There’s gold in them thar RAW files
Posted on February 22nd, 2007 in Photographica |
I’ve spent the last several years preaching the benefits of shooting in RAW rather than JPEG, but every so often I run into a skeptic who just can’t understand why I’d want to burn through CF card storage space so quickly by recording images using the larger file format. Oh ye of little faith…
I originally made the picture I’m using in my example back in May of 2006 under challenging lighting conditions that exceeded the dynamic range of my camera’s sensor. While the original exposure looks to be rather a mess, the image is still salvageable thanks to my having the foresight to record it in RAW format (RAW files contain many times more information than JPEG, information that can be used to restore detail to an image in post-processing).
The following image (the original is RAW 0 Ev) was opened in Adobe Camera RAW at six different exposure values. I exported the images as 16-bit TIFF files and wound up with the following:
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| RAW -2 Ev | RAW -1 Ev | RAW 0 Ev |
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| RAW +1 Ev | RAW +2 Ev | RAW +3 Ev |
Next, I fed the six images into Photomatix — an application that will blend multiple images with differing exposures into a single high dynamic range (HDR) image. Once Photomatix generated the HDR composite I applied tone mapping to it so that the 32 bits of information from the new file could be squeezed into a 16-bit depth for display on conventional monitors. The result was this evenly exposed, but rather flat looking composite image:
Further tweaking in Photoshop was required to bring back the character in the sky that is missing in the blended image, but that was present in real life and caused me to pull over to the side of the road and grab my camera in the first place. The reddish/purple bloom around the sun also needed to be removed. Here’s the final image:
There’s a ton of data buried in RAW files if you have the patience to tweak it out. Could I have performed this miracle with a single badly exposed JPEG image? Not a chance in hell. I would have simply deleted the image off my hard drive as it would have been unsalvageable.
Do I consider JPEG a valid format for recording and storing images? No. Would I purchase a camera that doesn’t offer the ability to shoot in RAW format? No. The only place for JPEG in my workflow is at the very end when I post an image to my site, or when I need to upload images to my lab to have prints made.
Shooting JPEG is for chumps.
14 Responses
Answer to a question I didn’t know I needed to ask. Thanks Sean
Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
Why do you wear that stupid man suit?
Have you ever seen a portal?
Well said.
Shoot in RAW, but never shoot in the raw.
A vast and coudy wasteland… invaded by the presence of man. Dead trees soaked in creosote… some devide the lands… some draped with plenum aluminum rope suspended by ceramic insolators… bringing light to those banished by society, and there’s not a polypropolene covered copper or multimode fiber strand to be found… The ruralality of it all. [sigh!]
Well there’s another 30 seconds of my life I’ll never get back…
Think Raw!
My friend Andrew (boundbygravity) directed me to your site. I’m from Edmonton, with a fair exposure and love for farms and wide open spaces - the kind we just don’t have here in Ottawa.
Thanks for the beautiful pictures. A lovely taste of home, just enough to make me crave more.
“Thanks for the beautiful pictures. A lovely taste of home, just enough to make me crave more.
Check’s in the mail…
Actually, you probably gain little or nothing with this approach, since Photomatix will deal with a RAW file much as it does an HDR. However, this technique does work extremely well with layering and masking in Photoshop, and I use it all the time.
This approach was used throughout, to deal with the extreme lighting conditions.
http://www.larry-bolch.com/las-vegas/
Sean I was wondering whats the most efficient and safe way of storing raw files, I just started shooting with a 30D and use raw files. I make three folders raw, masters, and prints. Now I’m wondering if I should buy a new external hard drive or just burn them to CD?
I burn onto DVD (3 copies in separate locations). I check the DVDs within two years to make sure they’re still good. If one of them has gone bad, I recreate the set from one of the good remaining DVDs.
Final images (my keepers) go onto both DVD and an external HD.
I burn my favorite images in my brain cells. No limit on storage space. Unrivaled retreival times and indefinate storage timeframes.
Free, too!
;-)
I burn my favorite images in my brain cells. No limit on storage space.
…as long as they’re no more than 2 bit images.
“I would have simply deleted the image off my hard drive as it would have been unsalvageable.”
Yes, but think of the time you’d save. :)
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