Picture of the Day

[lkiller123]

RAW ultimately gives you absolute control. You are not relying on what your camera THINKS is the best way to handle the image. You do it all yourself. And, RAW allows you control exposure, white balance, and even vibrance much better than on a JPG where much of the image information is already lost and the image may be more compressed than you think.

In terms of when to use what, I think it’s quality vs. quantity. If you are just doing standard run of the mill family photos with minimal processing if any and you’re not as interested in quality as much as having a good set of images to preserve the memory of the event, then go for JPG.

But if you’re going to be shooting a bunch but then weeding out only the best. Say at a 10% return rate and you will work on each one to get the best photo possible that fits your vision and your mind’s eye? Then you are doing a disservice if you shoot in anything other than RAW. It gives you the highest degree of control to achieve an end result that you truly want without any compromise.

Oh dang, sorry I just spotted this one. Thanks for the info

So in a nutshell RAW makes it easier to post-process your photos? Do you need any type of specific softwares for converting RAW and to process them? Also, how much larger are RAW files compared to regular JPEG files?

[ZOMGVTEK]

I would never shoot anything other than RAW, regardless...

What do you guys think about the sharpness on this image? I feel it is a bit softer than I would like, especially after Flickr processed it. (Its a meaningless shot I took to mess around)

[Kain665]

Celebratory Masturbation Injury... sounds interesting


Over Grown by Ilya Cherkasov, on Flickr

[lkiller123]

I would never shoot anything other than RAW, regardless...

What do you guys think about the sharpness on this image? I feel it is a bit softer than I would like, especially after Flickr processed it. (Its a meaningless shot I took to mess around)

Actually, Flickr doesn't mess around with your original shots.

Maybe you can post an original sized shot up here?

[ZOMGVTEK]

I don't have a 'pro' account on Flickr, so I can't post originals.

[RADCOM]

@Ikiller123 RAW shots are about twice as big as compressed shots on my D5000 they average 10MB. You might be able to shot RAW + jpeg and additionally create a small jpeg in camera too. I use Adobe Lightroom which is a superb programme for cataloging and processing RAW images. Nikon has it's own proprietary software capture and capture NX2 which is a good start but not a patch on Lightroom.

[Weevil]

Bromeliad by Bolweval, on Flickr

[ZOMGVTEK]

Most of my RAW's are about 15MB, which isn't a issue even with a tiny 4GB card. A few hundred shots is fine with me... I don't see any need to ever use RAW+JPG, since the JPG just clutter up the card, and waste space. Why shoot anything less than the best? They're not any harder to deal with if you ask me. If you're running windows, it can be hard to quickly preview them, thats about it. If you demand a card that can handle thousands of shots, high capacity cards are cheap these days... High speed high capacity, those can be expensive. I would always run any JPG into CS5 before posting it regardless, just for level adjustment, lens correction, and sharpness tweaks. Most of my pics are edited in under 10 seconds, and then straight to Flickr.

[Mescalamba]

Oh dang, sorry I just spotted this one. Thanks for the info

So in a nutshell RAW makes it easier to post-process your photos? Do you need any type of specific softwares for converting RAW and to process them? Also, how much larger are RAW files compared to regular JPEG files?

Bigger, but it depends what you are using. 12 mpix is around 15 mb. You need something to process raws, either free or payed software. Most used is probably Adobe LightRoom and Adobe Photoshop (Camera RAW). But theres quite a lot of SW to use. And usually, when you buy camera, you get some SW free with that to develope RAWs. Though, probably only Canon/Nikon/Olympus has decent SW (maybe Sony now too). No idea about Pentax, never saw. Panasonic uses SilkyPix, which is pretty crapy, at least those supplied with Gx line are.

Unfortunately to get best result, you need to test a bit of SW to find whats best for you and your camera. While Adobe is good in being able to convert pretty much everything, its not always best choice from color/sharpness/noise point of view.

[Tarowah]

[Weevil]

I would never shoot anything other than RAW, regardless...

What do you guys think about the sharpness on this image? I feel it is a bit softer than I would like, especially after Flickr processed it. (Its a meaningless shot I took to mess around)

Looks very sharp, Can even read your fingerprints.

[Kain665]

A house with a view by Ilya Cherkasov, on Flickr

[itznfb]

watermarked-700_4467 by MGRPhoto, on Flickr

[ZOMGVTEK]

DSC_1794 by ZOMGVTEK3, on Flickr

[weston]

Kain, I'm really impressed with your photos! You have a very unique look to each one like a signature.

Any sharing of p.p. on how to get the look, or is it some kind of warming filter?

[Kain665]

Thanks! It's mostly just playing with curves and color overlays to get the tones I want, other than that it's just the picture itself. No filters used.

[Weevil]

Panther Bridge by Bolweval, on Flickr

[barfastic]

nice shot weevil...

is that a strobe lighting the rim of the cave/arch ?

[Weevil]

Thanks, no I changed the color from an over exposed bright white that was shinning through there, (sun was right on the other side). I was attempting to mellow it out so the blue ocean would show, and in the process added black to the white, as I slid the slider over I just wanted to see what it would do, and liked how it looked black. I couldn't get the blue to show..

[RADCOM]

Yep great shot Weevil Is that place near you , definitely worth taking a few 100 shots and experimenting. I reckon you could sell that print.

[Weevil]

It's very close, we're there all the time, hardly anyone goes there because you have to hike down a cliff to get to it.

[Kain665]

Hmm, where is that, Weevil?

[Weevil]

Hmm, where is that, Weevil?

Thats at Panther Beach, its about 9 miles north of Santa Cruz, Ive accurately pinned it on the map in flickr. Lemmie know if you want a google earth link.

Edit: here's a google link. http://cid-9ffb6e23a9857b7a.office.l...r%20Bridge.kmz

[Kain665]

Interesting! I will go down there one of these days

[hale88]