Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Raw vs. Jpeg.

After one solid year of fighting it.... I'm a believer.
The battle has been won folks, and RAW gets the medal of honor.

Matt has been begging me to switch to RAW forever and a day but I'm stubborn.
So today it was on...we went outside and I triumphantly rooted for my Jpeg team, convinced that it is was indeed the best. I had it in the bag. We raced upstairs to compare the results.

The evidence is here for the viewing.

Photobucket

Photobucket


***When I loaded the RAW image, a box popped up with all the ways to adjust the photo - curves, shadows, saturation, etc. I was able to do it all in about 1 minute. Usually it takes me a long time to fix a picture because I spend so long picking out the "perfect formula" of actions. So simple, I wish I would've listened sooner!

35 comments:

Kara Pennington Photography said...

I'm glad you crossed over! :) Seriously, though, you'll love it! It makes editing so much faster and batch processing is pretty much the best thing ever!

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the "cool-kids club"!! LOL. Just kidding, but your editing life has just gotten easier. Can't wait to see what you can do with it!

Anonymous said...

I think I know who won!

Julie said...

Wow, I didn't know the diffrence would be so profound! I've been shooting RAW lately just in case I mess up the exposure. I really need to find some ACR tutorials! Thanks for the comparison.

kristin root said...

so glad you did this! i've been fighting this debate too! did you use any other software to adjust the color? any other ideas you want to share about raw? i think i want to go that direction - just a little unsure about it all!!
:)

Sarah Huffman said...

oh gosh! the raw ones look so much better! i might shoot raw but i would have to buy so many more cf cards to shoot an entire wedding raw!

Rachel Brooke said...

kristinkay- I was apprehensive too, cause the files are bigger and it just intimidated me. I started out setting my camera up to shoot 1 jpg and 1 raw file so I could compare the two. I just simply double-clicked the raw file and it opened in CS3...then I adjusted saturation, shadows, highlights, etc. And I adjusted color levels and exposure. I didn't even have to use any actions at all! E-mail if you need more help :)

kymberli q. said...

Awesome Rachel! I was 'taught' to use RAW, so I guess I didn't need to go back and forth with the decision. But I believe that you do get a lot more out of the RAW images! Good for you to be open to new things and go for it! :)

Angie Penrose said...

I too have not crossed over. :) After seeing your shots I might have to rethink it! I'm scared!! tee,hee!

annakate elizabeth davis said...

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! for raw!!! i love it and have been shooting in it for about 5 months now, i can totally tell the difference I use bridge and 5* my favs and only work those files,
i wouldn't go back to jpeg for anything!!

abcdef said...

I've been dragging my feet too! I shoot in both. But, thanks for sharing these. The raws shots really make a big difference.

OHANA PHOTOGRAPHERS said...

ah decisions, decisions. awesome post!

kristin root said...

i'm back! ok - for all those raw people, would you compare it to going from PC to MAC? :) does anyone use any specific bought presets for raw? can i do all my adjusting in cs3 bridge? let's keep this one going!

.E. said...

wow... thats some difference..I am going to have to try raw out myself now..

Leah Simmers said...

ooh you will love raw. It took me awhile too but now I'd never go back. Love the flowers

Jerry in Tampa said...

You will be happy with this change! Best of luck!

Jerry in Tampa

Anonymous said...

Glad you took the leap!! :) RAW rocks!!

THE PARSONS said...

HOLY MOSES, Rachel! I am both amazed and depressed because I am in the current mind battle and I am so overwhelmed by raw.
:(
are you on a mac?

Rachel Brooke said...

kristinkay: I think it is much simpler than the PC/Mac relationship. That is like learning a new language. Presets can be used on RAW to help, but I opted not to use them for these pictures. I don't use Bridge...so not sure on that one!

ashley & jeremy parsons: You open the RAW file in Photoshop CS3 and it uses the Photoshop RAW plugin. It has sliders with all the lighting and tone curve adjustments. I don't have a MAC, I use Vista. I let RAW scare me too. As I noted above, it's much more transitional if you start out small by setting your camera to take pictures in both RAW and jpeg format so you can truly see the difference. Play around with it in your free time and you will get the hang of it!

Unknown said...

I'm scared to move over too. But you may have helped to pique my curiosity even more.

:)

I really love your header too. Love the patterned tiles!

Kat said...

Ok-- this is enough to get me to rethink this. Thanks for inpiring me to ask consider the question. That Rocks! You Go Girl!

Ryan said...

I underwent the same battle with RAW last year too, and once I switched to it I never looked back (kinda like when I went to Mac). Especially in the fast paced world of wedding photography, sometimes you just don't get the exact exposure you were intending to get, so the ability to go back and make minor exposure adjustments (especially overblown highlights!) makes the world of difference when it comes to bringing a quality product to clients.

Anyway, hi, I'm Ryan. I found you on Ashley Parsons blog. Great work, keep it up!

Anonymous said...

hey rachel its nikki your cousin i dont know if you know any other nikkis but just to make sure. your pictures are beutiful!! see you in august were going to have so much FUN!

Angela Fielding said...

I know I'm a jpeg shooter. I think I'm to lazy to switch. Looks beautiful though!!!

Unknown said...

This is a hard one. Great post by the way.

kymberli q. said...

Where's Rachel? Is she still playing around with RAW images?! I miss her posts!

;)

annakate elizabeth davis said...

Hey Rach, great to hear from you, I will be in Houston Saturday for a bridal shoot at 9 am and then on to Huntsville for a wedding!! its gonna be crazy!!! Did you get your camera yet?

PicturesByTracy said...

You defiantly have my attention:)Thanks for this post!
~T

Anonymous said...

hey its nikki again i think its a great idea to get a new dog not that marleys not good or anything its just that dogs are soooo cute you cant have enough dogs (thats not what my mom thinks though) well keep asking thats how i got my little cutie!!

Anonymous said...

hey my mom told me to ask you if you are goin gto port aransas this summer with the family how often do you check this thing? anyhow are you coming please answer!!

Rachel Brooke said...

Hi Nikki,
I am going to Port Aransas. We are really excited to come! You will have to help convince Matt on the dog situation, he won't be able to resist your charm!

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the RAW team!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Rachel,

Thanks for showing the difference between jpeg and raw, I'd never seen it like that before.

In RAW, the images are much larger, so where do you store all your pictures? On your computer or do you have backup drive or something?

Michelle Morales Photography said...

Yay! Welcome to the dark side, haha ;) I LOVE RAW!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Are these all SOOC files? If so, I'm gonna try RAW, too!!!