This question keep coming to me from people who are trying to take photography one step further and people start shooting RAW just because its what pro-photographers do. In this post I am trying to explain what I like in RAW format.

RAW is the most primitive(lets say) format of an image, it’s what a sensor of camera captures. This raw image contains lots of details than you imagine, hence it makes it easier for processing the images the way you want for eg you can increase or decrease exposure to a fair amount without any data loss.

One of the things I like about RAW is “White Balance ” adjustment, you can modify RAW image later in post processing without destructing the image. Where as in jpeg, the modification will/may damage(data loss) the image because its already compressed format. Shooting in RAW, saves time and trouble of setting the White balance every time a scene changes, so I always shoot with Auto white balance and make any necessary change later, because if you are shooting in RAW, it doesn’t matter what white balance settings you have on camera.

Also in jpeg , the sharpness is already applied and with RAW you can adjust it as per your taste. Same goes of saturation, in brief any edits of the image attributes becomes difficult with jpeg without data loss.

However, the downside is that RAW images are big(and heavy), you would need to convert the pictures every time you want to share/upload and it takes time. Also RAW images the number of images you can shoot in a given memory card, so you will have to carry extra memory card for shoots. Its fine by me to make these compromises for better control over my pictures.

Raw+Jpeg mode in camera, I never shoot this, I find it its waste of space as I will have to export my RAW files anyways after processing.

For example, with Wedding Photography, its great to shoot RAW for weddings and have all the data you need an then later on if needed you can use them for whatever processing needs , colors,vibrance,sharepenss can be done much better with RAW.

Contemporaty Wedding Photography India.

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