I’ve tried to
explain the RAW file format so many times (even here on this blog in a three
part series) that I am fairly certain I could do it in my sleep. What I have
never done is take a look at the sort of person who doesn’t shoot Raw and isn’t
going to start (and doesn’t need to).
So let’s look
at everyone who owns a camera with interchangeable lenses, not just DSLR owners
but you EVIL people too. Now let’s eliminate a huge chunk of people right away.
If you have ever or would ever like to be paid for your photography you need to know what RAW is, how to use it
and how to store it. A second large group are the high fidelity nerds (that’d
be me), a lot of wildlife chasers, birders and landscapers fall into this
category; we all need to be using RAW. A third group that should be using RAW
are the serious hobbyists. If you have a D90/50D, D300s/7D or (god forbid) a
D700/5D Mk II and more than $2000 invested in glass then you should be using
RAW (if you’re not then some sleazy salesman sold you way to much &^%$ you
do not need). After eliminating those three groups we are left with… the
majority of the photography world. The soccer parents, casual snapshot artists,
that guy that hangs around the front of Starbucks taking photos of discarded
cups and plastic bags for no… apparent… reason. These people spend between
$1000 and $2000 on their entire camera system and generally do not buy any
extra software above and beyond whatever may come in the box. These people,
these are the ones I want to talk to. Everyone else, go grab a coffee, this
next paragraph isn’t for you (come back after though, we’re not done).
Alright people,
here’s the deal. You make up a huge portion of the camera geeks out there, the majority
actually. What no one is telling you is that you need help. An intervention.
First I have to admit something though, I’m not proud of it but I tricked you
into reading this with a title that made it sound all happy, like you didn’t
need to know about all that nasty RAW business. What I neglected to mention is
that you do need to know about the
Jpeg business. Pencils out, I’m gonna learn you good. Ready, begin. When
shooting Jpeg you must: always use the highest quality setting your camera has,
nail the exposure and white balance (or get it as close as your skills allow)
and finally, but most importantly, avoid editing as much as humanly possible.
When I say “must” I mean you must if you take pride in your photos, if you
really want to make use of that relatively expensive camera you bought and most
importantly (in my mind) if you want to have good quality photographs of your
family, friends and personal experiences for years to come. All of these “must
do” things stem from one fact of Jpeg that can really ruin your day (and your
precious, precious memories). Jpeg is a compressed format. What that means is
that every time you re-save a Jpeg file you are compressing an already
compressed file. You lose quality every time you do it and eventually (as quickly
as two or three saves) you will just end up with mush, your photo will cease to
exist and you will have a gross, watercolour effect with pixels the size of
Kentucky (without the bourbon, sadly). The only other thing you have to do is
remember to never overwrite your original Jpeg files, keep those neatly
organized and unedited somewhere far away from your edited copies. So, in
summation, get it right in camera and everything will be tops.
Everyone else
come back now. No one brought me a coffee, did they? Jerks. Anyhow, moving
right along, I brought you all back to tell you that I’ll write another article
just for all of you that I said do need to know all about RAW. Possibly more
than one as I think I really need to dedicate a few hundred words to storage
and backup. Which leads me to yet another thing I’d like to discuss one of
these days which is Iceberg Theory (curious yet? It’s not even my phrase, I’m
borrowing it).
Until next
time.
It's great to hear from you and see what you've been up to. In your blog I feel your enthusiasm for life. thank you.
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