Shooting raw-on-your-d-slr

FREE WITH
PracticalPractical
Photography
RAWRAW
SHOOTING
✔RAW converter help ✔Workﬂow advice ✔Sharpness tips
✔White balance answers ✔Easy exposure ✔Contrast skills
onyour D-SLR
From this...
...to this
in 60 seconds!
HOW TOHOW TO
Get the best quality
& ultimate control

2 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 3
Welcomefrom Practical Photography editor Andrew James
■ Choosing a RAW converter 14
■ Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 18
■ Canon Digital Photo Professional 20
■ Capture One Pro 22
■ White balance 26
■ Exposure 30
■ Contrast 32
■ Saturation 34
■ Sharpening 36
OWNING A DIGITAL SLR and never
shooting RAW files is, I believe, a bit
like never taking the camera off auto.
You’re simply allowing an inanimate
object to control your creativity. I’m
not suggesting that you should only
ever shoot RAW, but I do believe that
when a new technology comes along
it’s up to us to make the most of it. In
the days when it was all film, unless
you had the facility to develop and
print your own pictures, you handed
control of that process over to a third
party. But now the opportunity to
control the whole image-making
process, from capture to print, is
easily available to all. When you start
shooting RAW you do add in an extra
layer of work. Instead of allowing the
camera to make many of those
THIS GUIDE IS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY...
RAW BASICS
RAW CONVERSION
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
■ What is RAW? 6
■ Camera settings 8
■ What’s possible with RAW 10
processing decisions for you and
presenting you with a JPEG, you can
take the RAW file and enhance it to
your heart’s content. Why wouldn’t
you want to? If anyone feels that
changing white balance, enhancing
contrast or boosting colours is
cheating, then in evidence I submit
filters, darkroom techniques, and
even the choice of films like Fuji
Velvia. Anyway, enjoy this booklet
and have fun with your photography.
Shooting RAW on your D-SLR is brought to you by
Practical Photography and is published by EMAP Active
Limited. No part of this booklet can be reproduced
without the publisher’s permission. For more about PP,
visit: www.practicalphotography.co.uk
Field guide editor: Ben Hawkins
Field guide art editor: Chris Rigby
Additional words/photography: Andrew James,
Chris Rutter, Ben Turner & Bob Martin
Additional production: Shane Collins
Additional design: Rob Holmes
3
and is published by EMAP Active
without the publisher’s permission. For more about PP,
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
EXTRA SETTINGS
■ Advanced contrast adjustments 40
■ There’s more... 42
CONTENTS
By shooting RAW, Andrew was able to
give the original blue-tinted scene a much
warmer appearance by adjusting the
white balance and boosting saturation.

RAW basicsRAW ﬁles are your gateway to ultimate image quality and
maximum control. Let’s start by weighing up the pros and
cons, and seeing exactly what can be achieved and how...
RAW basics
SHOOTING RAW ON YOUR D-SLR
RAW BASICS

What you’re about to learn in this booklet could change your photography forever, as we’re
going to show you everything that you need to know in order to master RAW. But don’t jump
into the deep end just yet. If you’re not sure what all the fuss is about then you need to bring
your knowledge up to date. Here’s our in a nutshell explanation of RAW and its key benefits...
WhatisRAW?
RAW is the name given to a whole group of image
file formats, including CRW, CR2 and NEF, which are
produced by digital cameras. Unlike normal image
formats, such as JPEG and TIFF, RAWs don’t contain the
finished image ready for viewing. Instead they contain
the unprocessed data that’s read directly from the
camera’s image sensor. At this stage it’s not really an
image, much like a beef sirloin joint isn’t roast beef,
but the finest quality raw ingredients are there waiting
to be turned into the finished article for all to enjoy. To
‘cook’ our RAWs we use a RAW converter software
package and this gives us loads of creative flexibility
for changing the appearance of our photos.
RAW ingredients
CONTROL
It’s not just the usual contrast and white balance
settings that we get to play with on the PC. Using a
decent RAW converter package (turn to page 14)
you have a massive amount of control, from
contrast adjustments with curves through to noise
smoothing. Also, some adjustments, such as
sharpening, are often far more sophisticated than
the methods employed by your camera so the
pictures look even better.
EASY ENHANCEMENTS
Making good-looking corrections and
enhancements to RAWs in a RAW converter is much
easier then the equivalent enhancement to a JPEG
using Photoshop or Elements. In just a couple of
minutes you can completely overhaul an image to
give it much more impact. Most corrections can be
made by dragging a few simple sliders.
FILE SIZE
Probably the biggest problem with RAW is the
saved file size. They are roughly three to four times
larger then the equivalent JPEG, so less images will
fit on a memory card. However, CompactFlash and
SD memory cards are becoming cheaper and
cheaper, so a couple of 1GB cards will cure this
problem for most people.
WRITE TIMES
Large files take longer to write to the memory card,
which means that you’ll rely heavily on your
camera’s buffer. The buffer is used to temporarily
store new shots as others are being saved.
However, the buffer is limited and can easily fill up
when taking loads of pictures in quick succession as
you would when shooting sports and wildlife. If it
does fill up, you’ll have to wait a few moments
before you can take another shot.
COMPATIBILITY
JPEGs are compatible with most software packages
because they have been around for years and are
strictly standardised. RAWs aren’t so accessible
however, because every model of camera produces
its own RAW file to a different specification.
Unfortunately, you need to install a compatible RAW
converter on your computer to view and enhance
the RAW images.
PROCESSING TIME
A RAW image generally needs to be converted into
a standard TIFF or JPEG before you can do much else
with it. This potentially adds an extra step to your
digital workflow and could hold up a busy pro
shooting press pictures. However, if you do need to
make any corrections to your images, you’ll
probably save hours with RAW because most
enhancements are quicker to make.
This original scene looks okay, but it’s flatter than we remember it and
a bit blue. All of the ingredients are here though, so a quick tweak in
the RAW converter and you get the punchy image on the right.
Thebenefits Thedrawbacks
RAW BASICS
QUALITY
RAW is a lossless format, unlike JPEG, which means
that all image detail is preserved. Correctly
processed RAW images are sharper, more detailed,
and contain more accurate colours. RAWs are also
recorded in a higher bit depth, commonly 12-bit or
14-bit, rather than the usual 8-bit. This extra
information can hold brighter highlights and darker
shadow details, and the tonality is smoother.
FLEXIBILITY
The RAW data is hardly touched by the camera’s
image processors before it is saved to the memory
card, which allows our computer to perform a lot of
the camera’s usual corrections post-capture. So if
we don’t get the white balance, contrast or
sharpness settings right when we take the shot, we
can correct this on the PC (turn to page 10). Even
poor exposures can be sorted, to a point.
ORIGINAL RAW
ENHANCED RAW

8 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR | 9
Before you can start to explore the creative potential
of RAW files you need to set your camera to shoot the
right image format. Every digital SLR and even some
compact cameras give you the choice of RAW mode in
the file format menu. This isn’t a complicated process,
but it’s still worth checking the options available on
your camera. Here’s how to set the Canon EOS 400D,
Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 to shoot RAW files…
Camerasettings
STEP 1: Before you can set the RAW format on the
EOS 400D you must be in one of the creative
exposure modes such as aperture-priority, shutter-
priority, program or manual. It doesn’t allow you to
use RAW in the automatic scene modes or the fully
automatic ‘green’ mode.
Step 2: Once you’ve set the exposure mode, press
the Menu button on the back of the camera to bring
up the first camera settings screen. Go to the Quality
menu and use the four navigation buttons to scroll
through to highlight the RAW option, and then press
the right-hand button to confirm the setting.
STEP 1: All Nikon cameras allow you to use RAW in
any of the exposure modes, but there are two ways
of setting the file format. The quickest way is to press
and hold the QUAL button on the bottom left of the
back of the camera.
STEP 2: While holding the QUAL button turn the rear
input dial to scroll through the format options on the
top LCD screen (shown in the bottom left corner)
until RAW is displayed, then release the QUAL button.
RAWTIP
Step 1: The easiest way to access the file formats on
the E-400 is to press the OK button while in any
shooting mode. This will activate the camera settings
on the rear LCD screen. Using the four-way navigation
buttons, highlight the file settings at the bottom of
the screen and then press OK again.
Step 2: This will open the file format options on the
rear LCD with the current format highlighted. To
change these you can scroll through the options
using the main input dial or the four-way navigation
buttons. Highlighting the RAW setting then pressing
the OK button will set the camera to RAW mode.
NIKON
D80
CANON
400D
OLYMPUS
E-400
You don’t have to sacrifice the convenience of shooting JPEG
images when you want to use RAW files. Most cameras allow
you to shoot both file formats simultaneously by setting
the appropriate option in the file format menu.
But why would you want to record duplicate
files of the same images? While there is no
doubt that RAW offers many more options
and potentially improved quality over JPEG,
you need the right software and extra
time to view and process RAW files. By
shooting JPEG images as well you can
quickly sort through your images, share
them with friends and family or even
get prints directly from your camera (or
memory card). Shooting two files for
each image does mean that you’ll need
more memory, but many cameras allow
you to choose a low quality JPEG option
to make these files as small as possible.
While these files won’t give you the
best images they will still be okay for
small prints or screen use.
RAW BASICS

Shooting RAW opens up a huge range of exciting corrections and
enhancements that you can apply to your pictures post-capture. You can
salvage pictures with poor colours and bring flat shots to life, but RAW
converters can’t perform miracles. There are still many things that you
must get right while you’re taking the shot to ensure your images are of
the highest quality. So what must you get right in-camera and what can
you get away with sorting back on the computer? Find out here…
What’spossible
withRAW
Aperture
You can’t change depth-of-field
once you’ve taken the shot. If you
want both close and distant objects
to be in sharp focus then you’ve no
option but to use a small aperture
(f/22). On the flip side, a wide
aperture (f/2.8) is needed if you
want just a thin band in your image
to be in sharp focus.
Shutter speed
Freezing quick subjects with a fast
shutter speed or blurring moving
subjects with a slow shutter speed
are other effects that are impossible
to accurately recreate using a RAW
conversion software package.
ISO
Using a fast ISO creates a grainy
effect known as noise. Although
many RAW converters have tools to
suppress the levels of noise, there
really is no substitute for using a
slow ISO (such as ISO 100) for really
smooth tones.
Exposure
Get the exposure as close as
possible in-camera. If you
overexpose a stop or so then your
highlights may block-out to pure
white and the detail will be
obliterated – not good! Drastically
underexposed shots will be too
noisy to be useful once brightened.
Focus
You can’t make a soft image sharp.
Once the detail has been blurred, it’s
lost forever. If you’ve focused poorly
or have visible camera shake in your
shots, then forget it.
ORIGINAL RAW
ENHANCED RAW
RAW files allow you to change
white balance post-capture
for improved colours.
RAW BASICS
White balance/tint
It doesn’t matter what white
balance you have selected when
you take the shot, you can always
override it in the RAW converter.
White balance is a software effect,
so opting to change it won’t
degrade the image at all.
Fine-tune exposure
Small adjustments to the exposure
won’t degrade the quality much at
all so you can tweak the exposure
to get your shots just right.
Darkening a touch may even
reduce noise levels.
Contrast
Don’t bother with any contrast
settings in your camera. Use the
contrast sliders, along with the
Levels and Curves tools, to get the
perfect contrast post-capture.
Sharpness
The sharpening controls offered in
RAW converters are far superior to
the options offered by your camera.
Just ignore your camera’s settings
as the RAW converter can override
this without degrading the quality.
Colour saturation
Whether you want to tone down a
colourful scene or give a flat shot
more impact, it makes sense to
make colour adjustments in the
RAW converter where you can
really see what you’re doing.
Get it right in-camera
Here are the major things that you
need to get right in-camera – if you
forget to pay attention to any of this
then RAW won’t help you at all.
The
possibilities
of RAW
Although we’d always
recommend that you get the
shot as close as possible in-
camera, you can actually control
quite a lot of settings back in the
RAW converter. Let’s take a quick
look at your post-capture options.

RAW conversionFor the best possible results you’ll need a RAW
converter that offers control and quality. Let’s
take a look at the best options and the basic
features needed to convert your ﬁrst RAW ﬁle.
RAW conversion
RAW CONVERSION

When you finally switch to shooting RAW instead of
JPEG, you will need to adjust your workflow slightly.
Unfortunately, this does mean adding one more step
early on but thankfully it will save you some time later
in the process and improve the end results too. To
make this step easier you need to choose the right
piece of software. Here are the best bundled – plus
one download-only software – RAW converters, and
over the page what we consider to be the best RAW
converter software packages out there…
RAWTIP
If you buy a new D-SLR soon
after its release, it’s likely that
your RAW converter won’t
support it straight away. New
cameras often have different
RAW files to other models, so
your software will need updating.
Check its website for updates or
click on the ‘Search for updates’
options in your software’s menu.
RAW CONVERSION
ChoosingaRAWconverter
CANON
DIGITAL PHOTO
PROFESSIONAL
Canon’s standard software is one of the most
comprehensive packages supplied with any
D-SLR. There’s a complete
range of options available,
the workflow is easy to use
and there are some really
nice touches. It offers you
the option of selecting the
PictureStyle, which can
produce some good results.
Overall, DPP is a pretty
damn good package.
BUNDLED
SOFTWARE
PROS AND CONS
✔Very comprehensive
for free software.
✔Enables you to make
the best use of
PictureStyles.
✘Not very intuitive
editing views.
NIKON
PICTURE PROJECT
Picture Project is supplied with all Nikon
D-SLRs (even the pro models) but it offers
little more than basic RAW adjustments. It’s
useful for organising your images but RAW
conversions can be a
pain in the backside. The
main reason for this is
that Nikon wants you to
invest in Capture NX
(turn the page for
details), which is their
excellent commercially
available software.
BUNDLED
SOFTWARE
PROS AND CONS
✔Comes free with
every Nikon D-SLR.
✔Excellent for
organising your files.
✘Converting RAWs is a
bit of a struggle.
SONY IMAGE
DATA CONVERTER
SR
While the name may sound less
than appealing, the software that
Sony bundles with the α100 is
one of the best you can get. All of
the options are accessible from the
Tools palette, so there’s no hunting
around for options. It’s not brilliant
for first-time users but you’d
struggle to think of any options
that are missing – it even has a
‘Send to Photoshop’ command,
which speeds up workflow.
PROS AND CONS
✔One click will send
the image to Photoshop.
✔Simple to navigate
layout, with plenty of
useful shortcuts.
✘Could be confusing
for new users.
BIBBLE LITE
$69 (around £36)
Only available as a download from www.
bibblelabs.com Bibble Lite has a lot to offer.
The main window may look a little on the
cluttered side but the
range of options is
second to none. In fact,
it even puts some of the
more expensive
software to shame.
Download the trial
version and give it a go
– we were quite
impressed by it.
PROS AND CONS
✔Amazing range of extra
features such as NoiseNinja.
✔Has a set-up wizard to help
you customise the software for
your needs.
✘The layout is quite cluttered
with the multitude of options.
While the name may sound less
than appealing, the software that
BUNDLED
SOFTWARE
DOWNLOAD
ONLY

RAW CONVERSION
ChoosingaRAWconverter
The best RAW converter software packages
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5 £70
You can convert most
types of RAW file using
Elements and it’s
actually pretty
comprehensive. A
RAW converter pops
up when you try to
open a RAW file,
where you can make
your adjustments and
then open the image
straight into Photoshop.
The controls are
extremely
comprehensive and
are laid out in a very
simple and intuitive
manner.
PROS AND CONS
✔You probably
already have
Elements installed.
✔Massive range of
RAW controls.
✘Not great for
converting batch loads
of RAWs.
APPLE
APERTURE £215
The question with Aperture was ‘can
Apple do for RAW workflow what it
did for the MP3 player?’. Well,
Aperture is certainly a good stab at it.
It is one of the most stylish, well
thought-out RAW converters on the
market right now but it’s doubtful that
many amateurs will benefit from its
many awesome features. It’s also
aimed primarily at Mac-using pro
photographers.
CAPTURE
ONE PRO £299
Perhaps the most comprehensive
RAW converter available, Capture
One Pro offers just about
everything you could want. There’s
an excellent browser, and a whole
host of editing and adjustment
options that will really help you get
the best from your RAW files. It’s
not the simplest package to use
but once you master it, you’ll be
loathed to use anything else.
PROS AND CONS
✔Offers excellent
workflow for most
photographers.
✔One of the most
comprehensive RAW
converters available.
✘Can be very confusing
for new users.
ADOBE
PHOTOSHOP
CS2 £500
If you’re really into digital photography,
no doubt you will already have CS2 and
there’s no surprise that it’s good for
converting RAW files. The layout and
options are pretty much the same as
those in Elements but there are a
couple of advanced extra options.
Whether or not you’ll use options such
as Lens Correction is a different matter.
PROS AND CONS
✔Plenty of
adjustment options.
✔Produces great
results with good levels
of sharpness.
✘Expensive but the
extra features make it
more than worthwhile.
PROS AND CONS
✔Offers some clever
features, such as the
virtual loupe.
✔Latest version can
browse multiple
storage devices.
✘Workflow is more
suited for professionals.
NIKON CAPTURE NX £119
Capture NX is
something of a
revolution as RAW
converters go. The
main reasons for this
are control points –
we think they are the
next big thing where
RAW converters are
concerned. They offer
precise control over
any part of your
image and allow you
unequalled editing
capacity. If only it
could convert files
from non-Nikon
cameras...
PROS AND CONS
✔Control points have
to be seen to be fully
appreciated.
✔Offers just about
everything you could
want from a RAW
converter.
✘Only converts
Nikon RAW files.

OPEN... EDIT...
SAVE...
Once you’ve finished making
adjustments don’t be
tempted to click the Save
button as all this will do is
save a copy of the image in
Adobe’s digital negative
format. Instead click OK to
open the converted RAW
straight into Photoshop – this
is great if you want to do
some more work on the
image, which is usually the
case. When you’re ready, save
the picture as you would any
other by going to File>Save
As. From the Format menu
select one of the following –
TIFF for maximum quality, PSD
if you’ve used layers and
want to keep them intact, or
JPEG to compress the images
so it takes up less disk space.
If you do decide to use JPEG
ensure that you use the
maximum quality setting and
try to only use it for images
that are ready for print as
re-saving JPEGs as JPEGs can
degrade the quality.
In Elements all you need to do
to bring your image into the
RAW converter is open it up as
you would any other image. This
can be done by first importing
them into the Organizer, or by
opening them directly, which is
what we’ll look at here.
Open Elements and go into
the Editor by clicking on Edit and
Enhance Photos from the
Welcome screen. Now all you
need to do is go to the File
menu at the top of the screen
and click Open. Browse through
to find your RAW files, as
normal, and double click on the
picture you want to open once
you’ve located it. In Windows
XP, you may be able to see a
preview of the selected image
at the bottom of the window,
which will help you determine
whether or not you’ve got the
right picture.
Working on your RAW files in
Elements is very simple as all of
the controls are pretty much on
the one screen. Down the right-
hand side you’ll see the main
controls, which adjust the
appearance of your image.
Before changing anything,
however, we’d always
recommend that you uncheck
the Auto boxes as these seldom
give good results.
1 These controls affect your
image’s white balance. The
white balance eyedropper is
located in the top-left corner of
the window.
Here’s your beginners’ guide to opening, editing and
saving your RAW files in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.
RAW CONVERSION
ConvertingyourfirstRAW
IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5
Click the Detail tab to reveal
a few more sliders, which
handle the fine detail in the
image. Before you move any
of these ensure you’re
viewing your image at 100%.
2 The Exposure and Brightness
sliders are used for fine-tuning
the exposure of the photo. The
Shadows and Contrast sliders are
mainly used for getting the
contrast of your shot just right.
Saturation is used to adjust the
strength of the colours.
3 At the top right is the Zoom
tool, which allows you to view the
fine detail. Double-click it to view
the image at 100% so every
image pixel is visible. Hold Alt and
click on the image to zoom out.
4 When zoomed in, use the Hand
tool to pan around the image to
inspect other areas.
5 The Shadows and Highlights
boxes show you areas of the
image that are so bright, dark or
overly saturated that detail is
being lost.
6 This can be used to change the
default positions for the sliders
and can also load the settings
from your previous conversion.
If you’re saving your
shots as JPEGs,
select the maximum
quality setting.
Click the Detail tab to reveal
3 4 5
6
1
2

A good quality RAW converter need not cost the world. Here’s an introduction
to Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, which comes free with its D-SLRs.
RAW CONVERSION
RAWTIP
To reset the RAW sliders
and settings if you’ve
make a mistake, go to
Adjustment>Revert to
shot settings.
IN DIGITAL PHOTO PROFESSIONAL
Click the RGB image
adjustment tab to view
more controls to enhance
the converted RAW. Here
you gain access to a great
curves tool and also the
option to add more colour
saturation to your image –
the other options here are
generally best ignored.
Select your images and
then click Batch Process to
save your edited RAWS as
TIFFs or JPEGs.
3
4 5
1
2
OPEN...
When you load Digital Photo
Professional (DPP) your screen
should be separated into two
windows. On the left is the
directory tree (click the folders
icon if you can’t see it) and on
the right is a list of thumbnail
images displaying all of the
RAW and JPEG files located in
the selected folder. First, use
the directory tree to find the
folder containing your RAW
images and, once the
thumbnails have loaded up,
double-click one to open it into
a separate editor window.
EDIT...
DPP is not the most intuitive package but
it’s all there if you know where to look. If
you can‘t see the tools and options at first
glance, then go to the main menu and
select View>Toolbar to bring them up. It’s
also helpful to remember that you can
either have a floating palette or a docked
one, as we have here – to achieve this go
to Tools>Preferences, click the Tools
palette tab and select Docking display.
1 At the top of the Tools palette is a
Brightness adjustment slider to change
the exposure of the image and below
this are options for setting the white
balance. You can either use the drop-
down menu of presets or click where it
says Click to directly select a neutral tone
in the image.
2 The Picture Style menu changes the
look and colours in the image to optimise
it for different situations such as
landscapes and portraits – they don’t
always work though, so use your own
judgement. Try the landscape setting if
there’s lots of blue sky in your shot.
3 Below the histogram, next to where it
says Linier, you can set the contrast of the
image. At the bottom of the dialogue box
are options to change the tone, colour
saturation and sharpness.
4 There is no zoom tool, so to zoom in on
your image use the options found under
the View menu or use these shortcuts –
Ctrl+1 to zoom 50%, Ctrl+2 to zoom
100%, Ctrl+3 to zoom 200% and Ctrl+4 to
fit the image to the window.
5 Under the Tools menu are options to
trim (crop) your image or to use the
Stamp tool, which helps remove marks
and blemishes from your RAWs. However,
this is not as effective as the Healing
Brush Tool and Clone Stamp Tool in
Photoshop Elements.
SAVE...
When you’re done editing,
click the cross at the top-right
of the image to close the
window – don’t worry, your
changes have already been
saved. Back in DPP’s browser,
select the image or images
you want to process and click
the Batch process icon at the
top right of the screen. You’ll
now see a new window that
lets you decide the batch
settings. From the top, click
Browse to choose a save
location for the images. For
the File format select either
TIFF or JPEG and tick Embed
ICC profile to ensure colour
accuracy. Now you have the
option of giving your batched
images a new name by
ticking New file name. When
you’re ready, click Execute to
save your image, which may
take a few minutes.

OPEN... EDIT...
SAVE...
To save your image, you must
first click the Process tab.
Enter a title for the image and
then select either TIFF of JPEG
from the File format menu.
Now click on the icon, which
looks like an open folder – it’s
the second icon from the left
under the Batch Editor
heading. This will bring up a
dialogue box that allows you
to choose where you want to
save your images. Either click
on the Select folder and
browse to choose your own
save location, or just click
Inside active collection, which
will create a Develops folder
in the same location as your
original RAW files. Click OK to
go back and click the icon on
the left, which looks like a red
cross hovering above a
rectangle. Your image will
begin processing and will be
saved into the chosen folder.
Learn the basics of Capture One Pro, one of the most powerful RAW packages
available, and enjoy unparalleled control and headache-free workflow.
RAW CONVERSION
IN CAPTURE ONE PRO
The Focus tab is used for
sharpening the fine detail. At
the top you can see a close-up
preview of an area of your
image with the sharpness
effect applied. Click on your
image to change the preview
area. The Amount slider is used
to change the intensity of the
sharpening, and Threshold is
used to reduce sharpening on
smoother areas to reduce
visible noise.
2 The Exposure tab contains the
all-important contrast and colour
saturation controls, including
Curve and Levels. The three
sliders seen at the top are for
exposure compensation (EC),
contrast (CC) and colour
saturation (CS or Sat).
3 Above the main image
preview you have controls for
rotating your image, zooming in
and out of your image, and
cropping them down. The
majority of the other icons here
are used for toggling various
preview modes on and off so are
not as important – hover over
these to reveal a brief insight into
what they do.
3
1
2
Capture One contains its own file
browser, which makes the
workflow amazingly efficient.
First click on the yellow folder
icon found at the top right
above the thumbnail images.
This will bring up the directory
tree shown on the left-hand side
of the screen (see below).
Navigate through the folders
and highlight the one that
contains your RAW images.
Capture One will then look
through it and bring up a list of
preview thumbnails. Simply click
on a thumbnail image to start
working on it.
The majority of Capture One’s
image editing tools are found
under the tabs located at the
right of the screen. Click onto
these to see a whole bunch of
additional options and sliders in
the grey pane on the far right
of the screen. Here we’ve
clicked on the Exposure tab...
1 Click the White Balance tab
to view a comprehensive set of
controls for fine-tuning and
removing colour casts. With this
option selected you can use the
eyedropper icon, found just
above the image, to select a
neutral tone for a quick white
balance correction.
Before you can process your
pics make sure you choose a
folder to save them in. Click on
the green folder icon to do this.
Before you can process yourBefore you can process your
pics make sure you choose a
The Focus tab is used for
sharpening the fine detail. At
the top you can see a close-up
preview of an area of your

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Image
enhancementTo maximise the potential of every image you’ll need to
familiarise yourself with the white balance, exposure and
contrast, saturation and sharpening controls. Here’s how...
Dull. Drab. Lifeless. But it’s
nothing a few tweaks on a RAW
conversion software package
can’t solve. A little saturation
enhancement here, a quick
exposure tweak there and, hey
presto, a brand new shot.

The ability to fine-tune the colour of your images is
one of the main advantages of shooting RAW. This
gives you the option of either getting a result that
accurately matches the colour of the original scene or,
just like using warm-up and cooling-down filters, to
create a particular mood or feel to your image.
Almost all RAW processing software gives you three
main ways of adjusting the white balance. As with
your camera, you can select from a range of preset
options such as daylight or cloudy, but unless you
forget to set it on your camera when you take the
shot, these don’t offer many advantages over shooting
JPEG. The two other options are to select a colour
temperature and tint using sliders, or using an
eyedropper to take a measurement from a neutral
area of your image.
There are pros and cons for all three options, but the
great thing about this is that you can always use a
combination of options to get the result you want. The
presets are the simplest to use, but offer few of the
creative or subtle adjustments of the individual sliders.
Using the color temperature sliders offers full control
and creativity, but relies on your judgment (and an
accurate monitor) to get the right results. And to make
use of the eyedropper you need a neutral tone in your
image to take a reading from. Let’s take a look at the
best way to use white balance to produce both neutral
and more creative results…
Whitebalance
RAWTIP
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Neutral or correct white balance
Matching the white balance to
the light source is the key to
getting neutral results. Using the
pre-set options will usually get
you close to the right colours,
although you’ll find that fine-
tuning the colour temperature
and tint sliders will allow you to
further fine-tune the results. This
does rely on your judgement and
an accurate screen though.
A better option, assuming
there’s a neutral grey or white
area in your image, is to use the
eyedropper tool. This is more
accurate and controllable than
using a basic automatic function,
as you can choose the area that
the software samples from. You
simply click the eyedropper on a
neutral area in the image and the
software does the rest.
This technique relies on
selecting the right area to take a
reading from, and even areas
that look neutral can contain
different coloured pixels, so you
will often find it easier if you
zoom in on the neutral area to
make sure that you click on the
right tone. It won’t always get it
right first time, so don’t be afraid
to click on the area a few times.
When using light or dark
neutral areas with the
eyedropper make sure that
the tones are within the
exposure limits of the image.
You can’t take readings from
burnt-out highlights or
shadows without any detail.
You’ll get the best results from
grey subjects, or white ones
that still contain some detail.
When using the white balance
eyedropper make sure that you
choose an area that you want to
appear neutral in your image.
eyedropper make sure that you
choose an area that you want toeyedropper make sure that you
choose an area that you want toeyedropper make sure that you
Auto white balance can work with
some subjects, but in this case the
large area of blue has caused the
colour of the image to be too warm.
Similar to setting the white balance
on your camera, RAW converters
offer preset options but you can
adjust them to suit your image.
AUTO WB
DAYLIGHT WB

2928 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Film photographers have been
manipulating colour by their
choice of film and filters for
years. So while neutral images
are technically correct, they
aren’t always right for the
subject or result that you want.
Adjusting the white balance of
your RAW files gives you the
option of warming up or cooling
down the colour of your images
without having to worry about
using filters.
The simplest way to achieve
this is to use the preset white
balance settings. So for a sunset
or sunrise choose the cloudy
preset to add a little extra
warmth or shade for a more
pronounced effect. While these
presets offer a good starting
point, you can get even greater
control by using the colour
temperature and tint sliders to
precisely adjust the colour of
your images.
With the colour temperature
slider, increasing the colour
temperature will produce
warmer results, and reducing it
will give cooler looking images.
The tint slider is used to adjust
the amount of green or magenta
in the image – moving it to the
right adds magenta that can be
useful for some sunrise or sunset
images, while moving it to the
left adds green.
Mixed light
sources
One of the most difficult
situations to deal with is when
you are shooting under lighting
with different colour
temperatures. The automatic
setting can often give acceptable
results, but taking a sample from
a neutral or white area using the
eyedropper tool gives you more
control and more convincing
results. Choose an area that is lit
by all or as many light sources as
possible and click the
eyedropper to find the most
convincing colour possible.
Creative white balance
Whitebalance
Choosing the correct preset
white balance for a neutral
result doesn’t always give
the best result.
Using a higher colour
temperature has a similar
effect to adding an 81B
warm-up filter.
For a cooler look select a
lower colour temperature
setting to give your image
a blue tone.
DAYLIGHT WB WARMER COOLER
EYEDROPPERAUTO WB
RAWTIPAfter adjusting the white balance make
sure that you check the exposure, as it can
affect the distribution of tones in your
image. This can mean highlights that still
retained detail at one white balance
setting can be pushed into overexposure
when you change the colour temperature.
Red shows
the burnt-out
highlights, while
blue shows the
shadow areas
lacking detail.

The exposure controls available in your RAW converter
are really a means of ﬁne-tuning your images, rather
than a replacement for getting it right in-camera. This
is because there are limits to the range of adjustments
that you can apply to the exposure before you start to
affect the quality of the image. Also, although you can
retrieve more shadow and highlight detail than you
can from a JPEG image, it’s still limited, especially in
the highlights. So although you still need to get the
exposure as close as possible when shooting, here’s
what you can achieve with most RAW converters.
The ﬁrst and most obvious control for adjusting the
exposure is usually an exposure compensation (or just
exposure) slider. This works in a similar way to
changing the exposure in-camera – slide the marker to
the right to make the image brighter or to the left to
make it darker. Many are also marked in stops just like
the exposure compensation on your camera.
The other controls available vary between software
packages, but are mainly there to control your images’
shadow detail, contrast and overall tonal distribution.
These controls will either take the form of sliders for
most adjustments, or curves for adjusting the contrast
and tones.
Exposure
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
BASIC EXPOSURE ADJUSTMENT
The RAW converter in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 uses sliders for all
adjustments, and works most effectively when used in the following order:
1 Exposure
Firstly, carefully adjust the Exposure
slider to get the highlights correctly
exposed. To do this move the slider
to the left or right until you can just
make out detail in the brightest
areas of your image.
2 Shadows
Once the highlights are correct you
can then move the Shadows slider
to the right to darken the shadows
if necessary. Again, it’s usually best
to move this until you can just make
out detail in the darkest areas of
your image.
3 Brightness
Similar to the Exposure slider, the
Brightness control lightens or
darkens your image when moved to
the left or right. The difference is
that unlike the Exposure control it
compresses either the highlights or
shadows to retain as much detail in
these as possible.
4 Contrast
This slider controls the contrast of
your image by adjusting the
midtone contrast. Moving it to the
right increases contrast, while
moving it to the left reduces it.
Although you can get an excellent idea of the exposure adjustments
needed on the preview image, most RAW converters also feature
warning facilities to ensure that you don’t lose highlight or shadow
detail. In Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 you can switch these on by using
the tick boxes at the top of the screen. These then display lost highlights
in red and shadows in blue. Rather than have these displays on all the
time, you can also hold down the Alt key while adjusting the exposure
or shadow sliders, and only the warnings will appear on the preview.
SHADOW AND HIGHLIGHT CLIPPING
ENHANCED EXPOSURE
ORIGINAL EXPOSURE

Most correctly exposed shots won’t need much
adjustment in your RAW converter. The exposure
controls come into their own when you want to make
the most of high or low contrast scenes that are almost
impossible to get right in-camera. Here’s how to use
the adjustments to deal with these types of shots…
Contrast
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
DEALING WITH HIGH
CONTRAST SCENES
RAW files can contain much more highlight and
shadow detail than JPEGs, so they can produce much
better results when the brightness range of the scene
exceeds the tonal range available from your digital
camera. Follow these steps to enhance your images...
1 Highlights
and shadows
The first steps to
making the most of
high contrast subjects
is to adjust the
Exposure and Shadow
sliders so that the
maximum amount of
detail is shown in the image. You’ll usually find that you
have to reduce the Exposure slider, and this will often
mean that the Shadow slider can be set to zero as the
exposure adjustment will naturally give dark shadows.
2 Contrast
Once you’ve got the maximum highlight and shadow
detail you can then use the Brightness and Contrast
sliders to adjust the image. If most of the image is too
dark you can increase the Brightness slider to
compensate. You will
also find that reducing
the Contrast slider will
help you to get the
maximum detail
through the whole
tonal range (reducing
it too much can make
your image look flat).
PROCESSED RAW
UNPROCESSED RAW
RAWTIP
RAW files are much better at retaining shadow
detail than highlights, so many people tend to
underexpose their digital images to err on the
safe side. This is generally a good idea, but be
careful not to underexpose your shots too much,
as the more you try to lighten the image the more
noise will be visible in the image. This becomes
even more visible if you boost the saturation and
apply high amounts of sharpening to your results.
So when exposing your RAW images try to shoot
so that the highlights just retain detail rather than
simply underexposing every shot.
DEALING WITH LOW
CONTRAST SCENES
Many average scenes can look a little flat and low
contrast when shooting in RAW. You’ll find that you
can boost the contrast a little to give your shots more
punch by adjusting them in your RAW converter. This
is where the Exposure, Shadow and Contrast sliders
really prove their worth. Follow these simple steps...
1 Highlights and shadows
With low contrast scenes you’ll find
that you need to boost both the
highlights and the shadows to get
results with more impact. Move the
Exposure slider until the brightest
highlights just retain some detail,
then move the Shadow slider to
the right until the darkest areas just
start to lose detail.
2 Contrast
The Brightness slider generally
doesn’t need much adjustment
with low contrast images, but you
may want to give the image
more punch by increasing the
Contrast slider until you are happy
with the image in the preview
window. How far you go with
these adjustments is very much
down to personal preference,
although watch out for noise if
your original image was
underexposed.
UNPROCESSED RAW
PROCESSED RAW

As the image is taken straight from the
sensor without any in-camera processing,
even the most perfectly exposed RAW image
of a brightly coloured subject can look a little
flat and dull. Like most other aspects of RAW
processing the solution is simple, and can
produce higher quality results than trying to
boost the saturation of JPEG images.
A saturation slider is the most common
control for this in RAW conversion software.
The adjustments that you make to the
saturation of your images are largely down to
personal preference. You can move the slider
to the right for punchy, highly saturated
images, or you can move the slider to the left
to remove saturation, and even produce
mono results in most software packages.
Be aware that there are some pitfalls to
watch out for when increasing the saturation
of your images. Similar to adjusting the
exposure, increasing the saturation too much
will mean you’ll start to lose detail in the
brightest areas. Trying to boost the colour of a
low saturation original too much can also
cause noise in the final image.
These problems aside, it’s still a better
quality option than boosting the saturation of
a JPEG, so here’s how to get the most out of
the saturation controls in Adobe Photoshop
Elements 5…
RAWTIP
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Saturation
1 Adjust the
exposure,
contrast and
white balance
If you adjust the
saturation first you’ll
find it difficult to get
your colours right, so
before you change the
saturation make sure
the contrast, exposure
and white balance are
correct. They don’t
have to be precisely
right, but ensure that
the image contains a
full range of tones
with no blown
highlights or shadows.
2 Adjust the saturation
Once you’ve adjusted the
exposure you can start adjusting
the colour saturation. For most
images you’ll find a value of
between +5 and +30 will be
enough to give the colours a
boost. Increasing the saturation
can cause changes to the overall
exposure, so it’s also useful to
tick the highlight clipping
warning box at the top of the
screen which shows when the
colours have gone too far.
Remember that the appearance of the
end result isn’t just down to saturation.
It’s also a combination of using the
exposure, contrast and saturation
controls. There’s no point simply
boosting the saturation without
adjusting the other controls to get the
most out of your image. So once you’ve
made the initial saturation adjustments
go back and check the exposure and
contrast again.
FINAL IMAGE
Take care not to go too far
when increasing saturation in
your RAW files. With brightly
coloured subjects it’s easy for
certain areas to go over the top
and lose detail. In this example
some of the red areas in
particular have become
unsightly blocks of colour.
OVER-
SATURATED
COLOURS
BOOSTING COLOUR
Getting the saturation right in your RAW converter gives
you better quality than later adjustments in Photoshop.
START IMAGE
Too much saturation
can result in blocking.
Too much saturation

Like many of the adjustments available with RAW,
sharpening can be applied in image-editing software
such as Photoshop. But applying it during the RAW
conversion stage produces sharper-looking images and
better quality results without increasing noise when
compared to JPEG or TIFF files. Even so, it’s always best
to apply the minimum amount of sharpening to your
images necessary to bring out detail, otherwise you’ll
still end up with noisy, over-sharpened results. Most
RAW conversion software packages offer a choice of
sharpening settings that use either presets such as
low, medium and high, or a slider control. Here’s how
to use the sharpening controls in Adobe Photoshop
Elements 5…
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Sharpening
Using high values of
sharpening can
cause ‘halos’ around
the detail and
increased noise, so
don’t overdo it. It’s
tempting to use
these settings, but
using values above
50 on the Sharpness
slider in Elements 5
can lead to noise
and image quality
problems.
TOO MUCH SHARPNESS
APPLYING SHARPNESS
RAW images can look a little soft when you come to print them,
but you need to get the settings right to avoid increased noise.
The controls in Elements 5 use a
simple slider to apply the
amount of sharpening to your
image. For most RAW images a
value of between 20 and 40
will give your shots enough
sharpening without introducing
too much noise.
The Luminance Smoothing
and Color Noise Reduction
sliders can normally be left on
their default settings of 0 and
25 for most images shot at low
ISO settings. You can increase
these for images shot at higher
ISO settings on your camera,
but the Luminance Smoothing
slider in particular tends to blur
fine detail. This means that you
have to apply more sharpening
to try to overcome this, which
introduces more noise, so they
cancel each other out and you’ll
still get less actual detail in your
final image.
NO SHARPENING WITH SHARPENING
OVER-SHARPENING
FINISHED IMAGE

EXTRA SETTINGS
Extra settings
It’s time to discover a few more advanced settings that
will improve workflow, help you extract a greater range
of tones and find even more detail in your RAW files...
Extra settings
Shooting into the light was always
going to result in too much contrast.
But we can use the more advanced
RAW converter features to sort this.

One of the most exciting things about RAW is that you
have access to extra highlight and shadow detail
that’s not available in the equivalent JPEG image. But
that’s not the end of the story because the knock-on
affect of this is that there is a greater range of tones
available in the midtones too. With all this extra
picture information available to us it would be a
shame not to make the most of it. So it’s time to bring
out the big guns. When it comes to contrast, you may
not be restricted to just moving a couple of simple
sliders. Packages such as Canon Digital Photo
Professional and Capture One Pro offer more advanced
Levels and Curves controls that allow us to balance the
contrast in even the most challenging scenes.
Advanced
contrast
adjustments
Probably the easier of the two tools to get to grips
with, Levels is mainly used for setting the black
and white points in the image. This means that
we’re ensuring our darkest tones are black and
the brightest tones are white, rather then varying
tones of grey as they often are in low contrast
scenes. The effect of this is one that you’ll never
get tired of. The contrast will be lifted and you’ll
have much more clarity and punch in your shots –
colours and shapes become much stronger as the
difference between tones is exaggerated.
To gauge where to set the black and white
points we use the histogram, which is essentially
just a fancy bar chart. Look for gaps between the
body of the graph and edges of the bounding
box, like the one shown here. If you spot any,
then all you need to do is drag the sliders at the
bottom corners of the histogram in to meet the
edges of the ‘mountain range’. With some
software there is also a third slider found in the
middle, which sets the brightness of the mid-
tones. Drag it to the left to make them lighter or
to the right to darken them.
ORIGINAL RAW
ENHANCED RAW
Curve
up/
down
A simple
curve like
this will
brighten
the midtones without affecting
the very dark tones or highlights
too much. Conversely, dragging
the line down to create the
opposite curve will darken the
midtones and make them richer.
‘S’ curve
This is
probably
the most
useful
shape. A
simple ‘S’
will darken the dark tones and
brighten the lighter tones,
increasing the midtone contrast.
The deeper the ‘S’ the stronger
the effect.
Inverse
‘S’ curve
Great for
contrasty
shots.
Pulling up
the bottom
of the graph brightens the
shadows, while the top anchor
point ensures the highlights are
not affected. Make sure the curve
doesn’t ﬂatten out in the middle.
RAWTIP
If you have a landscape with a
bright sky and dark foreground
you can convert two versions
of the same image, one
exposed for the sky and the
other for the foreground, and
merge them in Photoshop
using a large soft-edged Eraser.
EXTRA SETTINGS
LEVELS
Align the sliders
with the edges of
the histogram for
improved contrast.
CURVES
Using Curves is more of an art
than a science and mastering it
takes a bit of practice, but once
you have you’ll have access to
one of the most powerful contrast
tools available. Curves enables
you to change the brightness of
different tones in your image by
changing the shape of the
curve. This is done by
simply clicking and
dragging on the diagonal
line to add in little
anchor points. The best
way to learn what’s
going on is to try it out
for yourself, but to get
you started here are a
few of the most useful
shapes to try out…
ENHANCED RAW
ORIGINAL RAW

Here are just a handful of the more advanced controls, options and
features that the leading RAW converters offer. Master these and you’ll
gain even more control over your images.
There’smore...
Most converters give you the
option of saving your images as
8-bit or 16-bit TIFFs, while
Photoshop lets you choose the bit
depth before opening. On direct
comparison you probably won’t
notice any difference, but you just
have to know what to look for.
You may already know that
standard colour images offer 256
levels of brightness for each
channel – Red, Green and Blue.
This equates to 256 different
shades of grey. This is fine for the
majority of images because the
difference between tones is so
minimal that the pictures appear
perfectly smooth to the naked
eye. Problems arise, however, if
you want to make radical contrast
adjustments in Photoshop. The
difference between the grey
tones is exaggerated and the
smooth gradated areas turn into
obvious blocks of discrete colour –
this is known as banding.
16-bit files cope with this
much better. They contain double
the amount of information and
offer a whopping 65,536 shades
of grey. With a tonality this
smooth, you’re much less likely to
experience problems with
banding. 16-bit is ideal for any
images that you really want to
push to the limits in Photoshop,
or for black & white conversions
where the tonal quality is much
more important. There are
drawbacks though. 16-bit files are
twice the size of 8-bit files and
there’s a limit to what you can
actually do to a 16-bit picture.
You won’t be able to access many
of the filters in Photoshop until
you convert back to 8-bit.
Preserve your
colours
No matter what colour space
you use, you need to make sure
that Photoshop is looking at
your profile so it’s displaying
accurate colours. If you get a
warning when opening a picture
that says something along the
lines of ‘Embedded Profile
Mismatch’, select Use the
embedded profile and click OK.
EXTRA SETTINGS
Colour space is a subject that will
leave all but the most enthusiastic
and technical photographers stone
cold. However, it is important to
know the basics because accurate
and attractive colours hang in the
balance. There are loads of different
colour spaces to choose from (also
known as profiles) but there are
only two you really need to know…
Adobe 1998
This is mainly for the professional’s
among us. Most image libraries
require this standard, as it contains
a wider range of colours. It’s also
useful if you want to do a lot of
editing to your images in
Photoshop, as it’ll help to preserve
colour accuracy.
sRGB IEC61966-2.1
It’s not the most catchy name to
remember, admittedly, but sRGB is
the best option for the majority of
us. It’s particularly useful if the
image is for web use or is ready to
be printed.
16-bit or 8-bit
Choosing the
right colour space
TAG YOUR
BEST IMAGES
Most browsers allow you to
flag, tag or check your
favourite images as you’re
looking through them. This
allows you to quickly see
which ones you want to work
on and save. There’s usually an
icon or menu item that will tag
any pictures that you have
selected. If you want to process
the tagged images all at once,
there’s usually a menu option
that will automatically select
all tagged images so you can
click to batch process them.

Shooting raw-on-your-d-slr

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (13)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (7)

Similar to Shooting raw-on-your-d-slr

Similar to Shooting raw-on-your-d-slr (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Shooting raw-on-your-d-slr