RAW is Good: and I don't mean Sushi!

I was talking with a friend of mine when I had just switched over to digital and was asking about different settings. In particular RAW. I had no idea just coming from shooting film what that meant or why use it. My friend is an excellent photographer and was also at the time taking a course on digital photography. (A real course with homework, text book and real human instructor in a classroom.) She told me that the instructor made them shoot in RAW but she saw no need for it, it simply used up too much room on a memory card and there was no other advantage. In fact she went on to say, "After this course I'm going to shoot only in jpeg.

With that said I promptly set my new digital camera on jpeg and went off to some of the most beautiful places I've ever had the privilege to visit. I shot over 1000 pictures the first week I had the camera. But nothing came out very well and I couldn't seem to be able to edit my shots the way others were. I didn't understand. After my trip, I began to read up. (I wish I had researched while I was still out in the Pacific North West) I did an experiment I set my camera to shoot both Jpeg and RAW. Wow! it didn't take long for me to recognize the difference.

Here is an example of what you can do with a RAW image.

This image was taken at 4:00 or so in the afternoon. I did a couple of things. I shot in in RAW, I used the florescent setting for the white balance to get the blue hue and then I under exposed it. I also shot it with 400 ISO to give it some texture.

When I opened the image in the RAW converter I increased the blacks, a little bit of fill light and saturation. The sky was still pretty bright so I used the brush tool and lowered the exposure on the sky only and here is the resulting shot.

I shot this to use as a background for a composite picture I have in mind. But this shot alone looks pretty good to me and I didn't have to fool with it in photoshop, just the RAW conversion software. If you haven't already........... I would suggest you become familiar with this powerful tool.

Below is the original image without any adjustments in the RAW conversion software. Not so compelling a shot.

Till the next time: Have fun with Photography!

Laura

Creativity

"For some beauty seems but an accident of creation: to Muir it was the very smile of God"

~ John Muir

Yes, this image has been manipulated in Photoshop. However, it is my personal belief that God provided us with the ability to have visions beyond what is simply put before us. We have visions about our future, that we call goals and manipulate to the best of our ability to achieve them. Why can we not have visions about our surroundings and manipulate them digitally to the best of our ability to achieve that vision? I believe that John Muir would have loved the technology we have today. I believe that he most likely would have been on the breaking edge creating visual beauty.

I am still learning to use photoshop and the above photo is a result of some of that learning: playing to learn if you will. I took the photo of the sun hiding behind the clouds coloring them in gold. There was a sliver of grey sky showing and I thought how fun it would be to shoot that and then mirror it in photoshop. A technique I learned last night watching a DVD on creating masterpieces in photoshop by Jim Zuckerman. Now there is a man with vision!

Remember most of all to have fun with your photography.

Color or Composition

In Ketchikan, Alaska there is one of the most colorful streets I've ever seen. Both literally and metaphorically. Creek Street, the row of buildings below that are built on pilings over the water, is not a street but was the "red light district". Dolly's House, the building on the far right of the photo, is today a museum taking you back in time to the days when this row of wooden buildings were all bordellos. They were not shut down until 1953.

"In my photography, color and composition are inseparable. I see color."

~ William Albert Allard

Photography: Pleasure or Embarrassment?

Ketchikan, Alaska

I had been sick for two days when we arrived in Ketchikan. I only took a handful of pictures, all of them using the auto setting and not much thought about composition. I barely made it back to the ship after having only walked around for about an hour. But, I still recall my trip to Alaska with pleasure.

"Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure."    

                                            ~ Tony Benn

Happy New Year!

Today is the beginning of a new year. For many of us we look at this as a time of reflection as well as a time for new beginnings. New years resolutions are traditional and often failed as we fall back into our old routines. I believe this is what happens when we try to force upon ourselves some untimely or unwanted change. Change is uncomfortable, even if it is for the best. We grow complacent and prefer what we know over the unknown.

That being said, I'm not going to make a New Year Resolution. Instead, I'm simply going to continue my journey growing as a photographer and a person. Last month I joined the Knoxville Art and Cultural Alliance which offers numerous opportunities to display my art to a larger audience and to learn from others. I am also putting together a Basic Photography seminar in Johnson City. The date is yet to be determined, but I have already received a wonderful and positive response from people interested in learning photography.

I want to invite  all of you to come and enjoy with me each new dawn and experience through the lens of the camera by following me here and at my web site PhotographybyLauraLee.com.

Happy New Year

2010