Shooting in RAW
543 // June 18, 2009
Some people ask me how large I can print my photographs in, how many megapixels the camera is, how big of a file the JPG takes up when I shoot on my memory card. Photo geeks ask whether or not I shoot in RAW format. I do, and for every RAW image I take there is a JPG that follows it – while a RAW file will average around 8MB and a JPG around 4MB, everyone wonders what the big deal is (and what the heck is) RAW.
Here it is folks. I posted the very top photo back on April 10th, and have just gotten around to playing with the RAW file tonight.
Warning: I’m going to be a little techincal here.I usually explain RAW files as the ability to take photographs in two different formats on my camera (RAW and JPG). RAW holds all the detailed data in which I can manipulate within Photoshop – using the specific plugin – so I can play with exposure time, temperature, saturation, and (almost) all the other manual controls that are physically on my DSLR.
In the end I was able to up the exposure time, temperature, blacks, saturation and so much more in this photograph’s RAW file. Can you believe the difference? There is no way you would be able to get these results with a simple JPG image alone. This is still one of the many things I continue to learn as I keep on photographin’…
Filed under: 365 Photos, Animals, Denver, Nature, Things | 2 Comments
Tags: bird, branches, chirp, coors field, Denver, lines, Nature, photo, photo shoot, photography, Red, robin, SKy, tree, twitter, up
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Missy,
You are so talented! That is why I sent you that link for the photo contest. Give it a “shot!”
Thanks for explaining why you use RAW files. I haven’t gone there yet, but I’m taking an Intro to Digital Photography class at Boulder Digital Arts next week, so maybe the teacher will explain it.