaving the original raw file there for you to edit and tweak in the future in whatever manner you want. It gives you maximum flexibility and the best quality vice tweaking a jpeg file.

 

[Dominantly]

yea, you definitely DON'T want to convert from RAW then edit the photo. hehehe


You should open the photo via a RAW editing program...ie Lightroom, Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture....Then once you save or upload convert to whatever.

I disagree.
You most certainly can and want to get the photo as perfect as you can when editing the raw image, but you can also open that image into main PS and utilize plug ins and layers to create more intricate adjustments. Upon completion of that you save it as image quality 12 and leave it be.