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David Cook · 03-22-2018, 02:27 AM

In the near future I will be attending my sons wedding. I am not the official photographer, they have hired a professional for that duty!!, but I will be taking informal shots of the day. These photos will probably spend the rest of their lives sat on my computer and viewed very occasionally if my other sons wedding photos are anything to go by. Less than 1% will be printed. So I have recently been converted to Raw and have Lightroom 6 for cataloguing and development but given the above would you shoot the wedding in JPEG or Raw?

**seventhdr** · 03-22-2018, 02:45 AM

RAW. No questions about that.

If the light is changing or challenging, or you want to ensure that you get every last bit of quality from an image then RAW is the way to go.

If you are only shooting for snapshots then JPEG is your answer.

JPEG might make sense if you were shooting action under constant lighting conditions and you needed the maximum FPS from a camera that RAW with its larger file size and increased processing could not provide.

Regards

Chris

BullsOnParade81 · 03-22-2018, 02:51 AM

Why not RAW+JPEG that way you have the option of processing the RAWS if needed.

**BigMackCam** · 03-22-2018, 03:13 AM

Originally posted by David Cook

In the near future I will be attending my sons wedding...
...So I have recently been converted to Raw and have Lightroom 6 for cataloguing and development but given the above would you shoot the wedding in JPEG or Raw?

Firstly, congratulations on your son's forthcoming wedding

Personally, I would (and always do) shoot RAW... but in your situation, having just recently switched, maybe RAW+ would be the best choice. I certainly wouldn't advise JPEG only, as you have much less latitude to deal with any exposure and dynamic range issues. Crushed shadows and blown highlights are gone for good with JPEG.

David Cook · 03-22-2018, 04:00 AM

Thanks for the rapid responses. I had completely forgotten about Raw+. I think I will shoot Raw as Lightroom automatically converts the images to DNG if you choose that option. The original question was brought about because I can’t imagine that I would be doing any post processing but you never know!

joergens.mi · 03-22-2018, 04:09 AM

Typically I would use raw or raw + jpg. For the challenging pictures (dark rooms, high ISO, different light sources,... ) you can develop them from raw. For normal pictures use jpg and make small corrections with the jpg-illuminator.

Personally I'm working PEF raw only

**rod_grant** · 03-22-2018, 04:30 AM

RAW!!! remember if it is a traditional wedding, one party will be wearing white with texture and fine detail, and the other party will be wearing something closer to black, processing from raw is your friend.
(or RAW+ is another option as suggested above)

bm75 · 03-22-2018, 04:51 AM

Raw only or at least raw+jpeg if file storage is not a problem. Raw helps you to fine tune the WB after shot while jpeg only is a big limitation. Obviously in the post processing with raw you can create a preset development in LR for shoots in the same conditions just to have a consistent starting point for finest development of the single pictures.

alpheios · 03-22-2018, 05:29 AM - **2 Likes**

Personally I would just enjoy my sons wedding and let the professional do his job. But if you do want to take your own pictures go for RAW.

Sandy Hancock · 03-22-2018, 05:36 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by alpheios

Personally I would just enjoy my sons wedding and let the professional do his job. But if you do want to take your own pictures go for RAW.

^THIS

My older daughter is getting married in nine days. I have no photographic plans apart from maybe some very early preparation shots before the Pro turns up.

Be in the moment. Support your boy. Shoot RAW

**UncleVanya** · 03-22-2018, 06:12 AM

RAW+ so you can more easily share some jpgs quickly if you want. I shoot with jpgs set to small and process raw later. This let's me share quickly to social media if needed, but doesn't take a lot of extra space.

normhead · 03-22-2018, 06:51 AM - **1 Like**

I'm shooting a wedding this weekend, I had allowed myself to forget, but now you guys are making me nervous. It's my first one in 25 years. I'm driving to London Ontario, staying two nights in a motel. It's a freebie for Tess' niece, so I thought it would be low key when I agreed to do it. Then the fun started.

\They've hired a limo, I'll be driving to different locations for wedding prep pictures, I'm supposed to get out first and get images of people getting in and out of the limo. I'm supposed to get pictures fo the bride and groom preparing for the wedding. They are picking me up at 11 o'clock and it will be after 5 when I'm done. At my age, I'm not even sure I can stay awake that long.

The moral of the story is "never volunteer". In all fairness the bride's family did offer to pay me. I'm looking at it as part of the wedding gift.

But because Tess and I got together late in life, I don't know that side of the family. So, it's not like there will be people I want to visit with. This is her brother's family. I've met them twice. So it will be pretty much just another day at the office. Exceept for the part where I haven't been to the office for 25 years, I hauled out my old flash kit, it's completely dead, I mean won't power on even with new batteries, so it will be amateur day in the flash department. And Tess gave me the stern look and said "no new gear:. Apart from those things, it's no biggie.

Roadboat24 · 03-22-2018, 07:11 AM

As others have said, Absolutely, RAW or RAW+.......From experience, you *WANT* that RAW file. It gives you LOTS of wiggle room, changing light (indoor to outdoor) light color, color balance, etc. There are a whole stream of reasons for have that RAW file. Later, you can convert them all to JPG and delete the RAW files if you want.

Atindra · 03-22-2018, 07:18 AM

Congratulations to you and your family. This is kinda once in a lifetime type occasion, then why take chances. Shoot in RAW+jpeg, you can always delete later.

Atindra

**jatrax** · 03-22-2018, 07:55 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by David Cook

I think I will shoot Raw as Lightroom automatically converts the images to DNG if you choose that option.

1) There is no need to convert to DNG on import, if you use Adobe products you should (IMHO) be using the Pentax DNG as your RAW format. It is a setting in the camera with options for PEF and DNG. Way back when PEF was somewhat smaller so there was an advantage that way, but currently there is no significant difference and import to Lightroom flows faster if the files are already in DNG.
2) RAW or RAW+ is the way to go regardless of whether you do any post processing.
3) You should set up a Lightroom "import preset" to automatically develop your RAW files on import. That covers maybe 75% of the work on the bulk of my images. I only do extra post processing on exceptionally good images or images that were taken under poor conditions but I need anyway.

03-22-2018, 02:27 AM	#1
David Cook New Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Derby, England Posts: 22	What would you do? Raw or JPEG In the near future I will be attending my sons wedding. I am not the official photographer, they have hired a professional for that duty!!, but I will be taking informal shots of the day. These photos will probably spend the rest of their lives sat on my computer and viewed very occasionally if my other sons wedding photos are anything to go by. Less than 1% will be printed. So I have recently been converted to Raw and have Lightroom 6 for cataloguing and development but given the above would you shoot the wedding in JPEG or Raw?

03-22-2018, 06:51 AM - 1 Like	#12
normhead Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 40,451	I'm shooting a wedding this weekend, I had allowed myself to forget, but now you guys are making me nervous. It's my first one in 25 years. I'm driving to London Ontario, staying two nights in a motel. It's a freebie for Tess' niece, so I thought it would be low key when I agreed to do it. Then the fun started. \They've hired a limo, I'll be driving to different locations for wedding prep pictures, I'm supposed to get out first and get images of people getting in and out of the limo. I'm supposed to get pictures fo the bride and groom preparing for the wedding. They are picking me up at 11 o'clock and it will be after 5 when I'm done. At my age, I'm not even sure I can stay awake that long. The moral of the story is "never volunteer". In all fairness the bride's family did offer to pay me. I'm looking at it as part of the wedding gift. But because Tess and I got together late in life, I don't know that side of the family. So, it's not like there will be people I want to visit with. This is her brother's family. I've met them twice. So it will be pretty much just another day at the office. Exceept for the part where I haven't been to the office for 25 years, I hauled out my old flash kit, it's completely dead, I mean won't power on even with new batteries, so it will be amateur day in the flash department. And Tess gave me the stern look and said "no new gear:. Apart from those things, it's no biggie. Last edited by normhead; 03-22-2018 at 06:57 AM.

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03-22-2018, 02:45 AM	#2
seventhdr Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,453	RAW. No questions about that. If the light is changing or challenging, or you want to ensure that you get every last bit of quality from an image then RAW is the way to go. If you are only shooting for snapshots then JPEG is your answer. JPEG might make sense if you were shooting action under constant lighting conditions and you needed the maximum FPS from a camera that RAW with its larger file size and increased processing could not provide. Regards Chris

03-22-2018, 02:51 AM	#3
BullsOnParade81 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Tampa Florida Posts: 287	Why not RAW+JPEG that way you have the option of processing the RAWS if needed.

03-22-2018, 03:13 AM	#4
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,701	Originally posted by David Cook In the near future I will be attending my sons wedding... ...So I have recently been converted to Raw and have Lightroom 6 for cataloguing and development but given the above would you shoot the wedding in JPEG or Raw? Firstly, congratulations on your son's forthcoming wedding Personally, I would (and always do) shoot RAW... but in your situation, having just recently switched, maybe RAW+ would be the best choice. I certainly wouldn't advise JPEG only, as you have much less latitude to deal with any exposure and dynamic range issues. Crushed shadows and blown highlights are gone for good with JPEG.

03-22-2018, 04:00 AM	#5
David Cook New Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Derby, England Posts: 22 Original Poster	Thanks for the rapid responses. I had completely forgotten about Raw+. I think I will shoot Raw as Lightroom automatically converts the images to DNG if you choose that option. The original question was brought about because I can’t imagine that I would be doing any post processing but you never know!

03-22-2018, 04:09 AM	#6
joergens.mi Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 408	Typically I would use raw or raw + jpg. For the challenging pictures (dark rooms, high ISO, different light sources,... ) you can develop them from raw. For normal pictures use jpg and make small corrections with the jpg-illuminator. Personally I'm working PEF raw only

03-22-2018, 04:30 AM	#7
rod_grant Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Wangaratta, Victoria Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,951	RAW!!! remember if it is a traditional wedding, one party will be wearing white with texture and fine detail, and the other party will be wearing something closer to black, processing from raw is your friend. (or RAW+ is another option as suggested above)

03-22-2018, 04:51 AM	#8
bm75 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Italia Photos: Albums Posts: 354	Raw only or at least raw+jpeg if file storage is not a problem. Raw helps you to fine tune the WB after shot while jpeg only is a big limitation. Obviously in the post processing with raw you can create a preset development in LR for shoots in the same conditions just to have a consistent starting point for finest development of the single pictures.

03-22-2018, 05:29 AM - 2 Likes	#9
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410	Personally I would just enjoy my sons wedding and let the professional do his job. But if you do want to take your own pictures go for RAW.

03-22-2018, 05:36 AM - 1 Like	#10
Sandy Hancock Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,275	Originally posted by alpheios Personally I would just enjoy my sons wedding and let the professional do his job. But if you do want to take your own pictures go for RAW. ^THIS My older daughter is getting married in nine days. I have no photographic plans apart from maybe some very early preparation shots before the Pro turns up. Be in the moment. Support your boy. Shoot RAW

03-22-2018, 06:12 AM	#11
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,460	RAW+ so you can more easily share some jpgs quickly if you want. I shoot with jpgs set to small and process raw later. This let's me share quickly to social media if needed, but doesn't take a lot of extra space.

03-22-2018, 07:11 AM	#13
Roadboat24 Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 490	As others have said, Absolutely, RAW or RAW+.......From experience, you WANT that RAW file. It gives you LOTS of wiggle room, changing light (indoor to outdoor) light color, color balance, etc. There are a whole stream of reasons for have that RAW file. Later, you can convert them all to JPG and delete the RAW files if you want.

03-22-2018, 07:18 AM	#14
Atindra Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bhavnagar (Gujarat),India Photos: Gallery Posts: 375	Congratulations to you and your family. This is kinda once in a lifetime type occasion, then why take chances. Shoot in RAW+jpeg, you can always delete later. Atindra

03-22-2018, 07:55 AM - 1 Like	#15
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by David Cook I think I will shoot Raw as Lightroom automatically converts the images to DNG if you choose that option. 1) There is no need to convert to DNG on import, if you use Adobe products you should (IMHO) be using the Pentax DNG as your RAW format. It is a setting in the camera with options for PEF and DNG. Way back when PEF was somewhat smaller so there was an advantage that way, but currently there is no significant difference and import to Lightroom flows faster if the files are already in DNG. 2) RAW or RAW+ is the way to go regardless of whether you do any post processing. 3) You should set up a Lightroom "import preset" to automatically develop your RAW files on import. That covers maybe 75% of the work on the bulk of my images. I only do extra post processing on exceptionally good images or images that were taken under poor conditions but I need anyway.

What would you do? Raw or JPEG

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