Photography Tip: Shoot It RAW

If you enjoy photography and shoot with a digital SLR camera I highly recommend shooting in a RAW format. Shooting JPEGs are necessary at some points but if you have the memory card space or are taking only a few photos, RAW is the way to go.

Why is shooting in RAW to your advantage? The quick and simple answer is that shooting in RAW allows for more control over the interpretation of the image. How is this different from a JPEG you might ask? Well, when you take a shot in JPEG format there are some in-camera post processing features that compress the image. A RAW image file is exactly what the sensor was able to "see" when you pressed your shutter button. RAW files will capture and save every single piece of information that the image sensor is able to see and it will not apply any in-camera processing or compression. More simply put, a RAW file is essentially an undeveloped piece of film. As the photographer you have control of the image quality now and even in the future. A couple things to note when shooting in RAW:

• The files are much larger as a RAW file is a 16 bit image vs. the 8 bit image of a JPEG format.
• You'll need some software to decode and process the RAW files. The two best are Adobe Camera RAW which is a plugin available for Photoshop or Capture One.
• Each brand of camera has its own file extension for RAW images. Find the file extension for your camera!

I personally choose to use Camera Raw within photoshop. I've gotten accustomed to the interface as it looks and feels like Photoshop, which I've been using since I started taking pictures. The Camera Raw interface is pretty intuitive and allows for extreme control.

Whether it's temperature, tint, exposure, contrast, clarity saturation, etc., the white balance features let you adjust your photo "as shot" or with a number of other options such as "cloudy" or "daylight." From within Camera Raw you can open one or many images right into Photoshop to start editing further if needed. I do recommend backing up your RAW files should you ever decide to go back and adjust a photo again. I have found myself doing that quite often and having the original RAW files has been a savior.

I can't express enough how shooting in RAW has enhanced my photography experience and I completely recommend it to all those shooting with digital cameras that offer up this format. Are you shooting RAW yet? Will you give it a try?