Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
A Fall Walk with a RAW Twist
I took a walk at Coulon Park and despite the rain and milky sky, the fall colors couldn’t have been better.
So what’s the twist? For the first time I shot the photos using the RAW image format. And no it was not my idea.
I’m taking a Photography class and at the end of the first session the instructor stated – rather casually I thought – that we should be shooting in RAW not JPEG. The quality of the image was better he said. And unlike JPEG the RAW file contains all of the image data and can be edited without losing quality. I’d heard of RAW before but it sounded too complicated to me and way beyond my abilities. Now it was a roadblock and I was tempted to ignore the ‘suggestion.’
Instead I begrudgingly gave it a try. I changed my camera settings to RAW and downloaded the software I needed to review and edit the files. Then I set out to practice on my favorite walk at Coulon Park.
Turns out it wasn’t that hard. I shot in RAW and JPEG simultaneously and compared the results. And though the difference is almost imperceptible I have to admit the RAW images came out a little better and were more fun to edit.
I still have a lot to learn but at least for the duration of the class I will be shooting in RAW.
And now I wonder what other mysteries of photography await to be discovered in this class.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
I like the way the colors have both softness and intensity in these.
Thank you. I’m enjoying experimenting with RAW. And Coulon Park never disappoints.
Fascinating – I’ve never even HEARD of RAW!
That’s how I felt! 🙂 I was like – are you kidding me? But then I tried it and it turned out to be pretty easy. And it seems like the editing is better.
Have fun with your RAW files. I shot in RAW for a while but found that, for my needs, jpeg worked just fine so I’m back to that.
Thanks. I suspect the same will happen with me.
Well done for trying RAW, Susanne. I have studiously avoided that ever since buying a digital camera. J-pegs are good enough for me. 🙂
(The duck-landing shot is a good capture)
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks Pete. I wondered what your take on this would be. I tried it very reluctantly because it was strongly suggested that I do. It’s been a good exercise in learning something new but I’m not sure if I’ll shoot in RAW after the class is over. The resulting files are huge and so they need to be edited and compressed.
Too much like ‘hard work’ for me, but people do get amazing results on occasion. 🙂
I guess the ability to keep the whole file while editing is the draw. I am fine with any pictures.
Since I haven’t purchased any other editing software it was nice to try the free download for Sony raw images and find new possibilities. I may use it for a while then decide if it’s worth the extra steps.
I’d like to be there. Looks like paradise to me. We don’t have fall colors here. The leaves don’t change colors. Love the water and the little island. Makes you want to sit on this tiny island and look at the water. Imagine if you could have a trailer home on an island like this and see the water every time you look out your window. Just a thought. Not practical, of course.
These pictures seem very high-quality, catching everything perfectly with an artist’s eye.
Thanks so much for your comment. This is one of my favorite local parks and the fall colors this year have been especially good. 🙂