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My RAW Workflow
The debate over whether to shoot RAW or JPG will probably not be resolved anytime soon. Those of us that shoot RAW sing it's praises because of extra exposure latitude, better color control, basically all aspects of what the image will look like, while those that shoot JPG tell us we spend too much time in front of the computer. I am not going to argue any points tonite, but I am going to explain why I choose to shoot RAW and why it is faster for me.
Reasons:
1. JPG is a compressed data file. For a point of reference, a Canon 10D RAW imaged processed will yield an 18MB TIFF file. While a JPG from the same camera will yield a file size somewhere between 1.5mb and 3.5mb in a Large Fine JPG setting.
Where did the approximately 15MB worth of data go? The camera threw it away, because it didn't think you needed that information. I think I am smarter than my camera...well I hope I am.
2. White Balance. During a shoot it is probably the last thing in my mind I want to worry about. If I shoot in JPG the WB is pretty much etched in stone. Yeah you can go into Photoshop and either fix it or tweak it, but personally I can never get the channel mixer set properly and I spend tons more time "fixing" WB in JPGs.
While with RAW, I can set the WB of ALL my images during a session with one click of the mouse. And they are the exact color I want, not what the camera thought I wanted.
3. Sharpening. My camera shoots JPGs fairly soft. I find that a Processed RAW file will produce sharper images.
4. More information, bigger - better prints. I recently did a test. I took a RAW file and Cropped it to 139% of the original size, saved it as a TIFF and had it printed in a 20x30. I took the same RAW file and processed it out as a JPG and had printed . The TIFF blew away the JPG print. Why? I am no computer guru, but I know what I saw in my test. More info means better prints.
Those are my 4 main reasons for shooting RAW. Now lets get into my workflow. I will be using Capture One Pro to process my RAW Images and Photoshop CS to do final touch ups. Also for this demonstration I should note that I also have my monitors calibrated for proper color rendition and my color management settings are set to the specifications that my lab has posted on their website - which for this case is sRGB. Also this is a demonstration for a single lighting setup.
First thing after setting up my strobes in studio, is to shoot a color card. From this card I set my exposure/histogram for my highlights and shadows and set my White Balance.
To set highlights select the WHITE SQUARE with the Highlight Eye Dropper. I generally set shadow detail to taste and do not use the Shadow Eye Dropper. Set the White Balance using the White Balance Eye Dropper. I gennerally use one of the steps of Gray rather than true white. - personal preference.
Once the exposure and Whitebalance are set you need to set the Focus. It is pretty much self explanatory. either soft or standard focus. I suggest playing with this setting to taste.
After setting the focus settings on the first colorcard image, SHIFT CLICK all the images from the session and use the first image as a reference to set the rest of the images paramaters.
As you can see the orginal unprocessed RAW file on the left and the Toned on the Right.
As you can see in just a couple of steps I toned and color corrected every image from a session.
If I would have shot in JPG, the camera would have made these decisions for me and I would have to pay $0.49 per 4x6 color correct proof instead of $0.29 per proof uncolor corrected at the lab.
Reasons:
1. JPG is a compressed data file. For a point of reference, a Canon 10D RAW imaged processed will yield an 18MB TIFF file. While a JPG from the same camera will yield a file size somewhere between 1.5mb and 3.5mb in a Large Fine JPG setting.
Where did the approximately 15MB worth of data go? The camera threw it away, because it didn't think you needed that information. I think I am smarter than my camera...well I hope I am.
2. White Balance. During a shoot it is probably the last thing in my mind I want to worry about. If I shoot in JPG the WB is pretty much etched in stone. Yeah you can go into Photoshop and either fix it or tweak it, but personally I can never get the channel mixer set properly and I spend tons more time "fixing" WB in JPGs.
While with RAW, I can set the WB of ALL my images during a session with one click of the mouse. And they are the exact color I want, not what the camera thought I wanted.
3. Sharpening. My camera shoots JPGs fairly soft. I find that a Processed RAW file will produce sharper images.
4. More information, bigger - better prints. I recently did a test. I took a RAW file and Cropped it to 139% of the original size, saved it as a TIFF and had it printed in a 20x30. I took the same RAW file and processed it out as a JPG and had printed . The TIFF blew away the JPG print. Why? I am no computer guru, but I know what I saw in my test. More info means better prints.
Those are my 4 main reasons for shooting RAW. Now lets get into my workflow. I will be using Capture One Pro to process my RAW Images and Photoshop CS to do final touch ups. Also for this demonstration I should note that I also have my monitors calibrated for proper color rendition and my color management settings are set to the specifications that my lab has posted on their website - which for this case is sRGB. Also this is a demonstration for a single lighting setup.
First thing after setting up my strobes in studio, is to shoot a color card. From this card I set my exposure/histogram for my highlights and shadows and set my White Balance.
To set highlights select the WHITE SQUARE with the Highlight Eye Dropper. I generally set shadow detail to taste and do not use the Shadow Eye Dropper. Set the White Balance using the White Balance Eye Dropper. I gennerally use one of the steps of Gray rather than true white. - personal preference.
Once the exposure and Whitebalance are set you need to set the Focus. It is pretty much self explanatory. either soft or standard focus. I suggest playing with this setting to taste.
After setting the focus settings on the first colorcard image, SHIFT CLICK all the images from the session and use the first image as a reference to set the rest of the images paramaters.
As you can see the orginal unprocessed RAW file on the left and the Toned on the Right.
As you can see in just a couple of steps I toned and color corrected every image from a session.
If I would have shot in JPG, the camera would have made these decisions for me and I would have to pay $0.49 per 4x6 color correct proof instead of $0.29 per proof uncolor corrected at the lab.
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