Raw V Jpeg

Somewhere, written down in the commandments of digital photography, there is an edict that states “Thou shalt only shoot RAW”
For as long as I have owned digital cameras, I too have followed this mantra, that RAW is the promised land of photographic perfection…. until a few months ago

I have been using fujifilm cameras on and off, for a number of years, there is something about the colour rendition I like in the way I shoot, Fujifilm are well documented in reviews for having a superb JPEG engine in camera but I persisted in being the RAW purist.

So, you ask, what has changed?

The way an amateur in any walk of life can improve their game, is to learn from the pros, so with the wealth of material that can be found online, I enjoy watching videos of how other photographers shoot and manage their post processing workflow.
It was after watching a YouTube video by Kevin Mullins, a well respected documentary and wedding photographer that sowed the seed of change, he was explaining how, in his journalism days, the workhorse camera was the Canon 1DX, he was telling a fellow journalist how he shot Jpegs with this particular camera.

His fellow journalist reponded in the manner that I used to think myself, until a few months ago, “You use a £5000 camera to shoot Jpeg”?
Kevin Mullin’s response was quite simply “You use a £5000 camera and you do not trust it?”

After feeling suitably inspired, I immediately changed my own camera to shoot Raw & Jpeg together for the first time, also learning how to customize the in camera film simulations to my liking, or at the very least a starting point with the flexibility to experiment.

Once I had returned from this first JPEG / RAW shoot, I imported my images into lightroom and began, through habit, to process the RAW images, only to notice that my RAW edit was very similar to the in camera JPEG.

With Fuji’s legacy of film development, they have brought this knowledge into the digital age, the classic chrome simulation, with its muted colours and contrasty style appeals to the way I see images, also the Across B&W simulation is also one I use a lot on my days out.

From my own perspective, I think perhaps I had become lazy by shooting RAW, if not lazy, complacent, by relying on post processing to correct my mistakes.
Shooting Jpeg has taught me to be more disciplined in getting the image right in camera again, perhaps treating it like my early days using film, where each exposure was precious if you were to get your moneys worth.

For any paid assignments, I will probably still use RAW as a backup, but for my own pleasure, I am enjoying that my workflow on the PC has reduced immensely, I enjoy editing but am taking pleasure from seeing an image and only perhaps cropping slightly and nothing more.

The images below, were all jpegs, on a low light shoot last night in Exeter, probably my most challenging and rewarding shoot since my photographic enlightenment