In the realm of the digital SLR (and some compact cameras), RAW has always been an option and a source of debate among photographers. In my humble opinion, the RAW file format is not about using a format that is BETTER than JPEG but is about making the best use of what you’ve got for your equipment.

There have been numerous articles written about the virtues of using the RAW format and one of the best (and easiest to digest) is located at the much respected photography website, Luminous Landscape. Please read this article before you proceed with this posting. It manages to summarize and explain the technicalities of RAW in a simple manner.

As these articles serve much to explain about the technical aspects of RAW, I am writing this post to complement them and also to make one understand better the philosophy of RAW.

Since the days of silver halide (B&W film), film photography has been about (with deep reverence to Ansel Adams) the camera, the negative and the print. Loosely explained, fine art photography is about

1) using the camera to capture the light coming from the subject onto the negative
2) the negative which has light sensitive chemicals that react to this captured light (various chemical solutions can be employed post capture to give different effects)
3) transfering the image captured by the negative onto light sensitive paper i.e. the print (again various chemical solutions can be employed to give different effects)

This gives the photographer complete control over the final resulting print as he/she can dictate the processes with which to handle these 3 aforementioned elements.

Moving forward to the era of the colour negative film, the photographer still has command over his camera and choice of negatives but due to

- colour film chemicals being more poisonous
- extra controls needed to process colour film

With these in mind, the photog has now the choice of sending his film to the lab for processing and printing. At the lab, elements 2 and 3 are thus left in the control of the lab technicians and whatever AI their processing machines employ.

Today, we once again have TRUE control of all 3 elements. Employing powerful software such as the various RAW converters on the market and the ubiquitous Adobe Photoshop, we, as photographers, have it real good. I must add that the 3rd element, the print, is still a choice many choose not to dive into unless he/she is willing to

- invest in a good photo printer
- invest in good ink and photo paper
- learn a bit more about colour profiling for printers and monitors

Often, we choose to simply do steps 1 and 2 and send the file to the lab to print (leaving element 3 in their hands).

So the question that remains, why should we use the JPEG format on the camera?

- if we do not have enough storage cards
- if we seldom or never print larger than 4R
- if we only produce images for viewing over the web.

It is ironic that often times when I speak to photogs who choose to use JPEG over RAW that their reasons are due misconceptions about why RAW exists for us as a choice.