RAW??????

[SimonW]

I have just bought it too, for the same reasons. And on special offer (only till tomorrow) much cheaper than the latest Elements. It seems great so far, with enough tools that I'll probably only go to ELements if I need to use layers -ie. hardly ever.

[donoreo]

I use the Nik software (Silver Efex, HDR Efex, etc) more than I do Elements. 

[DigiDiva]

Just bought Feb's DC Mag today and theres a good piece about Raw Jediboy, that may interest you.

[Jediboy]

Thanks Chris,I'll take a look.
No chance to even touch the camera yet this weekend. 

[SimonW]

I'm curious. My understanding was that a RAW file could not be printed, and certainly my Adobe Camera Raw has no print option - I need to first open the image in Elements (or Lightroom). And of course ACR applies its own default settings as it opens the raw file, so I cannot ever see my original file. How then does AP magazine print "the original raw file with no processing applied", as for example on page 55 of the 4th January 2014 issue?

[donoreo]

They convert it to tif or jpg without any processing of colour, sharpness, etc. 

[DigiDiva]

Donoreo, your avitar is very mean and moody! Good iamge.

[Andrew]

Have pretty much used RAW since I had a computer powerful enough to use it (started digital in 2003 with 5mp and computer processing wasn't affordable until Xmas 2005).
The beauty for me, as has been said - is the amount of experimentation you can do with no loss to the orginal file.
The other big benefit was swapping over to Lightroom - it loves to work with RAW files - whilst providing a nice catalogue of images.

The only real down side to workign with RAW is that once you start to realise you can experiment with no loss to the original file and just wipe it and start again - you can start to spend a bit too much time experimenting, and not enough time actually taking and presenting pictures 

[donoreo]

Donoreo, your avitar is very mean and moody! Good iamge.

That was my self portrait entry for DCW Weekend Competition about a year or so ago  

[Reinardina]

Started shooting RAW, combined with Jpeg, just in case.

This is my first RAW edited shot.

[Beaux Reflets]

Started shooting RAW, combined with Jpeg, just in case.

This is my first RAW edited shot.

Nice shot  How well does it compare with the Jpeg version with the camera you are using ?

[Jediboy]

I agree, great shot.
And how did it compare tote JPEG?
Did you find it easy to edit the RAW?

[Reinardina]

As requested, the (unedited) JPEG version of my 'Halo' shot.

To be honest, I have not compared them myself yet.

And I did not find it easy to edit it, as it is so totally different. Mind you, I had my tutor sitting next to me, which made things very clear and easy to understand. The way he explained everything made total sense. After he left, I had a go on my own, and realised I had already forgotten half of his wise words!

It is basically a matter of sliding the sliders and see what it does to the image. I will persevere, at least for a while, as it is probably a matter of getting used to it.

I did the editing in E11 by the way. If I become a 'RAW enthusiast' I will have to get Lightroom, I've been told.

Jpeg


RAW

[Hinfrance]

If I become a 'RAW enthusiast' I will have to get Lightroom, I've been told.

No you won't have to do anything. The basic ACR in Elements along with RAW Therapee was all I used for years. After that I bought Aftershot Pro*, which I still use for RAW editing - the Nostalgia plugin is just brilliant for black and white; I have had LR only since version 4* came out and I really don't use it much for editing as I find its 'global' and no layers approach to an image very restrictive. It is, however, a very good asset manager. Since I got the discounted deal on Photoshop CC I tend to use the full ACR that's in there, and then Nik* or Topaz*, rather than LR.

*All of the licences bought when they were at least 50% off

[SimonW]

Hi H,

Lightroom 5 isn't just for global adjustments. It has very effective local adjustments including red eye and spot healing, and a very effective graduated filter with variable width and tilt, enabling control of brightness, highlights and shadows, contrast, saturation etc. Also a similar radial filter, local adjustment brushes which do all those things rather than just dodge/burn. I've never used version 4 but guess 5 must be quite a bit more comprehensive. I'm still learning it but suspect I'll hardly ever need Elements now.

Simon