I don't need 60 MB RAW files to bring
out all the dynamic range of the barbecue
sauce on my children's faces, and I would
think that you guys might fit in that same boat.
If you've ever wondered when should
you shoot RAW?
When should you shoot JPEG?
What are the differences in quality?
When do you shoot both?
All of those questions.
I'm going to answer that in this video.
So stick around.
My name is Pye I and I'm one of the founders
of Lynn and Joseph Photography and
SLR Lounge.com.
We're teaming up with Adorama to bring
you a new series of photography tutorials
called Master Your Craft, right here on
Adorama TV.
So let's dive in.
What's up, my friends?
Welcome to another video here on
Adorama TV.
Today we're talking all about RAW JPEG.
Now, maybe you're a little bit more
familiar with this subject than some.
Maybe this is completely new to you.
Either way, I would say stick around,
because we're gonna work through several things.
And I want you guys to see the differences
in quality and flexibility in post-production
when it comes to working with raw versus JPEG files.
From there, we're going to go through
a four step kind of decision tree to help
you understa nd when should you shoot RAW?
When do you shoot JPEG?
When should you consider shooting both,
et cetera?
We're are going to cover all of that.
And let's go ahead and dive in now going into Lightroom.
You're going to notice that I have three files here.
I'd love for you guys to pause the video, go to
the description, and you can actually download
the exercise files if you'd like to work along.
Let me explain what we have here for all three
of these images.
We have a shot of Shivani, my good
buddy here in San Francisco
at Sutro Baths.
Now, the first image is a RAW file.
Okay. The next image is a JPEG file,
that's brought two stops brighter.
The third image is the JPEG file
of the exact same exposure as the RAW file.
OK, so we have two JPEGS and the RAW file,
which was shot from a Canon 5D Mk IV.
So let's go ahead and start with topic #1.
And that is to understand differences
in quality between working with JPEG and RAW files.
First, you're always going to hear
people say a RAW file is higher quality, higher quality.
But what exactly does that mean?
Well, in camera, the images are really actually
going to be the same.
So just shooting RAW doesn't actually
make your image look any better.
In fact, it's actually going to make
your image worse, because it really is going
to expect that you're gonna do the post-processing
afterwards.
If it's giving you a RAW file versus
when you shoot JPEG, there's some processing
that's going to be done in camera.
So just in general, understand that we're
not talking about the image necessarily
looking any better.
It's going to actually look worse temporarily.
But what it gives you is more information.
And that's where that quality argument comes
into play because we get tons more information
to work with if we intend to edit the image in post.
But I want you to see exactly what
that translates to.
So here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to select all three of these
images and I'm going to jump in the developed
module.
I'm going to turn on Auto Sync.
This is going to be great,
because along the way
I'm hoping to learn a bit more about Lightroom too.
So it's kind of a multi-purpose tutorial.
I'm a turn on Auto Sync.
So that way, everything that we do will
apply to all three images simultaneously.
And the first thing on a click
is reset.
This way, you know, I'm not fooling ya!
OK? I'm going to click reset.
And we're gonna start talking about first is the original
exposure or the histogram here.
This shot was intended to be shot with this exposure
that maximizes dynamic range and on a
Canon 5D mark IV, we don't necessarily have
that much dynamic range to work with.
On newer models as Sony on Nikon.
You can have quite a bit more.
But even here, we have quite a
bit to work with.
What you're gonna see in just a moment.
So what that means is, the shadows
are pushed along the left edge, the histogram
on the right side.
The highlights are pushed along the right edge.
If I press J to bring up my highlight and
clipping alert, you're gonna notice that
there's very little shadows clipped.
There's very little highlights that
have been blown.
We've retained most of the information in
our RAW file. OK.
So that tells us that.
So with all three of these images
selected, the first thing I'm going to do
is we are to click reset.
The next thing I would do is press R and
then go ahead and change this over to a
square crop, a 1 x 1 crop.
I'll move this so that our subject and the
sunlight are on kind of opposing third lines.
I'm gonna Press R again just to set that.
The reason why is, because in a moment
I'm going to press N to bring up my
survey view, and with it cropped to square
we'll actually be able to see side-by-side
comparisons versus if there were wider,
we wouldn't be ale to see them side by side.
OK, so let's go back to the develop
module and this is my own O.C.D.
It really has nothing to do with the tutorial,
but I'm going to go ahead and turn on the
profile correction.
And I'm also going to level the horizon line.
So if you go down to transform and you
click level, it'll automatically
correct the horizon line.
Yeah, that that really has nothing to do
with RAW vs JPEG.
That's just this a mental note that just... fix
it, fix it, fix it.
You know, it goes like that in my my head.
I got a new mic filter.
By the way, this new foam thing,
I can actually see my screen.
I'm hoping it sounds good.
You gotta be excited by the small things,
guys, and I'm stoked about this.
So let's go ahead now.
And what I want to do is dial in the exact
same settings across all three images.
So with AutoSave turned on again,
I'm going to go down to visual flows,
modern pack,
and I'm going to apply the HDR natural preset.
Really, It's not important.
You know, what preset you apply in this.
All I'm trying to do is apply a preset that's going to try to
widen the dynamic range.
So when we apply this,
what it does is it tries to retain all
of the image information for an HDR type scene,
which is what this scene is.
It's a high dynamic range scene and it
adds in the colour and everything like that
because upon this initial click, we're going
to learn a lot. So the
first thing that I want to do is I want to
compare. Now, this click to this j_ peg file
right here, because the first thing that
you're gonna notice when it comes to dynamic range.
If I pull both these up in my survey view
and we're gonna press L to turn the lights
out, you're going to notice that one of these
images is clearly kind of better than the
other one.
I can actually tell right from
this view which file was the RAW file. It's
the one on the left. OK.
And the reason I can see that is because
if I look in the shadows,
you'll notice that on the JPEG side, the
the same exact develop settings are not able
to pull out all of the shadow definition over here.
So if I go press C and this drops me in to
compare view, OK?
And if I zoom into these
different areas on the image, right.
Let's say the zoom in the rocks from here, you can
start to see that the deep, dark, shadowy
areas are actually getting clipped.
And for some reason, it's not able to really retain
shadow information or even the highlight information
as well.
You kind of see different shifts
in colour, tone and the highlights.
You see that we're not able to kind of preserve the
highlights in the same way over here, the
kind of start turning towards us.
Certain gray on the right side. Right.
This is that first limitation.
So as soon as you shoot JPEG, you are
limiting the dynamic range
of your image.
And what that means is you're
gonna have difficulty lifting shadows.
You can have difficulty retaining highlights in
your image if you intend to post-process the image.
OK. So this is all based on that intention
of I'm going to process this image.
But something else has also happened.
So we can clearly see there's differences
in the amount of dynamic
range thats safe. Right.
But you might say, well Pye, that initial
shot, this this initial RAW file
was kind of underexposed. Right.
Well, no, this is going back to kind of the
intention was, this is a high denegrange scene.
We want to shoot this to keep all the range.
But let's just say, what if we brighten up
the image in camera by two stops and then
in post, we kind of tried to pull it back
to something that was similar. Right.
So what I'm doing post is just kind of dial the exposure
back until it's close to the same exposure here.
So about one point three two and it's
roughly the same.
But look at what happens here.
So in this first example, we notice
that it has a hard time trying to lift the
shadows out right, right.
Now in the second example of the
brighter JPEG.
If I compare these two now, we're having a hard time on
the JPEG side retaining the highlight detail
in the brighter image.
So all these brighter highlights, they're
just gonna go grey.
Our shadows look a lot better, though.
So on the brighter image, the shadows
look much better.
So this kind of goes to show you that a RAW file,
when used properly and when exposed well,
is just going to retain quite a bit more information.
So you can do a better job of pulling back
your highlights, and balancing out the image
and lifting shadows.
It gives you a lot more flexibility in that
area in terms of the overall
dynamic range and exposure.
But. Another huge area that we often
overlook is white balance.
Why do we overlook this?
Well, because if
I actually bring up the develop module with
any of the jpegs, it looks almost as if we
have the same temperature intense sliders
that we would over the RAW file.
Right. So the RAW file has the same sliders.
But there's a big difference actually in the
RAW file, you'll notice that it actually shows
the specific Kelvin and magenta values that
were in camera, right, on the J PEG.
It's showing a 00 slider on both of these.
What this is presenting me in this JPEG
view is sort of a a filter that Adobe is
using inside of Lightroom to kind of apply
a warming and cooling function to the
image as well as a temperature
or tint function for the greens, and magentas.
But it's not the same thing as your in
camera white balance.
I want you to think of this as a
filter, and the easiest way to see that is
if I select this.
RAW File OK, so we're on the RAW file.
If I going ahead and showing my filmstrip
with all three of these selected and autosave
turned on, if I had just the temperature to
get to where I like this image, I'm going
to take it up by about 1000.
What happens in the accompanying JPEG
files is an approximate
boost in temperature, which makes the image
look fantastically different from its RAW file.
OK,
So the way the temperature intent function
on a JPEG are completely different.
Whereas with a RAW file it's literally just
like going back to point of capture and adjusting
the white balance in camera.
So again, another huge benefit of
shooting raw versus JPEG in
terms of overall quality and flexibility in post.
OK, so let me do this. I'm going to
go ahead and go back to these JPEG images.
So how would that change?
So you'll notice that over here,
when we did that plus 1000,
it basically added 30 and -3.
I'm going to reset this out because what that
a change would have kind of more looked like
is maybe + 5 or + 10. OK.
And maybe a little bit of a boost to
magenta is and we're gonna go + 10.
So both these are now the same exact
processing. OK.
And that gets me far closer to what that
original image was, was trying to get at
versus the JPEG.
That being said, if you notice the JPEG file
over here, this, this JPEG that was shot
underexposed.
I mean, it's not bad.
If both these images were going up onto
Instagram, you'd be kind
of hard pressed to to see what the differences
would be without like a side by side
comparison of the RAW file.
So it's not as if it's the
end of the world, you know. I mean, so I'm
hoping this kind of gets across the differences
in overall quality, and how the images kind
of vary in terms of post-production.
Because the other things are gonna happen
is whenever you shoot JPEG, you're in camera
picture style settings are gonna be applied
to the image you're gonna get in camera processing.
So we have a kind of complete range of customizing
that just based on whatever camera that you're
using. But you could be adding contrast, you
can be adding sharpness, you can be doing
all these different things when the JPEG comes
in to Lightroom or to whatever application
you're using to process it comes in processed
from the camera. This is why an in-camera
JPEG is naturally going to look a little
bit better than just a RAW file, because when
you import the RAW file into Lightroom,
well, unlike whatever you might have
applied in the camera, none of that gets
transferred into the raw pricing
application unless you're
using like a brand specific raw processor.
If you're using Lightroom Capture 1, whatever...
you're in camera picture style stuff is when you're
shooting raw.
That doesn't get passed over
when it comes in.
All that happens is it keeps
the underlying exposure and your temperature
and tense settings.
And that's really it.
The picture style. Everything else, it's serving
it the right information as it comes off the
sensor.
So picture style matters when you're
shooting JPEG in camera, pressing matters
when you're shooting JPEG, not so much when
you're shooting raw.
None of that transfers over, but it does change
the way that it's going to show up on your LCD.
So just keep that in mind.
So what does this mean?
This means that, well, if we're
gonna shoot JPEG, we to make sure that we
dial in the exact exposure that we kind of
intend to deliver the image,
to view the image.
We did dial it into the camera.
We also need to dial the exact white
balance into the camera
when you're shooting JPEG.
It's very important.
You get things precise when you're shooting RAW.
We have a little more flexibility and
you can shoot more for the intention and post
leaving room and information there.
And also, if you happen to mess up white
balance, it's OK.
You can fix that in post, although ideally
we want to get that right in camera as well.
But we have more flexibility in information.
This brings me to kind of the decision tree.
Well, which one of these routes should I go?
Should I shoot RAW or should I shoot JPEG?
Let's start with decision tree number one.
Are you going to process the images?
And really, when it comes to most
professionals, you're
going to fall into this category because all
professionals are generally gonna process
their work.
They also want the most information
possible and a lot of serious amateur and
hobbyist, they're gonna do the same thing.
They want to process each image. So bottom
line is, if you want to process your images,
shoot raw, it's gonna give you the most flexibility,
it's gonna give you the best quality and the
best potential flexibility in posting, get
to, whatever that desired look is.
It's also sometimes fun is to go back to
previous RAW files.
You want a shot from several years
back and reprocess them and see kind of how
your style and things have evolved and have
all the original information there for those images.
So simple. You intend to process RAW?
If not, you're gonna shoot JPEG,
Just make sure that you dial in your white balance,
and set your exposure to what the final
look is gonna be.
So get it to where it needs to be
in camera.
Option number two.
Let's say that you need some of the
images right now, but then you also want
flexibility in post, because
you want to post-process and get to the best
images possible later.
If that's the case,
I would say shoot RAW plus JPEG.
Just keep in mind that it is going to slow the camera
down a little bit since it's writing two separate files.
You're gonna use it a little more memory,
a little bit quicker.
So have a look at larger cards and expect
more memory to be used.
But what this will give you is processed JPEGS
that are done in camera, where if you need
to send these off, or use these for Instagram
or social media right away.
They're available to you.
And then you're also getting the RAW files
that you can potentially process them
later and have a different set
of final images, let's say, for portfolio
or for printing purposes.
So if you need flexibility now,
and you also want the best possible file
for later editing and usage, shoot RAW
plus JPEG.
If not, then again just go back to
JPEG case study.
And question number three is,
is size and speed and ultimately the efficiency
of your workflow.
Priority number one, you
might be wondering, well, who would that be
the case for?
Actually, there's a lot of professional
photographers that this really applies.
And probably, though, the one use that I can think
more than anything is in Associated Press functions.
So, for example, I have quite a
few professional sports photographer friends,
who are shooting on the sidelines.
And the ultimate goal is to get those
images into AP, and into the library as
quick as possible,
so that they can go straight to print or whatever
media they might be using.
So they're shooting JPEG.
They are doing wireless transfers,
their bare minimum,
culling down the images at a laptop.
And usually they have a dit station with
someone working there, and they're
going to cull it quickly, maybe slap on a
couple exposure adjustments or settings
and just fire it off, export it and have it be done.
Speed and efficiency is the ultimate priority.
So shooting JPEG is the right choice in
those situations.
And what they're doing is
they're dialing in their in camera picture
style settings.
Everything is just dialed
in to the T, where really nothing needs to
happen.
The camera is doing the processing.
They come straight out, they call it, and
they just fire it off.
So if that's the case, then we obviously
kind of want to skip a RAW workflow for
that because it's going to really
hinder the speed and overall efficiency.
Last but not least in our decision tree,
is number 4 - Case Study or
Are you shooting the family barbecue.
And here's what I mean. I mean, it might not
be the family, but I like barbecues.
But look, it could be any function that's just, you don't
need to let go and process all these images
and you don't need to create all that workflow
stress when it's just fun images that you're
doing for friends, for family, for an event, whatever it might be.
And in those cases,
I often just say, shoot, JPEG, why worry
about processing all these images when I just
dial it in camera, let your camera process
it for you, and be done with it after you
shoot it.
Maybe you call and delete a few images
and fire them off and be good.
If you're shooting the family barbecue,
do you really need to shoot RAW files?
No, I don't need 60 MB RAW file's to bring
out all the dynamic range of the barbecue
sauce on my children's faces, and I would
think that you guys might fit in that same
boat.
So, look, this video is really to show
you guys that there's a function and a use
for raw and JPEG functionality.
It's not always best to shoot RAW.
And there's plenty of scenarios,
especially professionally, when you don't
want to be shooting JPEG.
But there are uses for each.
And I hope this video kind of helps
to dial that in for you guys.
If you enjoyed, please like the video,
subscribe to the channel.
Let us know what you think below.
You guys can follow me more at Pye Jirsa on Facebook
or Instagram and well, I'll be back here on
Adorama TV next week.
So in the meanwhile,
if you guys want to check out more of our
A to Z education.
We have a massive library,
getting you started from learning the
fundamentals of photography all the way
through to professional
mastery on SLRloungeworkshops.com
So be sure to check that out as well.
We'll link out every other thing that we use
in the description below,
and see you guys next time...Peace.