WOW! 1st time using RAW

WOW...i am amazed...i just got Photoshop CS2 (Finally after using 7.0 for SOOO long) so i decided to try out RAW...Oh myyyy...what the hell have i been doing before now? It was just brilliant, so easy to use and so GOOD!

I have 3 weeks before my next wedding shoot....what you do guys think? Work really hard on RAW and post process this way - or stick with what i know for now with JPG????

I could work 3 hrs a day on RAW to get it right...any tips i should know???

Del

Shoot jpg and raw. But You would probably need more cards then.

If You shoot both jpg and raw You can always return and reprocess photos.

If you're looking to learn more about raw quickly, I'd pick up a copy of Bruce Fraser's Real World Camera Raw. It's a great book for learning about raw files and how to process them in cs2.

On my 20D, with a 2 Gb card, I can get nearly 175 RAW/large JPEG pairs at iso 400 (initially, the camera estimates 147 pairs at iso 400, but it always allows more, and if you drop the iso to 200 or 100, you get even more images on the card). The RAW/large JPEG is the combination I shoot now for nature. JPEG because it's fast and easy to process if I need it quickly, RAW for when I need its capabilities for detail and big enlargements. I have two 1 Gb cards as well, for a 4 Gb total. Most of my work is day trips into the wilderness within 30 miles of home, so memory hasn't been a big issue. If I were traveling more for overnight shoots, I'd definitely have to pick up a portable hard drive/CD burner or a laptop, because 4 Gb wouldn't be enough for a multi-day shoot.

Doing the math, 4 Gb in cards gets me about the equivalent of 10 rolls of 36-exposure film, though of course being able to weed out the unacceptable images on the digital camera makes that comparison less important.

Another good book for RAW shooters is Rob Sheppard's "Adobe Camera Raw: For Digital Photographers Only." Step-by-step, easy to understand RAW processing procedure to make those images sing. It helped me quite a lot.

OK....i might swap from JPG to RAW....maybe the Pro Shoot of the wedding in RAW and the others as JPG? Thoughts on that?

I just made the swap to RAW the other day. I dont think I'll ever shoot JPG again!!! Hell, with RAW, you dont even need to worry about setting your white balance, just fix it later.

I just can't see why you would bother swapping...you cna get the exact white balance easily...and if you look at a software like Raw Shooter Essentials, which is free, you can make the same edits to all the images, be it white balance, increased exposure, fill light etc...I even shoot sports in RAW because at the rink the white balance changes from one end to the other...

Cheers,

Bulk adjustments in Bridge are very straightforward - set the white balance in one image, press Done. Right click (or equivalent on the Mac - I use Windows), Copy Camera Raw Settings. Select the files you want to copy the settings do, right click, Paste Camera Raw Settings, choose White Balance.

Adobe Camera Raw is very powerful - you can straighten with the minimum loss of pixels, crop, even apply a curve if you wish (assuming Photoshop CS2 with Camera Raw 3.x). All this information is stored, using the default settings, in a .xmp sidecar file - along with other metadata you may choose to set, such as keywords.

David

It's worth buying more memory to shoot RAW. The WB, Exposure, Shadow settings in RAW are so great, plus I find the Curve adjustment much easier to use after finding the right points in the image w/ the dropper tool. If I had to make some of these batch adjustments in PS from JPG,
it would be a much more involved process for me and would involve more guess work. I know many top wedding photogs shoot Fine JPG, but they are either great at nailing WB in camera or they've been at it so long that they've already got loads of actions created in PS to deal with their work flow...or it's all just over my head. Probably both.

If you can shoot jpg better than raw, you are probably rubbish at raw, or a master of exposure at jpg.

I am better at photoshop than photography, so my answer was clear.

Graham

Personally, I recommend shooting in what you're comfortable with. Practice with RAW a lot. If you're ready and secure with RAW in 3 weeks time, use it. If not, stick with JPEG. Wait till you're solid before using it for an important event.

Good advice as always cd-ink
My problem is my 4g card died...so i just bought some new 1gigs and 1 512mb so might not have enough memory to shoot fully RAW...ill see how it goes...at least i have backup cards now...JUST in case i fill memory too quickly...

I think I would shoot in .jpg because that's what you're used to. Then start using RAW after the wedding.

Since I switched to RAW I use RawShooter essential 2005 and it's wonderful. It will convert all your images to your specifications and build another directory called "converted" automatically. Your RAW files are never modified so you always have the original.

Good luck!

I'll modify my original response a bit.

If You can't get more cards before the event I would say You should keep shooting jpg as You are used to.

If You want to shoot raw for some shots then shoot raw+jpeg for those. I know that will use more memory but You will then have the jpg ready and can work on perfecting the raw later.

Agree on this.
Furthermore, the raw file is always there to manipulate once the skill level in PSCS develops. I find this to be great as the files done last year can now be processed better with the increased knowledge gained.

I also do find that RAW gives better skin tones as compared to just JPG. It could be my skill but a JPG and RAW file processed in the same manner will end up with the raw file having better overall skin tone. You do have to manipulate more settings in JPG to obtain what is seen in RAW.

Raw also delivers if you are shooting stage shows. The lighting levels can be easily corrected. Should there be coloured light on the subject in the instance of shutter release, RAW is better as it is easier to correct. JPG gives a slightly darker/more magenta skin tone.

BTW, I always shoot in RAW+JPG. Not all files need to be corrected and JPG do at times perform.

regards
bama