A friend of mine ask me what was RAW, as I had mentioned it in the Blog on my G-9. So here goes: When your digital camera takes a picture the data that it collects is the raw data. Most point and shoot camera do not allow just that information to be stored. Most Digital SLR's do. Your camera must process that raw data into a picture. It makes adjustments to the data to put it together as a picture and then it is saved in generally a JPEG formant. That is what you see on the preview screen or when you review it from the camera. It is also what gets transferred to your computer and once it is a JPEG there is only limited adjustments that can be made to it and when you do that some of the image is lost. Each time you open it and save it, it gets compressed over and over and it just getts worse.
Enter RAW. The ability to save the raw data and then import it into your computer gives you the control over it. It becomes like master file. It's like the negatives we had when we had film. With the RAW data you can open it, make adjustments to it with much greater latitude and then save it in what ever format you want. All the time you get to preserve the original data and go back to it and make any new changes to the image you choose and save it as another image.
What's really cool about this is that you can adjust the exposure by about 3 stops either way up or down. So a really dark image can be saved. You can also adjust the color and make it what ever you want and take out color casts, that we have learned to live with with film. It's like going into a dark room and having full control of the out put and do it in real time. Meaning you can see the effects of your adjustment right before your eyes. Before we shot the film and sent it out and had little or no control of what you got back. Today we make adjustments to get the picture we saw or the picture we want and then sent the file to the next level called "output". That could be print, the web or your computer screen.
So why not just let the camera decide the adjustments and be done with it? You could do that if
you make the proper settings on your camera and make sure that it is exposed properly and end up with a good image. Look these cameras today are so smart today it's hard to take a really bad picture. But most people don't even read the manual and learn how to use their camera. RAW is not an excuse to shoot poorly so you can adjust it latter. In fact it is more crucial with today's cameras to get it right the first time. As a professional I want to know that I am getting the best exposure possible and be completely in charge of the light but that's not always possible. I do know how to shoot properly but there are so many variables that have to be taken into consideration. With RAW all I have to really do is compose and watch my exposure and the rest I do in post production. This frees me to take the picture and be with what I am doing which is often interacting with my subjects.
I will stop there for now.
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