Finally got RAW to work...2 pix around the house

[CleanNeon98]

1. StRAWberries
http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v258/174/105/332600751/n332600751_231310_8715.jpg

2. Flower
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v258/174/105/332600751/n332600751_231312_1266.jpg

And at the end of all of this, I still dont see what the point is...they still dont have the pop im looking for, maybe its me, maybe its my lens, whatever, but whats the point of RAW anyway?

[Jeffros Spec V]

Shooting in Raw gives you the ability (fromw aht I understand) to be able to make adjustments to the photo as if you were about to take the photo......

Just shooting in raw and not making any adjustments isn't going to do anything for you.....

[omgjacki]

It's so you can develop digital images yourself, from what I understand, whereas JPEG images develop and adjust on their own.

[TROLL]

when you shoot a jpg, first off it compresses the file, because a jpg is a compressed image file. further, there are certain processes that the image goes through in the camera as the photo is taken such as white balance, sharpness, contrast, etc... and the photo is saved with these settings locked in. you can always change them later but it will result in a slight loss of quality since you're deviating from the set path.

raw is a completely unaltered version if the photo, it retains higher quality and allows you full control over the editing process... there is are no preset functions applied like in camera sharpening, contrast, etc... a default white balance is applied but you are able to adjust it after the fact as well without losing quality. of course it still requires that you edit the photo, and if edited properly the result can be better than if shot with a jpg. another huge benefit to raw is that it has more exposure adjusment than a jpg.

[CleanNeon98]

Shooting in Raw gives you the ability (fromw aht I understand) to be able to make adjustments to the photo as if you were about to take the photo......

Just shooting in raw and not making any adjustments isn't going to do anything for you.....
Well I played with them a little but nothing major. So technically instead of doing an HDR on the spot, I can take 1 raw picture and then make 2 others (under/over exposed) and merge the 3 to get an HDR from the single shot?

when you shoot a jpg, first off it compresses the file, because a jpg is a compressed image file. further, there are certain processes that the image goes through in the camera as the photo is taken such as white balance, sharpness, contrast, etc... and the photo is saved with these settings locked in. you can always change them later but it will result in a slight loss of quality since you're deviating from the set path.

raw is a completely unaltered version if the photo, it retains higher quality and allows you full control over the editing process... there is are no preset functions applied like in camera sharpening, contrast, etc... a default white balance is applied but you are able to adjust it after the fact as well without losing quality. of course it still requires that you edit the photo, and if edited properly the result can be better than if shot with a jpg. another huge benefit to raw is that it has more exposure adjusment than a jpg.
Thanks TROLL, I kinda get it now.

[CleanNeon98]

What do you people make of the pictures?? I kinda like #1

[TROLL]

haha it needs white balance, exposure adjustment, contrast, and some sharpness :)

if you're using Adobe Bridge / Camera Raw then just open the photo and play with the sliders to get the hang of it...

[DC2.2GSR]

troll, you seem to have a good understanding of RAW...

shooting and editing in RAW format would be no problem if my PS CS would recognize RAW. I've tried searching google for possible places to download an upgrade or the actual Camera RAW plugin, but sifting through the garbage that comes up on some searches is ridiculous. do you (or anyone else) have any idea if i even can download RAW plugins for Photoshop CS (8.0)??

i would upgrade to CS2 or CS3 if i had any significant reason to spend the money on it, but i really don't. except for the RAW compatibility problem, CS works great for all i need it for.

[howielong]

To me Raw is great. I just like shooting in it cause if I mess up on a camera setting I can go back and fix it if I really wanted to.


Oh and Alex I did a quick 3 min edit on the first photo and once you know your way around Photoshop you can get great photos too. Oh and if I where you, I'd take a trip to NYCV or Allens (sp) and pick up a gray card for setting manual white balance.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/StevenCole/Untitled-1-3.jpg

[CleanNeon98]

To me Raw is great. I just like shooting in it cause if I mess up on a camera setting I can go back and fix it if I really wanted to.


Oh and Alex I did a quick 3 min edit on the first photo and once you know your way around Photoshop you can get great photos too. Oh and if I where you, I'd take a trip to NYCV or Allens (sp) and pick up a gray card for setting manual white balance.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/StevenCole/Untitled-1-3.jpg

Thanks man. Im still new to all of this and im shooting with a kit lens I want to get better with my composition and such before buying any accesories.

[BlackTypeR]

If you want to nail the white balance, all you really need is a piece of white paper or anything white really. Hell, even a white t-shirt will work. This past summer I visited a museum and didn't know what the lighting was going to be like. I wore a white t-shirt and set the white balance when I got there. It worked out great!

Here's a link posted earlier explaining how to do it:

http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36008&highlight=white+balance

Hope this helps.

[cburwell]

troll, you seem to have a good understanding of RAW...

shooting and editing in RAW format would be no problem if my PS CS would recognize RAW. I've tried searching google for possible places to download an upgrade or the actual Camera RAW plugin, but sifting through the garbage that comes up on some searches is ridiculous. do you (or anyone else) have any idea if i even can download RAW plugins for Photoshop CS (8.0)??

i would upgrade to CS2 or CS3 if i had any significant reason to spend the money on it, but i really don't. except for the RAW compatibility problem, CS works great for all i need it for.

I assume that is because you have a newer camera that CS does not support files from.

Have you tried this upgrade?:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3896

[grimm]

as far as the HDR comment. if you use photomatix, you can just open the raw in photomatix and convert it to a pseudo HDR. no need to make all the other exposures.

95_GSR. you can also try using a RAW to DNG converter (http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/). and then bring the DNG's into photoshop. I have CS2 and i can not open the raw files from my 40D because Adobe expects you to upgrade your software when you get a new camera. they don't make updates or service packs for the older software. Talk about CRAP!!!

[BlackTypeR]

as far as the HDR comment. if you use photomatix, you can just open the raw in photomatix and convert it to a pseudo HDR. no need to make all the other exposures.

95_GSR. you can also try using a RAW to DNG converter (http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/). and then bring the DNG's into photoshop. I have CS2 and i can not open the raw files from my 40D because Adobe expects you to upgrade your software when you get a new camera. they don't make updates or service packs for the older software. Talk about CRAP!!!


I'm in the same boat as you. I have CS2 as well and can't edit RAW files in photoshop since I got my 40D. I don't care though, Canon's software does just fine :)

[DC2.2GSR]

as far as the HDR comment. if you use photomatix, you can just open the raw in photomatix and convert it to a pseudo HDR. no need to make all the other exposures.

95_GSR. you can also try using a RAW to DNG converter (http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/). and then bring the DNG's into photoshop. I have CS2 and i can not open the raw files from my 40D because Adobe expects you to upgrade your software when you get a new camera. they don't make updates or service packs for the older software. Talk about CRAP!!!

i just downloaded the converter from that link and it didn't work. Photoshop CS doesn't recognize RAW or DNG it seems. i drag and drop the converted DNG file to open it up in photoshop and it says "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document." I guess i either have to upgrade to CS2 or CS3 or stop shooting in RAW haha