I've decided to learn how to shoot in raw.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

I would really appreciate any suggestions you smart folks could give me on which software I could use to get the best results.

Or are there any good books on the subject?

For those of you who shoot in raw, where did you start?

TIA!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

1. I can't comment on software

except what I have which is called Photoscape. But my camera is set on Raw and Jpeg and I edit the Raw only when I see real potential in the photo. Otherwise, mastering the settings and a little luck makes most of my jpegs useable.

[bluedigger]

2. With lots of sunscreen?

[Skittles]

4. I saw "in the raw" too

oh my, Pegster!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Otherwise, I'd turn into a giant blister!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Hubby says it's a good idea so you have more control over

everything. What kind of camera and computer are you using?

He does canons and they have free software. For some bucks, you could get an easy-ish program called, "Adobe light room." Also, consider Corel Aftershot pro as it is cheaper. He uses that nowadays.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. That's what I was thinking!

My computer is a Dell desktop and my camera is a Nikon D3200.

Thanks for the tips!

[elleng]

5. I have no idea what that means, Peg!!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Raw vs jpegs, my dear elleng!

The raw files have a LOT more info on them. The photos are generally better than jpegs.

[CurtEastPoint]

11. Working with RAW is akin to working from film negatives: all the goodies are there and you

can fix and manipulate like crazy!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Very cool! Sounds like fun.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

6. I've always used Photoshop.

Used it when I used to shoot film and scan the negatives. Still use it today.

[CurtEastPoint]

9. I have been shooting JPEG/RAW since 08

I moved from using Photoshop Elements to full blown Photoshop a couple of years ago. Then I bought the Topaz Filter suite to really have some fun. It runs under PS, not sure if it runs under Elements, too.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Sounds promising!

Thanks for the info; I will check them out.

[mopinko]

12. why?

do you do a lot of editing of your pics?
that's really the only reason i know of to work in raw. imho, it is a lot of space on a hard drive for most people.
photoshop results vary little for most purposes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I do a fair amount of editing, though it depends on the photo.

I really want the higher quality that comes with raw files.

I have a huge memory card in the camera and lots of space on my hard drive too, so those aren't a problem.

[Girard442]

16. One thing I tend to do on my Canon is to shoot raw and immediately convert to jpegs.

The snapshot quality pix are ready for no-muss no-fuss sharing and if something would benefit from additional massaging, I have the .raw files.

Also, try try real hard not to overexpose any part of the pic since it plays hell with color correction and chromatic aberration fixes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. I'll keep that in mind, and thank you!

[liberal N proud]

18. Now I have to live with that image running around my head

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. No, you don't! And you know that's not what I meant, either!!

[liberal N proud]

20. I knew what you meant, just having a little fun

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. I know you were! It's all good. I should have included a smiley..........so here you go!

[ManiacJoe]

22. If there is any difference between shooting JPG vs raw files,

it is because the photographer lets the camera process the JPG instead of doing the editing himself.

If you are already doing edits to your JPG files, you are already ready for shooting raw files. The only difference here is that the raw files are bigger on disk and they give you much more editing room for changes (8-bit colors vs 12-14 bit colors).

Software:
Adobe's Photographer bundle of Lightroom and Photoshop for $120 per year subscription is a difficult package to beat.

Corel has a similar software based on PaintShop Pro. It uses the same plug-ins as Photoshop. It is still available for purchase instead of subscription.

I like the Adobe software for its organization and whole-picture editing in Lightroom with the ability to go complicated pixel editing in Photoshop as needed.

I have been a fan of Corel's PaintShop Pro since before Corel bought it.

Since you are shooting a Nikon camera, you might like a free membership over at
https://www.Nikonians.org

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. Thank you for this info, ManiacJoe!

I will check into it. I am doing considerable editing now, with my knock-off photoshop program. It came with my computer. But it is limited and I want to do more.

Your concrete recommendations are much appreciated!

[womanofthehills]

23. I have Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 - there is a monthly fee of around $10, but you get all updates

With that comes Bridge CC. Open your raw photo in Bridge or Camera Raw in Photoshop. It's amazing what you can do to your photos. Just play around with all the sliders. The clarity slider is amazing for making your photo sing. There is a band on the upper right and clicking on each symbol will take you to the next selection. 1. has 24 basic sliders, 2 has tone curve, 3 sharpening and noise reduction, 4. color adjustments. I use these four. Then press ok or done and your photo will open in Photoshop.

Next, in Photoshop, I blow up my photo to 100% to spot, then go to Curves and Levels (under Adjustments) to make adjustments, and finally go to Mode to bring my photo down from 16 bits to 8 bits. I first save in tiff and then make a duplicate if I want a jpeg.

Some really easy books to learn with are the Scott Kelby books.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

25. Your photoshop program sounds very interesting and useful!

Thank you for all these concrete suggestions and tips.

[Pobeka]

26. RAW files are better than JPG on my Sony rx100ii and a6300 for a few reasons

#1 -- Images that have blown out highlights in JPGs frequently don't have blown out highlights in the corresponding RAW file
#2 -- same idea with shadows.
#3 -- Once the color balance is set in a JPG, it's more difficult to rebalance it than if you start with the RAW. The precision of the raw files (14 bits vs 8 bits) is a key reason.
#4 -- if you are doing "heavy" processing, particularly in highlights, JPEGS will start to show banding, where the RAW images won't.

Those are the primary things I've noticed for my photos.

I am a linux user, and have used Darktable for processing my RAW files. RAW is the only thing I shoot now. I think Darktable is available for Windows now too. It's free.

Photoshop will serve you well too, though I've never used it.

I suspect the biggest learning curve you'll have to deal with is how to make your camera output the RAW file. The software just automagically imports it, and will still output a JPG after your processing.

HTH

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. Thank you so much for this info!

I am sure your tips will prove helpful.

I haven't actually taken the steps I need to take and your post just reminded me that I need and want to do this.