What the heck is RAW?

I'm a photographer n00b. I have a lot to learn.

That said, I have a Canon Rebel T3i with two lenses. The stock 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6.

I save my images in JPEG. I honestly wasn't aware that there were different file types until recently. I usually just edit a little using photoshop, then upload to Facebook. But recently, since I want to get a little more serious about it, I've been worrying about quality of photos and I remember someone telling me it is better to save in RAW format..

I have no clue what this means. I realize it's a different file type other than JPEG, but beyond that, I haven't a clue. Can I still open the photo in RAW? Upload it to Facebook? Also, what is a good site to use to save photos on besides Facebook, since Facebook is so low quality?

I want to start taking photos for local rescues and I really need to learn this stuff. Sometimes my photos seem a little blurryish, and I feel that is more from file type than it is from the actual photo. (Although if they are with my lens without IS, I realize it could be camera shake.)

Any advice on this is welcome. Thanks!

I totally thought this was going to be about dog food...

Haha, I figured, but there's no better way to ask. *shrug*

So did I! I was sitting here thinking if you don't know what raw food is, whether it be human or dog, there's something wrong with you. :rofl1:

RAW is the MOST highly detailed format possible because of this it is also the larges format. I shoot ALL my pictures in RAW. Because of the large amount of information in a RAW image it makes editing it with photo software much easier you can make minute changes that you can't do with JEPEG. Only high end Photo software will work with RAW and no you can't upload RAW on Facebook, you must convert it back down to JEPEG once your done fine tuning your shot.

This.

RAW is also HUGE. Like, holy crap that's huge, huge. Generally speaking, most point-and-shoot cameras don't shoot in RAW, they just use mid to high resolution JPEG.

This. There is a setting on your camera where you can change your files to raw. Read your manual

Oh and, raw isn't going to help you with blurry photos. That's user error. Sure you can sharpen them up, but with dogs you have to be careful with how sharp you make them, otherwise they look funny.

Yeah, I notice I get the most blur with my lens that doesn't have IS.

So is there a difference in clearness of image between JPEG and RAW?

Also, I have Photoshop Lightroom 4. Just got it, trying to figure it out. I had CS5 on my last computer.

I shoot mostly with a 70-200mm f/4 lens without IS..



Pretty darn clear Practice, practice!

No, there really is no difference in clarity between the two. Like Keechak said, you have much more editing options with raw (you can tweak them a lot more), but you can only sharpen but so much, in either format.

I do most of my editing in LR, then put them all into CS5 and that's where I convert them into JPEG files for uploading to FB, etc.

Basically, it's easier to remove pixels than add them. Raw has tons of data, so you have more to work with when editing. They're also really great for printing because of the size.

Yep I use Adobe Lightroom as well but I export and convert them straight out of LR, I skip the PS part most of the time unless I want to do something more creative that LR doesn't do.

For instance I find LR to be pretty limited in it's ability to remove objects from an image it just doesn't do a very good job. So if there is a leash I want to remove or a chair in the background I don't want I will do that in PS.

Same here. In that pic I posted, that dog was wearing a leash, so into CS5 it went!

Also, how in the world do I make a watermark? Lol

You can make a watermark on photoshop and implement it with lightroom.

**** it...that means I have to download photoshop?

I couldn't find a way to do it earlier. Any other programs that I could make it with?

GIMP is free, though I'm not sure how well the quality would transfer into Photoshop. Although, if you're just sticking it in a corner or something, I doubt it'll matter.

^^ what she said, or use SmugMug.com to upload and host your photos, they do watermarks for you.