Shooting RAW

AquilaEagle

AquilaEagle

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Name
Ian
Edit My Images
Yes
I've not yet shot in RAW but I am going to start having seen some of the things that can be done having shot RAW.

However, I am not clear what I have to do to 'process' the images. :dizzy:

I have Photoshop CS so am equipped I think, but wouldn't mind some pointers before I try it.
 
in theory the ' perfect ' shot doesnt require any post processing,

however, none of us are ' perfect' so we have to tweek the image to get as close as possible, RAW allows us to do this as the image captured has had no in camera alterations made to it, compared to jpg's which have been compressed from the original image capture size, and some cameras even alter exposure and colour ballance as well,

post processing a RAW image will not make it perfect, it will however make a good shot better if the right things are done to it, this can go from a simple selective crop to full on alteration , or anything in between,

the most comon use you will start out with is exposure compensation/alteration, as RAW gives you some latitude to do this, and then the colour alteration along with cropping, the more you do the more you will become used to using the tools within the programs,

hope this helps

MyPix
 
Right, so if i don't need to post process, i open the RAW file in PS and just save as a .jpg?

Is there a quick way to sort through and select the pics i want to work with?

How do you guys do it, say if you take 500 shots and are looking for the 5 good ones?
 
another tip is to only take a few in RAW and the rest in jpg when you first start, just in case the session turns out to be a good one and you want to quickly edit one of the pics. Get to know the programme you are using by 'playing' with it. I found that to be the best way to learn. And never be afraid to ask questions :) I couldn't get over the 'wow' factor of editing a RAW image, you'll soon be hooked!
 
AquilaEagle said:
Right, so if i don't need to post process, i open the RAW file in PS and just save as a .jpg?

Is there a quick way to sort through and select the pics i want to work with?

How do you guys do it, say if you take 500 shots and are looking for the 5 good ones?
Click to expand...

yup, you got it, and the advantage is that you always have the raw version should you wish to ' enhance ' it later,
i personally upload all my picures, and then open them with microsoft photo editor, it gives me full screen viewing of the jpg version with no progrms taking ages to launch, simple to close down to, then if i like the image and wish to work on it, i turn to the raw version sat next to it in the folder and use PS, i do however take a raw and jpg for every picture taken,

its just the way i do it,

and then as you say , you can save as jpg in PS , but give it a different title , as you will over-wright the original raw ( so if the raw was....img 1 , the jpg could be.... img 1a ....etc)

MyPix
 
Use Adobe Bridge to select the image(s) you want then double click to open. You then get a RAW interface with loads of options.
You can alter the white balance (very useful - either by the camera pre-sets or by moving a slider back and forth - the image gets warmer or colder), exposure, hue/tint, curves - pretty much anything you want.
Once you're satisfied, click open and the image now opens into Photoshop. You can now do any other editing - layers etc before you save. I always save as a TIFF - every time you open and re-save a JPEG it loses some information, which is a BAD THING. Save the image as an uncompressed TIFF and then save it again as a JPEG for web use, re-sizing it accordingly.

I use seperate folders for RAW Images, TIFFs and JPEGs - RAW, Best and Transmission accordingly.

When you go to the next RAW image you can apply all the previous image's corrections automatically by selecting 'apply previous' in the drop-down menu.
You can even apply those values to a whole batch of images if they were all shot with the same exposure under the same conditions. Useful for studio work, but less applicable to photojournalism.

The best thing is if you [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] it all up, the original RAW file remains untouched so you can always go back to the start and try again.
 
I shot 40 RAW pictures the other day, first time i have ever done it, i haven't converted all of them yet, as it seems to be a very long winded job. I find that once you have the images, you tend to play with them, re-convert the original one time and time again, thus taking up loads of memory for just a few pictures, so treat them with care.
have fun
stevannie
 
Once you start thinking of your RAW files as digital 'negatives' it makes more sense.
And yes it does take up space - that's what external hard-drives are for.

No-one said this was cheap.
 
Arkady said:
No-one said this was cheap.
Click to expand...

no....but it can be done on a budget , which most of us have to live with,

unlike the military...:whistle2:


only joshing m8, i know the military waste lots more money on things like guns n stuff :Ponders:

but when you see 100gig HD's in pc world for £60 , there is never goin to be a problem with space...

MyPix
 
If your happy with the way they've come out, or you want to apply the same processing to them all, it can be done as a batch action (very easy in RSE/p). convert a set to Jpeg and go from there, all done in less time than it takes to drink a brew :D

I burn all my raw's to disc to reduce the space on my pooters.....i've had 2 Hdd's fail taking everything on them in to the next world :shock:
 
Thanks folks 2 q's:

Adobe Bridge? Is that part of Photoshop CS?

RSE/p ?? that is that?

Can it be done batch in PS?
 
RSE/p is RawShooter Essentials or the pay version RawShooter Premium. Both are available as free downloads for trial purposes. They also offer batch processing and the ability to split your images into different classes (best/good/ok or bin for example) then you can work on whichever you want to.
 
Raw shooter essentials was a free program on one of digital photo magazines cover discs a few months ago.

Adobe bridge comes as part of CS2
 
digitalfailure said:
Raw shooter essentials was a free program on one of digital photo magazines cover discs a few months ago.

Adobe bridge comes as part of CS2
Click to expand...

i use CS2 but i cant say i've seen bridge before, Image ready yes, but cant remember seeing the other. Do you have to turn it on from within CS2 or export to it?:confused-
stevannie
 
ah CS2 - I still have to install that, job for tonight! :)
 
It comes bundled together with Photoshop - or should - check you program list within the Adobe folder.
Alternatively you can open it from within Photoshop - little button top centre, next to the drop-down pallettes.
 
Arkady said:
It comes bundled together with Photoshop - or should - check you program list within the Adobe folder.
Alternatively you can open it from within Photoshop - little button top centre, next to the drop-down pallettes.
Click to expand...

had a look in the folder, not there, had a look for the little button, not there, in File , the File/close and go to Bridge is greyed out, so i obviously dont have it.:(
stevannie
 
It's not in Photoshop CS (8.0) but in CS2 (9.0)
:)
 
It wasn't present on my install of CS

I'm pretty new on CS2 at the moment, whats the point of bridge :embarasse

I always open my files from the file browser.
 
It's a file browser with added features - batch rename; Batch File Info; batch applications of RAW workflow; workflow help such as tags etc.
Loads of stuff...
And you can customise the appearance of thumbnails and change how they open and into which program.

I've checked my old copy of CS and it's there all right, but as part of Photoshop, not as a stand-alone program.
 
Thanks for the insight there Rob

I'll have a gander at it next time I open an image.
Maybe your CS was more upto date than mine......i don't have it on my main rig which is still on CS, only the laptop is CS2 at the mo.
 
It's one of the drop-down tabs up on the top-right, or it should be.
 
"A picture paints a 1000 posts" ;)

AdobeBridge.jpg
 
definately NOT got that in my copy :( :hissyfit:
stevannie
 
all i have in that position is the ' toggle file browser ' button ?

photoshop CS version 8.0

MyPix
 
I didn't have it in 8, but i have it in 9 :woot:
 
That's it - they re-named it 'bridge' for the later version and seperated the programs.
 
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