Mon 18 Jun 2012
RAW vs. JPG: My Personal Experience with Both Formats.
Article by: Sarah Harbuck
My thinking on RAW years ago was that it was unnecessary.
When I first started out in digital photography I shot only in JPEG. I was still getting my bearings with a new photography format and RAW was a foreign concept for me. Making the leap from film to digital, while it seemed like a natural progression given the way the market was shifting, there was a learning curve I had to overcome. Coming from a film background there were things I didn’t know or understand when it came to digital photography. Shooting in RAW was one of them. And now almost 10 years later I’ve learned quite a bit.
My thinking on RAW years ago was that it was unnecessary. RAW files took up too much space and took more time to process & edit and I thought that you must not be a very good photographer if you couldn’t shoot an image correctly in JPEG. Which I admit was pretty snobby & arrogant of me. Of course most of that idea was born in ignorance and inexperience. Aren’t all prejudices?
I was doing just fine shooting only in JPEG. My images were professional and were a good quality. But there were times when on certain photo shoots I’d have issues with lighting or color balance and exposure and would have a hard time editing the JPEG images later on to get them looking correct. The quality wasn’t all there. So when I upgraded to Photoshop CS5 several years ago, I decided to really and truly try out RAW shooting and learn once and for all how to use the ACR editor.
By doing so, a whole new world opened up for me. There were more possibilities than ever before and I was amazed that I could bring a photo back from the brink of deletion. I realized for years I’d short changed myself by not really exploring the options of RAW. I felt I had a lot more freedom and that my editing improved greatly and my images were just better overall because of the switch. I’m really glad I overcame my own ignorance and decided to learn something new because it really improved my results and my photography for the better.
Digital Photography School has a great post on all the technical info about RAW vs JPEG. It’s definitely worth a read (though a little dated) if you have questions about the advantages and disadvantages to the different formats. Search youtube for step by step video tutorials on how to navigate & edit photos in ACR (adobe camera raw).
So what photography technique have you been reluctant to try? Are you inspired to go try them out now?
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Sarah Harbuck is a freelance photographer in the East Texas area specializing in artistic portraiture. “Like” her on Facebook: AMZphotoartdesign or contact her at sarah@amzphoto.com for information.
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June 18th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Funny that I was thinking about this the other day and how you used to shoot JPEG. I love RAW, but sometimes I wonder if I could set my in-camera settings properly if I would be happy with the JPEGS. I’m regularly getting better exposure, but I still love how quickly I can edit my RAW photos for fabulous results, especially with Batch processing. I’d love to see your workflow, and if there are edits you make to most of your photos (like a curves bump, etc.)
I keep thinking that I need to shoot with custom white balance again. I even got a gray card and haven’t played with it at all. I’m horrible at getting my colors better than the generic settings available on my camera or in ACR, and I’m not always happy with them.
June 20th, 2012 at 1:07 am
Funny I was just recently thinking about maybe givinh raw a try.
We’ve had our DSLR for 3 years but I’m so far to be a photograph expert so I thought jpg was good enough for me, just don’t want bigger files on my hard drive and long, complicate editing process.
However I actually love photo editing and I’ve started thinking using raw might be one of the way to bring my photography to the next level and even if not, that I should at least give it a try because what’s the point of having a possibility and not even trying it out to see if you like it or not?
Thanks for sharing your photography tips in your articles Sarah, always appreciated. If only reading them was enough to make us as good a photographer as you!
June 21st, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Megan – I haven’t shot in JPEG in about 3 years. So my workflow is a bit rusty. I used adjustment layers a lot back in my JPEG days and they are good just limiting. But maybe you were asking about my RAW workflow…in the ACR editor I start at the top and work my way down. I usually only tweak the white balance (if necessary), and sometimes add in a touch of “fill”. Maybe my next tutorial should be a step by step screenshot tutorial on my ACR editing? =)
Aemilius – I should’ve noted in this blog post that once I do my RAW editing and save as a JPEG I delete the original RAW image to conserve on space. I know some people keep both but I see no reason to. Once I edit something I RARELY go back and work on it. So I don’t keep the RAW files. You are too kind…my “greatness” has come from years of practice & experience & luck, failing & succeeding…LOL!