RAW Newbie

[SharLamb]

OMG! I've been hearing you all talk about Camera RAW, and basically ignoring the posts....didn't want to introduce more complications into my photography life. But today I set my camera to shoot in RAW. WHAT A HOOT to play around with. And SO EASY! Why have I waited until now?

Love these AHA moments.

Just want to encourage any other cowards out there to take the dive. The water is fine. :D

[baycruisers]

Welcome to the club! After I switched to RAW I had to ask myself why I waited so long. It doesn't really take any (or much) more time to process a RAW file and I like the controls in ACR, especially Vibrance.

[LeeOtsubo]

You wouldn't say this if you had first tried Raw in early 2003. Back then, raw tools were few and far between and knowledgeable help was nonexistent. Performing the simplest task was an exercise in frustration. You young'uns have it easy these days! :D

[mariangela]

I'm also a happy convert. But because the files are so large, it has the added benefit of making me more critical about which of my images are "keepers" and which should be tossed.
agg

[mljrbg]

I took the plunge on Saturday at the Photowalk and shot everything in RAW. All I can say is... WOW!! It really increases your editing capabilities.

[baycruisers]

You wouldn't say this if you had first tried Raw in early 2003. Back then, raw tools were few and far between and knowledgeable help was nonexistent. Performing the simplest task was an exercise in frustration. You young'uns have it easy these days! :D

Young'uns? Ha! I just had to put my hair color down as "gray" on my passport application!:eek:

[Danudin]

Young'uns? Ha! I just had to put my hair color down as "gray" on my passport application!:eek:

If you use PSE you can change the gray to whatever colour you like and even remove wrinkles (Just to make Lee correct of course). There has even been a little bit of hair adding to my Avatar.

Ron

[ljameso1]

I started shooting raw in 2003. The converter wasn't too hard to figure out; but I love the addition of the clarity and vibrance sliders.

[Chuck S.]

I believe I started using the RAW feature on my Canon G2 soon after I bought it in 2002. Photoshop Elements 1 and 2 didn't support RAW, so I started out using Canon's own ZoomBrowser conversion software (dreadful!), then switched to BreezeBrowser (very nice, especially by comparison to Canon's mess).

I sorta figured that better converters would come along, so my archive of old RAW photos is still on CD's and hard drives just itching to be opened up in ACR and/or Lightroom. I really need to try that sometime; I took better photos with that G2 than I have with all the cameras that have succeeded it....:o Recycle is a good thing, right? I believe I should recycle some images!!:D

[efarnstrom]

The new July/August Techniques has an article by Matt Kloskowski on setting RAW defaults. I immediately followed his suggestions, since I always increase the clarity and vibrance. Just one step less makes a difference when you are processing a lot of images.

[margie46]

After a lot of reasearch and reading I have also, finally, gone RAW.
Margie

[angelschick6]

I wish I could figure out how to edit in RAW - I have tried, watched videos, read books - nothing! A local studio does classes, I may have to take one - color is one of my biggest issues and i know how easy it is to fix in RAW if you know how :-(

[lisabee]

I wish I could figure out how to edit in RAW - I have tried, watched videos, read books - nothing! A local studio does classes, I may have to take one - color is one of my biggest issues and i know how easy it is to fix in RAW if you know how :-(

Amy,

Kelby training have some good courses on raw,
http://www.kelbytraining.com/

hth,

Lisa

[TonyW]

Trying to make big fixes of color in RAW with just the Elements simplified version of the RAW editor really isn't possible as you are limited to White Balance adjustments and camera calibration. The full version in Photoshop or Lightroom offers a more opportunities to fix color. Even then if you want to make big color adjustments you'd be better off doing it in Photoshop/Elements and not trying to do it in the Raw editor.

What are the issues with color that you are trying to fix?

Tony

[LeeOtsubo]

Trying to make big fixes of color in RAW with just the Elements simplified version of the RAW editor really isn't possible as you are limited to White Balance adjustments and camera calibration....

Getting it right in the camera is infinitely better than trying to make big adjustments in an editor. That's why the camera has all those cool features, to help you nail it the first time. Just my US$0.02 worth.

I just posted a Digital SLR Workflow cheat sheet on my site to help people develop good habits and a smooth system for covering all the bases when using a dSLR.

[Codebreaker]

I'll back up Tony and Lee's comments. In fact I've just posted something similar in another thread.

RAW should not be used to give you more latitude if you get things wrong in the camera. There is no substitute to understanding your cameras controls. For one thing it means less time in front of the screen, processing the images.

Yes, things will go wrong and can be revived in a good RAW processor. But primarily RAW provides the potential to achieve higher quality images processed to your own interpretation rather than the cameras Jpegs.

And yes, I still get a few images I've screwed up because I've used the wrong settings ;)

Colin


Colin

[TonyW]

And yes, I still get a few images I've screwed up because I've used the wrong settings ;)

Your not the only one - try to catch it on the LCD and do a retake but one or two do slip by ;)

Tony

[Chuck S.]

I've learned recently - like today - that sometimes the "wrong" settings are the only ones that work.

Case in point: my grandson was born about 6 weeks early, and he's spending his first days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (aka NICU - there's an acronym for everything at hospitals). The lighting in the NICU is very subdued, and I found out today when taking available light photos that I had to use my 450D's maximum ISO (1600) and the maximum aperture of the 50 mm lens (f/1.8). Even then, the metered shutter speed was going to be too low for handheld, so after struggling a bit, I opted to switch to manual and set the shutter speed to 1/30 s. The resulting images were a tad underexposed, but the shadow details lifted well when the RAW files were processed in Lightroom 2. Noise was noticeable, but not a real problem considering the end use of the photos.

I didn't try processing the accompanying JPEGs, but I'm guessing that I gained a little bit from use of the RAW files. Maybe after the pandemonium abates here, I'll do some comparison edits.

Here's one of the images after LR treatment. Lacks depth of field....but has depth of feeling! :)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/3747745908_670f3d40d6.jpg (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/%3Ca%20href=)">

[SharLamb]

Chuck, what a beautiful portrait. Congratulations on your new grandchild. Prayers for healthy days ahead.

[jo]

Chuck, that's a beautiful portrait. Lightroom is terrific, isn't it!

Congratulations on the new grandson!

[Codebreaker]

Very nice shot, Chuck.

Colin

[efarnstrom]

This is such an engaging portrait of the first days of life with caring family members. Any shot of this situation is a keeper!