Wading into RAW... timidly

[CarolinaCamera]

I have a Nikon D3000 that I purchased in March of this year that came with the standard 55mm lens and later bought a Nikkor 55-200mm VR lens for some variety in getting different shots. I have played around with the camera for a few months now, either shooting in the "Auto" mode or choosing the various additional modes on the dial. I've been kind of hesitant to shoot anything in RAW, but have read enough in magazines and on this forum to realize shooting in RAW is the best avenue to eventually master getting quality photos. I have a 2 gig card in the camera, which I figure should be OK to start shooting in RAW. I'm not sure how many images I would get on this size card, but I can always buy a bigger card if need be.

Now, I'm not real clear on the "adjusting the shot" after it's been downloaded on to the computer (I use an iMac). I have Adobe Creative Suite CS3 that I use for my graphic design work. Has anyone used Photoshop for the adjustments to their pics? Is there a usual 1-2-3 method of "adjust this first, this second, etc" that I can try to get in the habit of in converting RAW images, so I don't leave something out?

I know this camera is not the best, but for my purposes it should work well enough for me. I've taken photography classes using 35mm B&W film and learned composition and lighting, ISO, depth of field and shutter speed settings. However, I have little or no exposure to the complex world of shooting RAW and then manipulating the image afterwards. If anyone can give me a few ground rules as a foundation to start trying it all out, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! :thumbsup:

[n8]

Yay for RAW!
I almost always shoot in raw even though I don't really need to, but I like flexibility. To comment on your first kinda-question, I can get just under 1000 raw images on my 16gb card, you can do the math for your 2gb. I'm guessing most of us do our raw editing in Camera Raw. You really kind of have to before opening it up in PS. You may have this built into CS3. Once it's open, it can be kind of intimidating, but it's set up to map our your work flow. Just go top to bottom with the sliders and left to right in the sets of options.

As far as shooting in raw goes, I don't think it's any different than shooting in jpeg, just shoot for the best image sooc (straight out of camera), and you'll be off to a good start. Once you open it in camera raw, adjust your white balance if needed, click on your highlight and shadow clipping warnings (the little triangles in the corner of your histogram), and use the exposure, recovery, and fill light sliders to get your exposure correct. Play with the blacks and contrast, bump the clarity up a bit (this focuses on the contrast in the mid tones), play with the others and click to the next one. I don't personally mess with each parameter, just the first set, the sharpening, and the lens corrections

[WesternGuy]

It is a little difficult, at least for me, to give you a few "ground rules" for processing RAW files, e.g., do this, then do that, etc., as everyone tends to be a little different, and Raw processing is not something that necessarily lends itself to a formula approach, at least in my personal opinion, so you might want to consider investing in a good introductory book on Camera Raw. There are quite a few around. The one I found quite helpful when I was first starting out was Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only by Rob Sheppard. As well, there is Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5 by Jeff Schewe and Bruce Fraser. Also Camera RAW 101: Better Photos with Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom by Jon Canfield and many more. If you do a search of Amazon with "Camera Raw" as the search criteria, the you will find many more including Camera Raw for Dummies with Photoshop. I would try and find a book that covers the aspects of the version of Camera Raw that you are working with, if possible. The latest release from Adobe is version 6.3.

If you are not someone who learns well by reading a book, not everyone does, then you may wish to Google "Camera Raw workflow" and see what results you get. What follows, will give you some idea of what I do, but be aware, that a lot of the detail is omitted, because to include it would mean writing a book on the subject and there are so many books out there that explain it a lot better than I can.

Note that before I start any image "development" I will usually crop the image to the size I want and to get rid of any intruding or miscellaneous stuff in the image, e.g., sensor dust. I will also rotate the image as required if there are any horizons, or similar things that need straightening. I may also look at the effect of lens correction, camera calibration and other aspects that can be checked with the current version of Camera RAW (6.3).

Using ACR 6.3, basically, I start with tonal adjustments - adjusting exposure and recovery to bring out details in some of the brighter parts of the image, then check "blacks" to see if there are any adjustments needed. I then experiment/adjust things such as fill light, brightness, contrast and clarity. I then check the tone curve and see if further adjustments are necessary to bring out details of any additional highlights or shadow details. Sometime I do most of my adjustments using the tone curve panel (all of these things become personal preferences and sometimes what works for one image may not work as well for another, it is a matter of experimenting to see what works for you and on what type of image). Once I have all the colour and other details adjusted to my liking, then I will look to see if there are any noise corrections and what amount of sharpening is required as most RAW images require some sharpening.

Please do not take this as gospel as everyone who processes RAW does things a little differently, which is why I suggest that you buy a good book and start from there - there are no magic formulas for this work. I know this may not be exactly what you are looking for, but I hope it will give you insight into the fact that processing RAW images is just not a Step 1, Step 2, etc., approach - there is a lot more to it and it is just a matter of setting your mind to learning what is involved. HTH.

Regards,

WesternGuy

P.S. Any further questions, please post and I will try and answer them (no promises), or at least try and point you in some relevant direction.

[CarolinaCamera]

Thanks, guys, for the info. Sounds like I need to just "do it". That is, shoot some pics in RAW and stumble through this editing process and see what I get. At least it's not costing me anything like it would if I sent test film off to be processed!

[zerodog]

One of the best ways to become better at processing your RAW files is to shoot RAW + JPEG. This way you have a JPEG to compare to that has been tweeked by your camera. Especially with Nikon. This way you have a good base to work with. So you don't go overboard with processing. RAW will just give you more room for adjustment. For events I shoot JPEG. I just need more room on a card. And my cameras do a good job handling a lot of the heavy lifting with JPEG. But for the most important stuff I always shoot RAW. I can always tweek a RAW file to another level beyond the JPEG with some time in Lightroom.

[OldClicker]

I do not believe that CS3 is compatible with a version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) that will work with a RAW file from a D3000. Here is a list of the versions that you can go through to find what version you need for the D3000 and what versions of Photoshop it needs. (This list is Windows, but I believe they are the same.)

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...atform=Windows

If I am correct, your options are:
- Upgrade Photoshop.
- Use a different software (like the Nikon software that came with the camera) to convert the RAW to a tiff and then open the tiff in CS3.
- Use the latest version of Adobe DNG Converter to convert your Nikon RAW files (.nfs???) to Adobe RAW files (.dng). You will then be able to open the dng in CS3.

Terry

[timwaters77]

I have been shooting in RAW since the end of Summer. I have done a dozen portrait shoots and its been a piece of cake. Don't be afraid of it. The flexibility to adjust white balance and get creative with coloring while keeping the high rez image intact is just too wonderful. I haven't shot a jpeg in months.

I have been using the software that came with my Canon camera, tweak it there, convert it to a tiff file and then if I need to do more tweaking I do it in paintshop pro.

I am shooting a christmas party this weekend. I will do jpegs for that.

[armando_m]

Go for it! It is unbelievable what can be done with the RAW files

I shoot RAW & JPG, use the JPGs to quickly scan the photos and decide if i want to do any further work on any particular Raw file

I use capture nx2 and find it very powerful, the initial version had a bunch of bugs and crashed often , though i never lost anything, maybe a few minutes worth of editing, the bugs have been corrected , for $130 dlls I think it is an excellent value.

If you want to process many images it can be very time consuming. so nowadays i only do post processing on what i think are the best photos of a particular session.

A particular feature i really like is to e able to change the settings on the RAW file as they are in the camera, you can change an image from standard (or any particular mode you may have used) , to vivid, neutral, portrait, landscape, etc ... and work from there

If you used autofocus it will show you the spot where the camera focused

all the exif data is available

while saved as .NEF all editions are reversible
once complete you can save as TIFF, or JPG

the u-point technology allows you to easily select specific areas of the image for modification , it can be very complicated areas, for example the leaves of a tree, while leaving the background behind the leaves unchanged

[stevebon]

Just adding to. I purchased the Sony Alpha 200 (along with a decent, full-colour, digital field guide), and in the book the writer decribes his process of shooting in Jpeg & RAW. The software supplied with the A200 uses Sony's own (lite) version of PS. But in itself it's certainly enough to encourage you to experiment. It's a dang-interesting field of development.

[WesternGuy]

Thanks, guys, for the info. Sounds like I need to just "do it". That is, shoot some pics in RAW and stumble through this editing process and see what I get. At least it's not costing me anything like it would if I sent test film off to be processed!

John, that is the best way to go - just do it. I would also agree with zerodog to shoot RAW + jpeg for a while. The jpeg will give you something to look at while editing the RAW, but remember, any jpeg can also be edited, just not as much as the RAW can, so I wouldn't necessarily use the jpeg as something to aim for in your processing of the RAW image, just use it as a guideline. I did exactly that, shot RAW + jpeg for a while when I converted from shooting simply jpeg to shooting RAW - the jpegs ended up eventually being throwaways and that is when I stopped shooting both and began shooting entirely in RAW and maybe that is an approach. My jpegs became throwaways when I felt I had enough experience and confidence in my RAW editing to not bother shooting jpegs any more. I wish you good luck with whatever approach you choose.

Cheers,

WesternGuy.