PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED
by John Peters A.R.P.S.
Originaly photographed in RAW, extensive burning and dodging applied, increased saturation, contrast etc., converted to JPEG, sharpened, run through "FOTOSKETCHER". Gives a feeling of depth, almost like your in the photo looking at the scene. The increased range of tones help, aided by the foreground detail and burning in. I was trying to produce a colourfull scene that would look good on a wall.
The big arguement, should I shoot RAW or JPEG?
If you want the best from your images and the most amount of control, its a no brainer - shoot raw. Its a well known fact that you can sqeeze more from the shadow areas and sqeeze more from the highlight areas in raw, than you can in jpeg. Leaving aside the many other pros and cons of raw v jpeg, the answer is simple - shoot raw.
There are numerous arguements for and against both formats, and the arguements will go on and on. Lets list some (not all) points for each format.
JPEG
Standard format for cameras and phones
Many pros shoot JPEG to save time, no conversion is required and the JPEG images are in a "ready" format
Requires little or no time to edit
Small files, save on storage
Files tend to be saved quickly
Uses a "lossy" compression with much of the data thrown away
JPEG limits the number of possible colours but this is unlikely to be noticed
JPEG images contain less data which means they don't cover the range of shadows and highlight areas but this probably won't be noticed unless producing large prints or deploying advanced editing features.
RAW
LARGER files, needs more storage
RAW files can be converted to JPEG
Quite often RAW files use a buffer when saved, so they can take longer to be saved
Exposure and balance errors can be easily corrected in RAW but not so much in JPEG
I started with JPEG then advanced to RAW. I tend to go for quality and large prints so RAW suits my editing techniques.
TOP TIP A good idea is take a backup of all files complete with all RAW files and even JPEG if you take RAW and JPEG, delete the RAW and JPEG files of the not so good images, back this up, and this "live" version becomes your "working" directory. Storage is cheaper now. I recently purchased a 4 GB SSD SANDISK card for a mere £ 32 Pretty good. Your first backup can serve as your original and "complete" directory with your second backup and working directories occupying less storage. I never use cloud storage for the time constraints, preferring local devices. Yes, what if there is a fire, well perhaps one "master" backup should be kept offsite. It's an involved subject.
I suppose it boils down to what suits your type of photography and how much free time you have. I'm not going to recommend to you, one format (RAW or JPEG) over the other, there are advantages and disadvantages for each format. You decide.