Always Shoot in RAW

Today’s PhotoTip: Always Shoot in RAW. What is RAW? It is an Image file generated by digital cameras that contains uncompressed, raw image data as captured by a digital camera's CCD. Why you should use the RAW setting to capture pictures. Simply put, RAW will record the maximum information from your camera's sensor. There are two basic disadvantages to shooting in RAW, so let's get them out of the way now. RAW files are much bigger than JPEG (two to four times as large) which also makes capturing pictures a little slower. You have to process the RAW file to obtain an image, thereby adding time to the post editing process. The upside, you will end up with a better picture. With that said, buy a bigger capacity SD Card and Hard Disk. Problem solved. Note: Two small cards are better than one large one.

Consider dynamic range, the difference between the darkest and lightest parts of a scene. A RAW file will capture a dynamic range of around eight stops, roughly two more than a JPEG. NOTE: Unlike JPEGs, the camera is doing no processing to the file; no sharpening, no fancy tricks to boost the colors, no nothing. As a result the previews on the camera's LCD screen and when you bring up the image into your editing program will have a tendency  to look flat. However, the best thing about RAW is the post processing that can be done.

 With the proper editing software, you can make endless adjustments to the exposure, white balance, contrast and just about anything else you could do in a real darkroom and change your mind later. These programs never touch the original RAW file. They create a small text file which contains the adjustments you have made. Even cropping, dust spotting and sharpening can be undone, years later, with the original file unaffected. A RAW file isn’t called a digital negative for nothing.

It basically boils down to this; if you are serious about your photography and want to be able to sell or showcase your work in the future, you should shoot in RAW. If you just take pictures for fun, then shoot in JPEG. You know you want the best pictures possible, so what are you waiting for?So if your camera has a RAW setting, go switch it on now. If you are lucky enough to have a camera like mine, you can set it to store both RAW+JPEG at the same time. STORAGE NOTE: If you use an 32 (GB) card, you can store roughly 1640 images in the RAW+JPEG format.