U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: "Raw" for dummies ?

Re: "Raw" for dummies ?



Well put Jack.

I might just add one more thing.  I use ProPhoto as my color space when working with digital cameras and I always shoot RAW—not "in the raw".  I find that the ProPhoto color space in Photoshop will allow   just a little more leeway in bringing in highlights when post processing files.

Best Wishes,
Mark Nelson

Precision Digital Negatives - The System
PDNPrint Forum at Yahoo Groups
www.MarkINelsonPhoto.com

In a message dated 2/19/07 11:36:14 PM, jefulton1@comcast.net writes:


Could someone do a very brief "raw for dummies" -- once over lightly, 
why I should use it, why it's better than just ad hoc touch-up/ 
adjustments in Photoshop (and sometimes not even that)? How much do 
folks really use it, or is it mostly just nice to know it's there ?


Camera RAW for Judy:

1.    all digital cameras record an image a certain way. Many differ in 
how the RAW file is stored/recorded

2.    if you shoot a JPEG, whatever is photographed is saved by a 
mathematical formula designed to "make the
    most" of what you shot. All the data the capturing chip could've 
recorded is compromised via this math
    formula . . . and, the file is smaller due to the JPEG'ing

3.    the RAW file will always stay that way . . . it is more like an 
original negative in the analogue wet process.
    Your celluloid negative is placed in the enlarger and you project it 
to a certain size to a certain substrate.
    That substrate can be film or paper of varying contrasts. The 
development and developer can change tone
    and contrast. Fixing and toning will further modify it. To repeat, 
care must be used as well as a good memory
    or perhaps a written record. BUT, the negative remains untouched. 
The RAW file is like that negative. You will
    always be able to open it with the Adobe RAW plug-in or a 
manufacturer's proprietary software, and                 manipulate, sharpen, 
tone, etc. Once you print it and keep it and frame it, you'll always 
be able to return to
    your file and re-do it another way.

4.    the RAW file also contains the meta-data of camera, f-stop and 
other pertinent info, to which you can add             more information 
that'll be recorded for you to either have or use


In short, making the RAW file allows the photographer to "correct" 
the taken image rather than the camera via a mathematical manner.
You cannot save to a RAW format and, not confuse you, there is a 
Photoshop RAW format but that is more used when saving a file to 
transfer it between programs or platforms. It is NOT the same as 
camera RAW which is specific to each digital camera.

Hope that clarifies some little notion of it all.

Jack Fulton