Quote Originally Posted by Photo-John
The best workflow is to use a RAW converter for an initial global adjustment. How much and what you do depends on the image, your style, and the capabilitise of the RAW converter you're using. After you make your global adjustment and convert to a TIFF, then you open it in Photoshop and make any selective adjustments you might want. Every step taken should be done to prepare the file for the next step. I shoot for the highlights so that they aren't blown out. I convert for an overall color balance, saturation, contrast, etc; making sure not to lose the highlights. Then I make final, selective adjustments using Photoshop masked adjustment layers.
Thanks, John. You made one of my initial points quite successfully. At the beginning, you said RAW was an easy format to work with, and implied that everyone should shoot everything in RAW. Now, you have finally started to detail some of the intricate process necessary to work successfully with RAW and then follow up by editing in jpeg.

What you seemed to originally forget and it is understandable, since these things become second nature is that not everyone sees this process as being easy and not eveyone has the sharp eye to see problems developing as they progress through the steps and know how to solve them. Complicating the situation is that not everyone sees the process of working correctly with RAW as even important or worth the effort.

The way I see it, is that if some people find jpeg meets their needs and fits their style of photography and their business or hobby then all power to them. The same thing with RAW. However the decision to shoot jpeg or RAW should be based on a thorough knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of both and the recognition that neither format is best for all photographic styles, situations or businesses.

Ronnoco