Raw Photography Explained in 60 Seconds

Do you need to shoot raw? What is raw photography?

If you’ve used digital cameras you might’ve come across the setting to choose between JPG and RAW output. JPG is what most cameras shoot by default, it’s the basic format you would get from your phone’s camera or from your small point and shoot camera. It looks good, it’s compressed to a small file size and it’s widely supported by basically every platform and application.

So why shoot raw then?

Capturing your photos in raw format means your camera will capture as much data as it’s able to. Raw has incredible potential if you’re going to do any kind of editing to your photos later, you can lift the underexposed parts of your image while still maintaining image quality. Or if a part of your photo is too bright you can bring down the highlights and your photo will still look good. If you’ve edited compressed formats you’re probably familiar with the old rule of thumb – whatever is overexposed is gone forever. There’s no bringing that part of the image back. In other words, it’s like someone wiped an eraser around the area that got overexposed. Even if you bring down the highlights later there’s nothing to recover when working with compressed formats like JPG.

So what if you’re shooting in good lighting and don’t need to edit pictures later?

If your goal is to use your photos straight out of the camera with no editing involved then you’re usually better off shooting JPG. JPG gives you great image quality in a much smaller file size so your photos won’t take up as much space, they’re easier and faster to transfer and as a format, JPG will be compatible with social media apps, websites and anywhere else you plan to use your photos. Many cameras will give you the option to shoot both JPG and Raw at the same time and that’s become my go-to for all my photography. Need to share a photo quickly and don’t care to polish it? Grab the JPG. Want to get creative and give your photos a unique look? Pull out the Raw files.

Some of our favorite entry-level cameras that can shoot raw photos

Canon EOS Rebel T7: https://amzn.to/3ZlFjBL

GoPro HERO 12 Black: https://amzn.to/46bb42F

Sony Alpha a6400: https://amzn.to/3RiPQMh

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