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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
10-03-2016, 04:01 AM
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Dear Colleagues,
I would like to the submit a Pano of a typical Lofoten landscape that I discovered while hiking.
Kind regards
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
10-06-2016, 01:32 PM
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View of the Mittens on a Summer morning at monument Valley, Arizona.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-10-2013, 07:16 PM
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Storage is very cheap so do yourself a favor and shoot RAW+ even if you prefer to use JPEGs out of the camera; just archive the RAW images.
Sooner or later you will cross the threshold and you would like to do more with your images the same way I assume you transitioned from point-and-shoot to DSLR, or from low MPixel count to higher. At that time you'll regret that you did not save those old images in a format that allows manipulations and improvements not possible with JPEGs.
Think of it as an insurance policy. All it takes is to copy more data to your drive for archiving.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-10-2013, 03:04 PM
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Well, this is probably one of the best RAW vs Jpeg discussions I've seen. A reasonable balance of considered opinions from both sides -- that's unusual.
Here's my take. . .
I assume that the question as posed is from someone relatively new to digital photography or at least at this level of sophistication, but excuse me if I'm wrong.
If the former is the case, my suggestion would be to shoot jpegs for the great majority of your shots, and thoroughly learn your camera and the features that effect exposure and image qualities that can be tweaked in the camera's processing. In the process, you'll blow some shots. For me, at least, these are not totally disastrous, as i learn from these mistakes (still learning -- and making mistakes -- after 7 years with a DSLR:hmm:), and it's effective learning because of the immediacy that digital allows us. The limitations of jpegs vs RAW are not that huge, so a great great majority of your shots will be fine.
For shots that demand more than Jpeg can deliver, shooting jpeg is about the best way to learn to recognize these conditions before you take the shot -- In my mind, this is part of the digital experience and learning process. When, and if, you get to the point where you're discerning enough to notice and care about the fine details of the capture as illustrated by Norm's post, then you might decide to shoot RAW to get this level of control over all the aspects of all of your images. I think that it would be fair to say that only a very small minority of amateur photographers get to that point.
It's been implied that jpeg shooters either don't care, or are "casual" photographers, which may be true for some, but not all by any means. In the same spirit of over-generalization, I'd think that it would be just as fair to say that a significant percentage of RAW photographers shoot RAW to allow themselves "fudge factors" against mistakes in technique or effective utilization of the features built into the camera. I don't think that condescending attitudes from either side is very productive. There are legitimate reasons to use either format, and while one might trump the other for a given situation, there are other situations where the reverse is true.
Personally I choose to shoot jpegs for speed as I primarily shoot birds, and a number of factors make the format more suitable for what I do. I take pride in what I shoot, and PP the shots I choose for final output, probably to a similar extent as most RAW shooters. I probably change settings more often and have to do this more quickly and intuitively than most photographers since my subjects are neither cooperative nor considerate of where they choose to land from a photographic standpoint, so I sometimes need to go from strongly backlit to direct sunlit, to deep in shadow on a shot to shot basis within seconds. I also take some pride in my ability to handle my gear effectively, and spend an incredible amount of time practicing technique -- there's a great amount of satisfaction when everything comes together in some very good images -- this is far from "casual" for me though I'll always be "just" an amateur.
Even with my cameras set up to shoot jpegs primarily, our newer Pentax DSLRs give us three options to override this easily, the RAW button, the "Save as RAW" option with the AEL button upon review, and the Info Screen, so it's quick and easy to switch between the two formats as is necessary. There's really no need to shoot one or the other exclusively. I say shoot both, but with a realistic understanding of why you're making the choice.
Scott
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