Photography Adventures in JPG [Extra Fine]
Ayup! I think I'm done shooting RAW. My photography workflow with JPG (set to extra fine) is quicker, easier, leaner and ultimately, a lot less faffy.
Of course, shooting RAW comes with plenty of benefits. However, I'm not entirely convinced that they're always as worthwhile as we're led to believe. Especially with recent, ongoing developments in technology.
Obviously, most photographers, do, in fact, use RAW (or RAW & JPG) as their go-to set-up. Fair play. However, depending on your needs and requirements, I can't help but thinking it's just a massive waste of disk space. This is the anti-hoarder in me speaking. Too many files piling up on a memory card, hard drive or cloud service freaks me out a little bit.
Just JPG
I've had my camera set to RAW + JPG since I got it. No idea why. I guess, in the back of my mind, the RAW files were a backup just in case I need to revert back to the true original. As it turns out, I haven't needed to.
It's a relatively common notion that professionals who are serious about photography shoot RAW. While I'm not a professional, I am serious. Thus, I'd like to call assumptions similar to the below quote, somewhat outdated.
If you are serious about your photography, you should always shoot in Raw format. If you are just taking pictures of your family for fun, and you are OK with not taking advantage of the capabilities of your camera, then, by all means, shoot in JPEG.
Plenty of folks who take their craft seriously, whether professional, enthusiast or amateur, shoot JPG. There's no right or wrong, simply whatever's right for the individual photographer.
Here's why I'm a) ditching RAW, and b) seriously enjoying the improved workflow that shooting in JPG brings.
Extra Fine - Suits Just Fine
Sony Alpha cameras have the option to set your JPG captures to extra fine. I'd imagine other camera brands also have something similar. This basically provides a superior quality JPG with less compression and a larger file size.
It's verging slightly closer to RAW, while maintaining all the benefits of JPG. The tones, detail and sharpness quite literally blow my mind.
The image is compressed in the JPEG format and recorded using a higher quality than with [Fine].
Increased Productivity and Workflow (not to mention fun)
This entire process relates quite nicely to film photography. It forces you to get as much as possible right in-camera at the time of shooting. I've managed to dial in the exact look I want with just a few tweaks to one of Sony's creative looks.
BW (black and white)
Contrast: +8
Shadows: -8
Paired with aperture priority mode, this really rather basic adjustment produces consistently inspiring results. In most cases, it's better than I'd have ever been able to edit the photo in post. Happy days!
On returning from a photography trip, the last thing I want to be doing is spending days editing hundreds of photos. Thankfully, I no longer need to. Yes, I'll make small tweaks here and there. Possibly adding some vignette, sharpening and a mask or two, but that's usually it.
Rarely do I need to touch the exposure, contrast, highlight or shadows sliders in Lightroom. For me, this is a massive win! It saves so much time.
If I ever need or want to, plenty of the images I've captured would be good to go as they are. I really love this idea.
Modern cameras changed the ground rules. JPEG engines aren’t the crunchy dinosaurs we remember from the 2000s. Picture profiles are nuanced, highlight protection is smarter, and in-camera noise reduction isn’t a smear-fest anymore. On the workflow side, clients want speed, consistency, and files that slot straight into their channels. The best format is the one that gets them there at professional quality with minimal friction.
I Shoot JPG - What?
So there we have it. I'm now firmly in the camp of photographers that don't take their work seriously. And I'm more than OK with that.
Again, this process works for my own personal requirements. It certainly won't be for everyone, especially professional landscape and nature photographers, for example.
That said, I think JPG is enjoying a well-deserved resurgence, partly spurred on by film simulation modes and creative looks. These powerful little presets provide a certain visual aesthetic that's not always easy to achieve in post. Get it looking right in-camera, jobs a good'n!
It's quicker, easier, and even provides a new level of excitement and intrigue. Furthermore, the storage savings are colossal, which, as you know, satisfies the anti-hoarder in me.
