The RAW power of Photography

Where does one start to becoming a decent photographer?

Of course now days the first step is to go on the Internet and look for articles giving tips on improving photography skills. The range of advice can be so vast that a simple beginner may find themselves getting lost rather quickly and consequently giving up. 

Three simple steps for a beginner might be to:

1.     Forget about buying a complex Single Lens Reflex (SLR) Camera. These are semi-proffesional to professional cameras that have very complex settings for different environments and lighting conditions. Simply use your current digital camera and improve on that before considering a camera upgrade.

2.     Purchase a tripod. This is a simple three legged platform used for mounting your camera on, giving it stability for clearer crisper photographs.

3.     Consider the Golden Hour. This is the time period just before the sun raises or just after it sets. The lighting during the golden hour is very soft and not very intense, allowing for bright, vibrant and colourful photograph results. This is most probably the best time for taking your pictures.

Let us not forget that many breath taking photographs on the Internet have had some sort of modification to them. There are a huge range of software out there that can manipulte photographs, giving them an even better look than the original image taken from the camera.  

If photo-manipulation is a path that you would like to explore, then consider taking photographs in RAW file format. RAW files can be manipulated by changing a vast variety of settings such as White Balance, Colour Balance,  Exposure etc without compromising the image quality.
Most people take photographs in Jpg format which can also be manipulated just like in RAW format. However, with Jpg it is the actual pixels of the image that are being manipulated and the more manipulation done, the more the quality of the image is compromised.

One down side to RAW file format is that it takes up more memory, which reduces the number of photographs that can be stored on the camera´s memory stick.

Not all photo-editing software can open RAW files, so be sure to check before making any purchases.  Alternatively, have a look for free or Open Source Software if purchasing software is not an option.

Any further information or comments regarding this article is welcome. Simply leave a comment with your thoughts.

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