Exploring Photography: Shooting in Raw Mode

Course details

You hear experienced photographers say it all the time: shoot raw format to get the best quality. But what does "raw" really mean? Does it guarantee better image quality? And where does the DNG format come into play?

In this course, photographer and educator Ben Long shines a light on what it means to shoot in raw—and what it doesn't. Learn the benefits of shooting in raw, learn when your camera's RAW+JPEG mode makes more sense, and get insights into why some people prefer certain raw conversion software over others.

Learning objectives
Does your camera support raw?
Understanding how a sensor works
Correcting and compressing JPEGs in camera
Customizing JPEG compression
Understanding raw conversion
Working with raw files in popular photo-editing software
Shooting raw, JPEG, or both
Reprocessing old raw images
Choosing a camera

Concepts

Introduction

Introduction to raw mode

Camera Sensors and Image Capture

Exploring whether your camera supports raw
Understanding the primary colors of light
Exploring how a digital sensor captures an image
Understanding how an image sensor sees color
What is a digital photo

How Your Camera Makes a JPEG

Processing basic color
Correcting and compressing a JPEG
Exploring how JPEG compression works
Customizing JPEG compression

Understanding the Raw Format

Understanding raw conversion software
Getting under the hood of your raw converter
Exploring nondestructive editing
Working with raw files in Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop
Exploring white balance and highlight recovery

Understanding Image Formats and Processing

Understanding when to shoot raw or JPEG or both
Understanding in-camera JPEG conversions
Exposing raw images
Reprocessing old raw images
Understanding Foveon sensors
Evaluating RAW, mRAW, and sRAW
Choosing a camera

Next Steps

Exploring next steps