Shooting RAW – Advantages Outweigh the Disadvantages
Shooting RAW – RAW format of the picture stands for raw data received from the sensor of the digital camera. There are reasons to use RAW format for shooting your photographs. The dynamic range of a photograph defined as the difference between the darkest and the lightest parts will not be captured by sensor of the camera to the fullest unless the photograph is shot in RAW format. Shooting with the RAW format will help you record the maximum information about the picture.
The main advantage of shooting RAW is you will be able to do post-processing work as per your requirement as a camera does not impose any of its settings on the image taken.
Lots of adjustments in terms of contrast, exposure and white balance can be done very easily with the RAW format of picture taken. The beauty of the editing software applied to RAW photograph is they store the adjustments done in the original photograph in a small text file and whenever you look at the photo these adjustments are applied to the photograph in real-time and the changes in the photograph can be revert back even after many days keeping the original file unaffected.
Shooting RAW – Requires Brains
Shooting RAW does not mean that you don’t have to think about anything. Some photographers are of the opinion that whatever is the quality of photographs taken with default settings of the camera taken in the RAW format they will be able to fix it later on. That is not completely true. The fundamentals of camera do matter in getting a quality picture in RAW format. The main parameters of the camera shutter speed, aperture, ISO, depth of field and exposure do matter in providing a quality photograph in RAW format.
The editing software can work on the information provided in RAW format for better results but it also has got limitations. The editing software will work on RAW data up to a certain extent only If the data available after using camera default settings are beyond processing for better results then even editing software canny do anything in this regard. Thus it is very important not to neglect the camera settings entirely even when you are shooting in RAW. You should see the image taken on the LCD and get the feel of clarity for the image. The good looking image will be processed in a better way using editing software.
Shooting RAW – Compensation for LCD Display Discrepancy.
The feedback provided by the LCD should help you in making a decision when in the field and that too instantly. The biggest disadvantage of RAW is you will have flat looking image previews on LCD of the camera or on the editing software computer. Since no processing is done by the camera, all important decisions are to be taken by you to get the final outcome the best one. Another disadvantage of shooting in RAW is the process of shooting is slower; the cameras are slow to crawl.
Also, the size of RAW format pictures is large and hence requires more of memory space for storage. Even though hard drives are getting cheaper and bigger with each passing day, camera manufactures desire you to buy higher models with more cost to avail the higher memory capacity facilities. Whatever be the case if your camera has RAW format option better use it as disadvantages are few as against the advantages. However, once you master the art of photography you will be in a better position to make a decision for the best results.
Next part of the tutorials will cover dynamic range in detail; its significance and how it affects the quality of pictures when combined with other settings in the camera to the optimum.
Tutorial Sixteen –Dynamic Range DSLR – Photography Tutorial
Tutorial Fourteen –Tonality and Contrast – Photography Tutorial DSLR
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