After communicating with amazing photographers like David Jay, Jasmine Star and many others, I've just made the FULL switch to RAW...! I'd have to say that the toughest part was just doing the research on why I should make the switch... For some reason, it always seemed as though something was always missing from everyone's points of view when photographers would mention the format. Nothing really stuck out enough that would make me say, "Ya know, I really have to switch to RAW"... until I saved a MAJORLY underexposed photo of the Flatiron building this weekend because I used RAW during my entire trip to Brooklyn, NYC. Now I'm a RAW disciple...! Check out some of the photos on my blog: http://louistorres.blogspot.com

: )

-Louis
http://louistorres.com
http://foreverplatinum.com
http://louistorres.blogspot.com

wow that is very impressive! I have tried to shoot RAW and I am almost ready for the change, but I am still unsure of a few things... I wish there was a way (other than showit effects) to work on a jpg and get it the way you want it and then hit some magic button that applies it to a RAW file... or perhaps to do multiple changes to one RAW file as well as the conversion and then apply it to several RAW files while also converting them into jpgs... I assume Lightroom does something similar to this but I haven't made it that far in researching yet...

awesome photo by the way!

holy crap...that's a really good save, even for RAW.

You can do this in both Lightroom and Bridge/Photoshop. You can "select all" in bridge, and apply the settings to all the RAW images at one time. Then, convert them to jpegs, and go to bed while it is making jpegs out of your raw files. This is a huge time saver. It is the reason I first switched to RAW.

Hey Mike,

Yeah man... I've been shooting JPEG since day one and every once in a while, I'll go ahead and shoot certain things in RAW. After my trip to BKNY its done... I'm sticking with RAW. The difference is memory and I guess having purchased tons of it, I'd have to say that it was just luck that I was sort of prepared for it.

Mike, you HAVE to get Lightroom, my friend...! There's a little learning curve but just stick with it... At first I hated lightroom but always found myself learning one little tiny thing each time... After playing with it long enough I now can't live without it.

For post, I use Kevin Kubota's actions... So once I'm completely done using Lightroom and I've converted the RAW to JPEG, I then run a Kubota Sharpening tool through ALL photos, which IS the magic button and done... That's done in Photoshop so its another process but well worth it...! Then I'll review and see what looks okay and what's out of wack and I play around with the few one-offs.



Mike, if you have questions, shoot me an email man and I'll share more...!

Warmest Regards,

-Lou
LouisTorres@gmail.com

+1,000,000 on Lightroom - you need to get it - it will make your post much easier if you are using RAW. We switched this year and love it!! Load up on memory cards...)

I also use Kubota byt recently add the TRA (Totally Rad Actions) from Boutwell - they are worth it as well. I've cut down on the Kubota actions as I find the TRA are easier to work with and customize. (If you're going to use actions you need to see what they do so you can modify them after they run to create your look, not someone elses...)

Also, the Magic Sharp is amazing. If you don't have it, it's worth it. I also batch all my final images with it, and the difference is incredible.

I am in full agreement. Its the best insurance policy you can use. Im nowhere near perfect and RAW has saved my butt on several occasions.

The only fix I dont have yet is when I shoot for ten minutes and realize I dont have a card in.

I hate when that happens.

Good move. I think raw is the best way to go. So much control, quality and flexibility. The extra production time is definately worth it to me.
Cheers

Hi Kari,
Do you run one type of photoshop action to all your pictures in the Bridge even they have different types of white balance when coverting RAW to JPEG?

I should keep up with my post reading, this one slipped through my fingers for 3 months! Thanks so much for the LR reccomendation, I have actually been using it for about a month now... best thing that ever happened to me... I downloaded the demo, pulled a jpg from a raw and processed both the same way.... it BLEW MY MIND at how different it was... I have always known RAW held LEAPS more info than a jpg, but you never really can know how much until you try it for yourself... I am a believer, and I hope I can catch someone at the Adobe Booth in WPPI and thank them for being on the right team haha. They is good people lol.

Thanks again!

Mike

My D200 allows me to set it so that the shutter won't open if there is not a card. Can you do this? It's saved my butt more than once!

So, I went on a trip to Taos, NM which is such a beautiful place to visit so you should go if you get the chance...! Shot everything in RAW and as usual... Was THRILLED at the outcome! Everyone talks about how amazing RAW is and with that, I've worked with a few other photographers who like me, sat back and just didn't get the whole THING about RAW. If you have questions about RAW or how to incorporate RAW to your already existing workflow, then shoot me an email and I'll share what I do to anyone and everyone... Way back, I was a Wedding Videographer and at the time, NO ONE wanted to help me with anything which was crazy sounding?! I grew up skateboarding in Brooklyn, where if you didn't know what to do or didn't get a trick, you can just ask anyone and whoever you asked would help... regardless of whether you knew them or not... It's the same with photography in New York. I run into more people who are like TOP SECRET Photography Agents who just refuse to share information... as a matter of fact, I run into more people who tell me that the business is terrible, that I shouldn't bother with photography or crazy things like that. Just outright steering you in the WRONG direction... Even going as far as to say, "Well, you're not a professional photographer and you're not going to make money because of it... How funny...! Things like that just do the opposite..! They get me excited, they get me AMPED to prove them wrong and to be their MAIN competitor...! (Call me Louis "Tony Robbins" Torres) When I needed help, no one was there or people just kept little things from me that made sense but again... TOP SECRET AGENT Photographers just weren't too keen on sharing anything... With that, I'm here if you have questions... no brick walls, no secrets and straight forward... So much so that I'm trying to build a website catered to just sharing information.. because I think it's terrible that people are that mean to not help others... What's life if it isn't a little adventure that's always in the making...!

-Louis
http://ForeverPlatinum.com
http://LouisTorres.Blogspot.com

Non-Secret Photography Site:
http://DigitalSlice.com

New York/ 518-605-6565

i'm new to osp and was on another forum and finding i am farther behind the 8-ball than i thought. someone JUST mentioned to me that i should start shooting in RAW, but honestly (this shows how much i don't know) i have NO IDEA what that means. i shoot with a nikon d80 and i just download to photoshop and do minimal editing. please tell me what i'm missing by shooting in jpeg. what makes shooting in RAW so much better? how will this help me? is it more to do with post-production or the actual shooting? any help for this rookie would be great! thanks!

Both.

JPEG allows you to shoot faster. RAW gives you more flexibility in post- color and exposure correction.

Okay, this is what I tell people and it's the way that was explained to me... Actually, I'll give you the TWO ways I was told. (taken from an email I went to another photographer)

In JPEG, you're almost saying,
'I'm so good that I don't have to bother because each photo I take
will be dead on, everytime". Which is cool, if you're dead on....
like Becker. That guy says he ONLY shoots in JPEG and to be honest,
his photos are AMAZING...! I'm not sure WHAT that guy does to make
his photos look like that but for me, there are times that I'll shoot,
the photo looks great but the color was off or it was too dark and
underexposed or even worse... OVER exposed...! ARGH...! Now that I
shoot in RAW, to be honest... I don't even care about things like
that... Well, I STILL have to make sure that my exposures are on but
if they're off then no big deal... I'll just fix it later... With
JPEG, you only have access to 256 colors and that's it.. sounds like a
lot but it's really not. You're only limited to 256 colors total...
With RAW, you have Red, Green and Blue, like a television set.... With
RAW, you have 3,000 colors for each set. 3,000 for RED, 3,000 for
Green and 3,000 for Blue, for a total of having access to 12,000
colors... so, because you have so much MORE color, you can play around
with it that much more... Think of RAW as being an old school negative
that has all the information and now you can do whatever you want with
the photo VERSUS NOT having a negative and only having a 5x7" print to work with... you're limited with one and NOT limited with the megative.
Because the print isn't the original, you've already lost some
information because it has been finalized so you can only do so much
to it.... Check out this entry to my blog where I shot the Flatiron
building in midtown. I went ahead, took the photo but I was taking the
light reading off the sky because the sky looked great...! But, when
you do that, you end up UNDERexposing the surrounding area.... Took
the photo, thought it didnt work and actually, overlooked the fact of
deleting the photo.... Got home, edited the photo but that specific
photo became my project.... it was the TRUE test of RAW. No lie, what
I did to that photo and the fact that I was able to save it is the
reason why I converted to RAW.

To be honest, for YEARS, I ONLY shot in JPEG... then when someone explained RAW, I started to dabble in it and it was then that I made the full switch. The photos with BOTH formats are high quality and are BOTH amazing formats... one: RAW - Will give you a "safety-net", just in case you mess up a photo, whereas JPEG would HAVE to be perfect right out of the camera... I'm a good photographer, I'm not perfect and because I'm such a FREAK, I need to make sure that if I'm off my game, that I'll STILL be okay... and that's why I now shoot RAW. Hope this is a good explanation... Check out http://DigitalSlice.com when you can..!

: )

-Lou
http://ForeverPlatinum.com
ForeverPlatinum Blog
http://LouisTorres.Blogspot.com
New York/ 518-605-6565

Non-Secret Photography Site:
http://DigitalSlice.com

The choice to shoot RAW or JPEG should be about your workflow and not about whether you can save a few images with exposure.

You should be nailing most of your exposures, because not only does this ensure the highest quality image, but also saves time in post. Your workflow is so important that I don't think 5% of your images should dictate your choice.

In my opinion the choice comes down to whether or not you edit the image after a client purchases a print. And how fast you want to shoot at a wedding.

If your buffer is filling up and it is frustrating you, think about shooting jpeg.

If you are editing your entire wedding and delivering that to your client before print sales, you must shoot RAW. It would take way, way too long to try and get your images color corrected to your preference shooting jpeg.

I do shoot RAW and have a pretty solid workflow.

It is not about being perfect. JPEG and RAW both have their benefits and one is not beter than the other.

Let me know what SICK camera has a HYPER BUFFER that you are referring too.

I currently shoot with a Canon 5d. I love that camera, but it is a little slow shooting RAW. Shoot JPEG and it is much faster.

During post I could upload all my images into a gallery and wait for print orders before processing. Either RAW or JPEG - does not matter.

Or (what I currently do) I could edit my photos and upload into a gallery and the print orders are what you see is what you get. In that scenerio you really should be shooting RAW. That workflow would be no fun if you had 500 JPEGS to edit.

What I've learned is that some photographers tend to shoot in JPEG because they're not familiar with RAW. If you have a great workflow, then GREAT... you should share it and contribute to the class. If you're a photographer who shoots in RAW, then great... if you shoot JPEG, GREAT...! For those who are interested in trying out RAW, leave a note here and everyone will be able to chime in.

Regards, -Louis

Fast Buffers = Canon Mark IIn, 1Ds Mark II & Mark III. Checkem' out. Pricey but worth it... When I upgraded my cameras, I ran into a similar issue and learned that it was the cards I used and had to buy faster SD&CF cards. Maybe that'll help if your 5D is a bit slow. My shots come in fast and load without an issue. It's gotta be the cards... if you have fast cards already then I don't know what to tell ya... contact Canon and check to see if there's some upgrade to the buffer in the 5D.

I've had so many photographers email me with questions about RAW and how they've heard so much about it but don't fully understand the whole jist to it. Believe me, I remember when I'd switch to RAW and I would think... "What's everyone talking about, it's the same sh\t as jpeg". Hahahaha...! Which is actually only partially right... Now that I've learned from so many amazing photographers, I've done nothing less than help spread the word on RAW. It really is another animal and again, if you land your exposures 100% of the time and pinpoint your white balance without any issues in jpeg, then you don't need RAW. Listen, if I could be like Becker & JClaire and actually land every exposure/WB without any issue then I'd be racing around yapping about how much I LOVE jpeg. But, because I'm human and because I live in fear of ruining someone's Wedding... That's MY personal reason why I shoot in RAW. Because being able to FIX a photo to me, is much more important than any workflow.. To be honest, I wouldn't care if it took me an extra 10 hours... If I knew I'd be okay, then I'm on it...!

Imagine... you're at a circus, you're going to walk a tight rope for the first time EVER and you're told, "Listen, we can have you walk out on that thing right now and it'll be amazing but just make sure that you don't fall because there's no safety net... if you want a safety net, you'll have to wait another 4 hours for our crew to set it up". WHAT WOULD YOU DO...!? I'd go get down from that thing, walk around, buy a hot pastrami sandwich with russian and wait til the net is up and get ready for my butt to fall, is what I'd personally do. : )

http://ForeverPlatinum.com Workflow:

- Shoot 100% in RAW
- Get home, move all photos from all CF/SD cards one folder
- Backup twice to TWO seperate external drives (250 & 500gb)
- Burn three sets of DVDs for archiving - NOW we can start...!
- Upload all photos to Lightroom - Fix any Exposure/WB/ Set Vignetting, etc... or anything else you want to play with...
- Export all photos to a NEW folder as High Res. JPEGs
- Now, burn another DVD with ONLY the High Rez. JPEGs (because who wants to lose all that data only to start from scratch again)
- Open the Photos that were chosen for the Album in Photoshop
- Pick and choose the Kubota actions I want (Choc. Syrup, etc..)
- We run the Kubota Magic Sharp on each photo once completed
- Burn another DVD of all the FINAL FINAL photos... because again, who wants to go through all THAT and end up having to do it again bc of a system crash.
- FINALLY Done...!

(For me, I hand out a DVD with ALL high resolution jpegs to the client but they're ONLY lightly retouched - If they want the "Louie Magic Touch" then that's another story and an additional fee)

**During the Reception, as everyone sits for their meal, I'm hiding in a corner editing 50+ photos in lightroom, export as a jpeg, save and use these 50 photos set to change every 7 - 8 seconds using lightroom's slideshow feature. Connect my 17" Macbook Pro to my 30" Dell Monitor. Put 100 business cards in front of the monitor and I'm all Done...!

Hope this helps...! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to send me an email. I'll always shoot straight from the hip... I'm from Brooklyn, that's how we are... Most of the time.

: )

-Louis

I'm glad that I was able to share my workflow with everyone and I love all the emails I've received from everyone. Thank you so much and keep sharing with those who are looking to move forward in their business and craft. Warmest Regards,

: )

-Lou

There are some great points here and I am actually on the fence right now. I have always shot jpeg, but I just second shot for another photog. this weekend who wanted me to shoot in raw. I was playing with the images and it is crazy how much more information there is on each shot and how much you can fix the exposure. What I would love is a best of both worlds combo where I only shoot raw when I need to (dark churches, super sunny days, etc.) and jpeg the rest of the time. Is it not a good idea to shoot both jpeg and raw on one card?

There shouldn't be a problem with this, but I don't know why you would want to. I haven't ever shot jpeg for anything paying, and probably never will. The advantage of raw for me is white balancing. I can't fix a jpeg with bad white balance to save my life, but it takes about 5 seconds with raw, and that's if I didn't copy/paste my settings from another photo. I would caution against using raw as a crutch to help you in dark situations... there's nothing that can truly compensate for a proper exposure.

Hey Erica,

You know, I remember when I first started shooting in RAW and figured that it would probably make sense to just switch from RAW to JPEG from time to time but then I realized why I wanted to shoot in RAW and that was so I can have a safety net. Now, keep in mind that shooting in RAW will never save you from a poorly exposed shot, so you still have to land your exposures. To be honest, it also had to do with the amount of memory I had at the time as well... Since switching over to RAW, I've gone out and purchased more memory than I know what to do with. Most of my 2 and 4gb cards I've had for some time, but have since added a few 8gb cards as well. For Events, I only shoot with 8 gig cards and have six 8gb cards + two 4gb cards and like six 2gb cards as backups. To be honest, I shoot with 16gb at any given time (Canon Mark III with two memory slots) so I'm usually good for most of the day with 32gb total. Depending on how I feel and what's going on at the event, I'll shoot more at some Weddings vs. others... just how it is but I'm usually good with the amount of memory that I have. So, just stick to RAW and buy more memory and you'll be all set...! Hope this helps...! : ) -L

it amazes me people still talk about this topic.