The Digital Photography Companion

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WORK WITH RAW FILES

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QuickTime Pro also has some nice playback choices. For example, try View→Present

Movie and choose Current Size from the Present At pop-up menu. en click the Play

button. You’ll experience a movie theater presentation right there on your computer.

Work with Raw Files

One of the great debates among advanced digital photographers is whether to use the

JPEG or raw (or both!) format for recording images. Each format is capable of producing

high-quality pictures, but when you shoot in JPEG mode, the camera processes the im-

age for you so that it’s complete when you upload it to your computer.

Images captured in raw format, on the other hand, are not complete when you transfer

them to your workstation. is process is more like taking a negative into a darkroom,

where you can adjust the white balance and exposure until you get the perfect image.

It’s true that you can make those same adjustments in postproduction with JPEGs, but

it’s different because you’re readjusting information that’s already been set. With raw,

you are actually mapping the original bits of information losslessly.

One of the battle cries of this book is “Good data in; good data out.” e better you

capture your shot, the easier it will be to produce high-quality output. Shooting in raw

mode means you can delay some difficult decisions until you’re in the comfort of your

own ...