Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,296 posts)
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 12:28 AM Jan 2016

I'm giving serious thought to learning how to use RAW files.

I've seen the quality of those photos and I want mine to look that good.

But I have doubts. I'm a slow learner and I've never mastered the manual part of my camera, the Nikon D3200. I mostly use the auto/no flash setting on the little dial. And I have gotten some really good photos with that.

But I want more.

Are there any books that any of you would recommend? Or any sources of information on how to shoot in RAW?

Any help you feel like passing along would be great!

Thanks in advance.

24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I'm giving serious thought to learning how to use RAW files. (Original Post) CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 OP
Put the setting on RAW and continue as you have been NV Whino Jan 2016 #1
That doesn't sound too difficult! CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #2
I found it very difficult to switch to RAW. Binkie The Clown Jan 2016 #3
LOL, my dear Binkie! Can I quote you??? CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #4
Of course you may. I declare myself to be public domain in all that I say. n/t Binkie The Clown Jan 2016 #5
What RAW does is give you more flexibility. You can do more with the image. alfredo Jan 2016 #6
I have a simple program for uploading and doing some photoshopping. CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #7
Just dive in and start playing. Once you are totally confused, read the manual. ;) alfredo Jan 2016 #8
I'm already confused! lol.......I found the manual and am looking it over. ;) CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #9
Elements is pretty good. Are you on OSX? alfredo Jan 2016 #10
What is OSX? CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #11
If you have a Mac, you have it. Elements will do the job well. alfredo Jan 2016 #12
I also find Photoshop to be confusing. Curmudgeoness Jan 2016 #13
That's a good thought. Thanks, Curmudgeoness! CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #14
Photoshop gives me fits. Adsos Letter Jan 2016 #15
I say stick with what is working. Curmudgeoness Jan 2016 #16
It's not hard. Mz Pip Jan 2016 #17
I appreciate your input! CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #18
Lots of good talk about raw files and their processing. ManiacJoe Jan 2016 #19
Does my heart good to hear about people who have a harder time learning stuff than me.... groundloop Jan 2016 #20
I've been doing some RAW lately, Blue_In_AK Jan 2016 #21
You are one of the most creative people I know! CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #22
I tried shooting in the raw once... Adsos Letter Jan 2016 #23
LOL! CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2016 #24

NV Whino

(20,886 posts)
1. Put the setting on RAW and continue as you have been
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 12:33 AM
Jan 2016

The secret to RAW is in the processing. You will need to learn a processing program such as PhotoShop, Gimp, On1, or a variety of others.

Oh, and get a larger memory card. RAW files are considerably larger.

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,296 posts)
2. That doesn't sound too difficult!
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 12:37 AM
Jan 2016

One of the things I read said the same thing about the file size being quite a lot larger.

Thanks!

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
3. I found it very difficult to switch to RAW.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 12:40 AM
Jan 2016

I had to change 1 setting on my camera, and open the files as RAW in Lightroom.

Oh wait. That wasn't hard at all!

There's nothing you need to know that would require a book. It's a piece of park. er... It's a walk in the cake. Er... don't worry, it's easy.

alfredo

(60,065 posts)
6. What RAW does is give you more flexibility. You can do more with the image.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 12:57 AM
Jan 2016

Just dive in and mess around with the Raw images, get to know what is possible. Be sure to convert them to JPG once you get the image you want otherwise you will have a huge file.

What software you use?

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,296 posts)
7. I have a simple program for uploading and doing some photoshopping.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 01:08 AM
Jan 2016

I don't think it has a name. I also have (but haven't used in forever) the basic Adobe Photoshop Starter Edition 3.2.

And I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, which I found very confusing and complex to use.

You can see I have a lot to learn!

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
13. I also find Photoshop to be confusing.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 08:27 PM
Jan 2016

I have joined a photography club here, and they have a monthly "Technical" meeting where they go into detail about how to do things in Photoshop. They also will answer questions if you need to do something in particular. You might see if there is a group near you.

Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)
15. Photoshop gives me fits.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 10:39 PM
Jan 2016

I understand that it is a very powerful processing program, but far from intuitive. I would really like to learn it, but Lightroom has me spoiled because it's easier, if not as powerful.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
16. I say stick with what is working.
Sun Jan 24, 2016, 11:09 PM
Jan 2016

And Lightroom works well for you. Photoshop is impressive from what I have seen, and that isn't much. I use Picasa, which is very limited but so easy. I will say that when I try to take a photo that I have worked on in Picasa, then do what I have learned to do in Photoshop, there are few changes. That tells me to just stick to what I know.

But I did learn how to take several photos, put them on one piece (we made a menu cover), tint them, and fit everything in. It was quite nice to be able to do all that, but I would not usually need to do things like that.

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)
19. Lots of good talk about raw files and their processing.
Tue Jan 26, 2016, 12:47 AM
Jan 2016

To get better shots, what you need to do is get out of "auto" mode.
At the very least, shoot in "programmed" mode. It is give you the same exposure metering as "auto" while allowing you to select equivalent exposure settings to better express the art you desire.
Choose a different shutter speed to blur or freeze your subjects.
Choose a different aperture to get less or more parts in focus.

groundloop

(11,486 posts)
20. Does my heart good to hear about people who have a harder time learning stuff than me....
Tue Jan 26, 2016, 12:55 PM
Jan 2016

I finally became pretty decent at Lightroom and Photoshop, but I admit that it was a little bit painful to get there.

Lightroom can be used as a standalone Raw converter, and in fact has some pretty powerful editing tools. One that I use quite a bit is the adjustment brush - it lets you choose a specific area of a photo (someone's face for instance) and make adjustments to just that area. Lightroom is also great for noise reduction, I can easily go to ISO 6400 with my T4i and get fantastic results out of Lightroom. And of course you have the ability to adjust exposure, contrast, saturation, color temperature, etc. etc. within Lightroom. You're probably NOT going to learn Lightroom just by playing around with it (just to open a file you have to import it into the Lightroom catalog, for instance) - but don't let that discourage you. There are plenty of great videos online that walk you through using Lightroom one step at a time. Just take your time watching the videos, take notes for reference, and you should be good to go.

Photoshop is a 'pixel editor'. You don't 'need' it to edit your photos, but it certainly is a powerful tool. Some of the more mundane stuff you do with Photoshop is sharpening (which make a HUGE difference in how photos look), and of course you can do all manner of manipulation (your only limited by your imagination). I've tended to learn photoshop a step at a time, whenever there was something I wanted to do I searched for a tutorial on it and made notes so that I wouldn't forget what I learned.

Gimp is a free alternative to Photoshop, I used to use it. It has many of the same tools, but it's not as easy as Photoshop when you need to carefully select parts of your photo (a person for instance). Also, Gimp doesn't have adjustment layers (an adjustment layer lets you manipulate things like exposure, contrast, hue, etc. etc. without making permanent changes to the image).

I 'rent' Lightroom and Photoshop from Adobe on their $10 per month plan, I've been very happy with it. That plan isn't for everyone but the way I look at it is that photography is one of my main hobbies and $10 per month costs far far less than just about any other past time.

Blue_In_AK

(46,436 posts)
21. I've been doing some RAW lately,
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 05:34 AM
Jan 2016

but a lot of times I end up liking my original photo better than anything that I do in the RAW program. Sometimes it's just easier to take the jpg and make whatever minor adjustments in contrast or whatever in PaintShop.

I guess I'm just not that creative.

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,296 posts)
22. You are one of the most creative people I know!
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 01:45 PM
Jan 2016

You take great pictures.

I appreciate your input very much!

Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)
23. I tried shooting in the raw once...
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 06:02 PM
Jan 2016

...my wife made me come back inside because the neighbors were threatening to call the cops.


Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Photography»I'm giving serious though...