Nehlsen Notebook

The Power of RAW

By Nehlsen Staff  4.2.10

As I look through photo albums from Flickr or Facebook I am amazed at how smart our cameras have become. For less than $200 you can get a camera that figures out all of the settings in a matter of seconds. In the past, that would have taken a professional using a film camera hours to set up with professional lighting, and at least a dozen trial photos to get the same results.

 

But, with all of this automated brain power, there are some things the camera just isn’t smart enough to do. That is where the power of RAW files really comes into play. With very little effort on the computer you can give your photos a professional quality finish. 

 

RAW files are the unfiltered data from the camera’s sensor, before it is turned into a .JPEG file. A RAW file lets you go into the information the camera gathered and adjust it to your desire.

 

In my experience, the most useful aspect of shooting in RAW is adjusting white balance.  Because different light sources project different tints of white, the photos will come out yellow if you are under incandescent light bulbs or green/blue under fluorescent. Correcting these images as JPEG files can take some time in Photoshop, but with RAW files cleaning up the color of white is as easy as one click.

 

Here are some examples of before and after editing the RAW file.

 

Original Image­
Downtown Davenport IA Original RAW Image

After editing the RAW file.
Downtown Davenport IA Processed RAW Image

 

Original File After editing the RAW file.
Moline Center Original RAW Image Moline Center Processed RAW Image

 

Note: These photos were not touched in Photoshop, I just adjusted what the camera received.

 

There are hundreds of options within the RAW file to tweak your file to get it just perfect, but the one down side to RAW files is their size. When I use default settings on my camera I can hold 684 images on the memory card, but I can only hold 230 when using RAW format. Compare the average file size in this graph. Average File Size for RAW Image

What is your experience with RAW files?

Eric T
Posts: 5
Comment
Re: The Power of RAW
Reply #2 on : Mon April 05, 2010, 08:05:09
You can not edit the files on your camera, that has to be done on the computer with a program that reads RAW files like Photoshop or Aperture.

Not all point and shoot cameras will let you shoot in RAW, but any SLR camera should have the option buried in a menu somewhere.

The top photo was taken in Leclaire Park in Davenport, and the second was taken in Downtown Moline.
ostertoaster
Posts: 5
Comment
Re: The Power of RAW
Reply #1 on : Fri April 02, 2010, 12:32:17
Not only are these some awesome pictures, but thanks for the tip. Do I make these changes to RAW files right on my camera? Do I need a special type of camera?

Also, where exactly did you take these pics?

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