Monday, September 11, 2017

Bite Size Tips: The Truth About Shooting In Raw

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Pin to Pinterest

You have probably heard the general advice in photography that you should almost always shoot in raw format. Why? Simple – raw files hold a lot more information than jpegs so you can do more with them in post-production.

The problem is that when you open up a raw file, it's often pretty drab, even when you have that perfect, bell-shaped histogram (meaning you exposed your images properly). Don't sweat it, that is perfectly normal for raw files to look a little dull.

So what can you do about it? 

Well, in general terms there are a few common edits that help most raw files pop a little more, though you should defer to your personal judgement primarily. Also, the type of image you took will have a massive impact on how you decide to edit it (landscapes versus portraits for example). But these quick little Lightroom edits will probably help.

  1. Whites Slider – Hold down the option key and take the white slider to the right until you start seeing blow outs – then back to the left slightly so you don't keep the blow outs.
  2. Blacks Slider – Hold down the option key and take the black slider to the left until you see clipping. Then back to the right so you don't keep the clipping.
  3. Clarity – Jack it up slightly to give a little punch to your mid tones. It should increase contrast in those areas primarily.
  4. Vibrance – Bringing up the vibrance will increase the intensity of the more muted colours. Don't go overboard.
  5. Saturation – Bringing up the saturation will increase the intensity of all colours. Go easy with this one. What does this do? Nothing extreme, just a bit more punch, like this:

That's about it in general terms. You don't want to go crazy with any of these ideas – it's just a general way to give a little more punch to most raw files. As always, use your own creativity to build on this.

And if you really want to dig deeper, you might want to take a look at Effortless Editing by Josh Dunlop that goes right down the rabbit hole and takes a look at a lot of very specific edits you should be considering.

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Pin to Pinterest
The following two tabs change content below.

Dahlia Ambrose

Dahlia is a physicist and self taught photographer with a passion for travel, photography and technology. She can sometimes get obsessed trying new photography techniques and post processing styles using Lightroom or Plugins in Photoshop. She occasionally writes articles on topics that interest or provoke her. You can check out her photography on Instagram, 500px and Flickr

Latest posts by Dahlia Ambrose (see all)

Let's block ads! (Why?)


Light Stalking http://ift.tt/2fe8S3H

Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
Please visit our main site for booking availability and rates.



"Time


Receive valuable industry knowledge delivered free to your email each day.


"Time

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for your comment. A moderator will review and approve all relevant posts. We appreciate your support and encourage you to stay with us by subscribing to our email updates. Where you can easily pick and choose what photography subjects interests you. Subscription link: http://bit.ly/photo-sub

About Us

Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque

The lens in focus

“Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.” — Unknown

TIME TRAP PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT 2016