Why you should always shoot in raw

Most of the time I have my camera set to shoot photos in JPEG format. I do this for a few reasons, mostly lazy ones. First, any application will read a JPEG, Google Picasa will manipulate JPEGs (for quick and easy post processing and resizing) and the compression means each little photo walk you take isn’t going to result in another gig eaten up on my hard disk.

Sometimes I do shoot in RAW format if I’m going somewhere special though. Raw format captures a lot more data in the image raster, making for more photo detail and also more post processing possibilities. But it also means you have to use non-free solutions like Adobe Lightroom for editing, and deal with massive file sizes too.

After a recent photo walk in Petaluma, CA I think I may just have suck it up and swear off JPEG for good.

Check out the sky in the identical image below. I had my camera set to simultaneously shoot both RAW and JPEG.

 

Raw-n-Jpeg