Wild Art: Photos of the Alliance Air Show, Swirll Winery and pics around town

by Laura Seewoester

Also, what the heck is RAW, and what's the difference between RAW and jpeg? And why is RAW always in all caps, it's kind of annoying.

This week we have more pics from around D/FW, a few shots of the Alliance Air Show and Swirll Winery. There is also an awesome photo of the Old Red Museum that makes it almost haunted (insert scary ghost sounds... wooooooohhhhhh). All images were submitted by our Pegasus News Flickr community.

Tips and Tricks

This week: RAW vs JPEG. A user mentioned in a caption that they had no idea what the difference between a RAW image and a regular jpg is. This is a pretty common question and I will do my best to explain the difference, and help you decide which is best to use. RAW is a format that is uncompressed or compressed but lossless. A JPEG is a compressed image, which results in some loss of the data (aka, it's "lossy." Yes, that is a technical term). Technically, that is the difference, but here is really what you need to know before making your decision on which to use.

The Pros

• With a RAW file you retain the maximum image detail. This is why they call it "lossless," because you retain everything possible to your camera's maximum capabilities.
• This is the biggie: you can make your adjustments with more precision and a minimal effect to the quality of the image. Everyone has tried to pull an amazing photo out of a shitty lighting situation in photoshop, and it pretty much never works without looking super "photoshopped." When shooting in RAW, you basically have a larger margin of error. You can bring out a dark photo without it looking as pixelated or you can bring down highlights a little better without looking gray and splotchy (to name a few examples).
• Less posterization. We all know what this is, but didn't realize it actually had a word. It's when you want your image really contrasty, and suddenly all these shades of red show up when you didn't realize there were reds in that part of the image and the whole thing just looks... digitalized, eek. Wikidpedia explains it better.

The Cons

• You don't get something for nothing. All that fantastic extra detail comes with a price. RAW files are ginormous, two to three times larger than a jpg, which means less images will fit on a card. This also means the write speed is slower. Depending on your camera, the slower write speed can be almost debilitating (like it was with my 10D).
• With a RAW file, processing is a requirement. Almost nothing will recognize a RAW file except the software to process it. There is no sending a RAW file to your friends who aren't camera buffs. You can't just shoot and upload and send right away. This means a slower turnaround time because every image has to be converted to another file type. And you know how it is, once you're already in Photoshop you can't just not start making adjustments...
• There is not a standard format for RAW files, meaning most cameras have a different one. Canon uses .CR2 files now, but they used to use .CRW. This means more software and software updates and frustration when you buy a new camera and the nice, cheap editing software you use doesn't work with the damn files anymore. Why Nikon and Canon and everyone else doesn't just pick one, well, I'm not tech savvy enough to tell you.

So now, which to choose? I say play around a little with RAW on photos that are not important (don't try it at your grandmother's 80th birthday party) and see if you like it. Most people don't shoot only RAW, because it's not always practical. Even professionals shoot in jpeg quite often. Imagine editing 1,000 wedding reception photos and having to convert them to a jpeg one at a time. (I have actually accidentally shot a wedding reception all in RAW. It was horrible.) The point here is to take into consideration every situation. Here is another good article to skim that also offers some software suggestions. A good rule of thumb I use is if the lighting is horrible, I shoot RAW. If it's something I possibly want to make poster sized: RAW. If it's sports or I need speed either while shooting, or I'm on a time crunch: jpg all the way. If you're shooting sports at night, well, good luck with that. As always, if you have any further questions or suggestions, do not hestiate to drop me a line.

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