Raw shooter or Jpeg shooter?

[CrasHBURN]

tolstoi: In short, Post processing (enhancing image) and Photo Manipulation (editing it) are two different things. a Good one!

[kolz]

Isn't it a photographer's job to take time to set the perfect WB and get the perfect shot instead of consciously hoping to redo later during PP? Or isn't it an Image Editor's job to retouch a photo? Am certainly not a Pro.. I will always consider myself an enthusiast and just asking..

Yup. If I have time to adjust the WB I would do it first, I can do this while doing it on a studio.

But when you are on the run, like doing street photography, you are more concerned on the composition rather than the parameter adjustment of your camera, taking time to fiddle with WB or getting a light meter out can be very difficult, a second wasted you might lose a shot. You can't just ask your subjects to freeze because you want to take the color temperature. So under these circumstances, I would just make a quick adjustment on the camera settings and shoot RAW so that I can recover details under PP.

[Ian]

tolstoi, nothings wrong doing PP like I said.. whether you shoot raw or jpeg... doesnt matter.. my point here basically is that if you're a photographer then you're supposed to be doing your best with the camera in-hand to get that one in lifetime shot.. contrast, WB, composition, focus.. everything.. photographers are supposed to get that with the shot.. thats the art of photography.. if you got it right, its right.. right?

Some say Digital Photography is not a real photography.. what? For me.. well we have to go along with the time.. we have to incorporate softwares to it.. computers.. etc.. right.. but that aint the point here.. hahaha..

Maybe am just too idealistic.. damn my mentor should have been a digital photographer.. but hes not.. hes a purist.. its like "Never alter the beauty of reality"..

Anyways, just ignore me guys.. you're a Pro.. am just a hobbyist.. an enthusiast.. although working full time as a junior software eng.. and also a student from a local photography school.. maybe was very much influenced..

[Isabella Rain]

I guess we have our own preferences.. As for me, am quite well using JPG.. I think my mentor influenced me a lot from his style being a purist.. that you shall never alter the beauty of reality.. Its like in Programming, WYSIWYG.. things like that..

Am into B&W so I guess it doesnt matter using either Raw or Jpeg.. right? Hehehe.. As what the great Ansel Adams wrote about the Negatives as the Musical Score and the Prints as the performance. Raw or JPG.. doesnt matter.. its the performance that matters..

Why, Ian, do you see in black & white? Unless you are absolutely color blind, I would have to disagree with you that your black & white photos represent reality to you. Alas, for most of us, the world is in full color so we can't share your opinion that your rendering of the world in black & white is not altering reality.

Mostly, I shoot RAW but only because I'm not shutter-happy and don't cover events. Nor could events in my corner of the world cover my expenses.

[Ian]

Hi Isabella Rain, you did have a point but am afraid you don't quite understand. The statement made by my purist mentor.. "That you shall never alter the beauty of reality".. is with the debate whether shooting Raw and do post production or shooting Jpegs and Print from a Digital SLR. It has nothing to do with the second paragraph from the statement I made.

Now, I shoot B&W most of the time from my camera because honestly am color blind. And I love the challenge of getting the right composition. Sometimes colors are distracting, sometimes they're not.. It really depends on your style.

The world is in full color.. you're right.. and taking B&W to a colorful reality is altering is also true. Damn you're a smart lady! Hahaha.. Although honestly you're right but I was referring to again Raw + Image Editing vs. JPEG..

Photography is not all colors.. I know you're aware of that.. If you shoot because you find it colorful then its not photography.. "Reality" isn't all about the world in full colors..

Just my $0.02

Ian

[Isabella Rain]

Hi Isabella Rain, you did have a point but am afraid you don't quite understand. The statement made by my purist mentor.. "That you shall never alter the beauty of reality".. is with the debate whether shooting Raw and do post production or shooting Jpegs and Print from a Digital SLR. It has nothing to do with the second paragraph from the statement I made.

Now, I shoot B&W most of the time from my camera because honestly am color blind. And I love the challenge of getting the right composition. Sometimes colors are distracting, sometimes they're not.. It really depends on your style.

The world is in full color.. you're right.. and taking B&W to a colorful reality is altering is also true. Damn you're a smart lady! Hahaha.. Although honestly you're right but I was referring to again Raw + Image Editing vs. JPEG..

Photography is not all colors.. I know you're aware of that.. If you shoot because you find it colorful then its not photography.. "Reality" isn't all about the world in full colors..

Just my $0.02

Ian

Ian, thanks, but there really is no need to declare the obvious. I have no problem with black and white. In fact, some of my favorite takes are in black and white. You can check my photos at joelbontuyan.multiply.com. Yeah, that bears my name. Isabella Rain is my daughter and my avatar is that of my wife's, Miguela Teresa.

Anyway, I agree that "reality is not all about the world in full colors.." in the same way that I say that photography is not all about reality.

For choice between RAW and JPEG, I echo the words of Eisen: Jpeg, if you have no time and and would rather let your camera do the processingfor you; RAW if you want to have, more or less, full control.

And, yes, I understand everything you wrote perfectly.

[abortretryfail]

What the he** is a purist anyway?!!!

Shoot film? Film goes through the same process. You do what you can to get the "right" exposure but you'll still be
"adjusting" that exposure when you develope the negs and print it on paper. Even if you send your film to the lab...
hang around one and you'll see someone at the machine changing contrast, brightness, and color of each print.

Film vs. Digital? What's the difference? The process is the same. In digital the process is just faster so it seems
almost seamless. By the way, if you think the image on your camera's lcd screen is "pure" then why does the lcd
screen have a brightness setting?

Now what's with raw vs. jpeg? Raw is the digital negative as that is the format with the least amount of loss of
data coming from the sensor. Jpeg's are a compressed form of the data... meaning loss in detail. It doesn't
mean that shooting raw automatically means you plan to edit the digital photo. It could also be because you don't
want to lose a couple hundred pixels in the process.

And in that sense it would be the constant raw shooter who is the "purist" as shooting raw gets the most "pure"
image from the camara's sensor.

Jpeg's aren't "pure" as they've already been edited... albeit in the camera with settings selected by the photographer
with a process programmed into the camera. So the "purist" method would actually be shooting in raw and printing
from the camera directly. But then again you still have editing in the form of adjustments of settings in the printer
therefore shooting down the theories of "purists" in real world applications. Editing/adjusting the photograph is just
part of the photographic process... there's no escaping it.

One thing I teach my students is the five elements of exposure: light, film speed, aperture, shutter speed, and
intent. INTENT!!! Is it a technical exposure where you try to capture the scence as is?... or is it an artistic exposure
where the picture becomes a creative canvass to express feelings, ideas, tell stories, etc...

Photography is a tool... for expression or documentation. Photographer is a general term slapped on any Tom, Dick,
and Harry that trips a shutter. If all writers were "purists" we would have our noses deep in history books.

[tolstoi]

amen to that sire^^

Now, I shoot B&W most of the time from my camera because honestly am color blind.

IAN you are color blind literally?

Even if you send your film to the lab...
hang around one and you'll see someone at the machine changing contrast, brightness, and color of each print.

just as what i have said [br]Posted on: November 25, 2006, 03:47:14 PM_________________________________________________b tw if you want your pic to be as pure as it can be, try to shoot using POLAROID.. =)

[CrasHBURN]

Sen, very good contribution! amen to that! i agree 100.5%! hehehe...

[Ian]

abortretryfail, why not try to take shots and no more adjustments? After shooting, go straight to the printer?