Part SIX: Working For Yourself
You Have A Camera! What’s Next?
Today’s discussion is really only two questions for you, and the answer to them. You need to make two settings changes to your camera. One is about your image size and format, and it’s a rather long answer, and the second setting is, SET YOUR CAMERA to add a copyright to the image file.
In your camera, you can go to the menu and have the camera record a copyright notice in the file.
“What?" you ask… "I don’t want a giant copyright on my picture.”
Well rest assured, it isn’t visible. EVERY image created electronically, and handled by any digital device is looking at a series of ONES and ZEROS really. And inside that image file, is a chunk of ones and zeros that are a table of contents, or sorts, or introduction. It contains information about the photo: Where it was shot (GPS date if your camera can), copyright info, Color space the image was made in, file format, some basic geeky camera still like camera type, lens type, ISO, f-stop, aperture opening, focus distance, and more.
This table of contents, called an EXIF, Exchangeable image file format, is an image standard that digital things use to talk to each other and convey some basic info about the image file.
OK, so, now what?
Oh, SIMPLE. Set up your camera so that every image made, ADD’s some basic COPYRIGHT info to the image EXIF
For me, every push of the button and flip of the mirror and write sequence of the image sensor on the camera, means that the fancy NIKON Camera adds some basic info: © Bluefin Studios, and the current year. Hey, while we’re here, set a reminder for this upcoming January 2019, to remind you to go to your camera and change the COPYRIGHT date.
The next basic decision when you set up your camera’s settings will impact your images in a very large way.
How much it affects your photo depends on how do you want to process your images afterward? Are you going to just shoot, and post online? Shoot and print? Or, do you need to develop your image and tweet it here and there? Enhance the color, or try and enhance the range of light captured? Do you want to bring out more detail in the shadow? Or bring down the bright whites?
The basic decision first confronting photographers, is: Do I shoot JPG, or JPEG? Most of you know, JPG, or JPEG, is the most common type of image found online. Most camera phones shoot this file format. Most cameras do too.
Most decent DSLR’s and Mirrorless Camera’s like Sony’s A7 series, shoot RAW as well. Many Point and Shoot are now including it, too. Curiously ,you can also shoot RAW on your iPhones, now, too!
Well, what hell? What’s with all the Alphabet soup here?
Common File Formats found in today’s cameras are JPG, RAW, NEF, CRW, ARW/SR2/SRF, ORF, PEF
So, again, what the hell is this mess? There are really two basic file formats: JPG and RAW. What brand camera determines what Flavor of RAW you shoot. So, what is JPG and what is RAW?
JPG is an image that is Lossy Compression. Meaning, an image that, in order to save space in memory, makes some choices in image quality, for size of image. You can adjust how much LOSS of image quality you get by adjusting how much compression (used to create smaller image size files) when saving. It’s all choice between picking the right side file and loss of quality.
RAW images capture ALL of the information of your camera’s sensor. ALL.
After those two, it really is all about the brand: Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, and Pentax.
NEF is Nikon Electronic Format, and Nikon’s name for capturing a RAW image. Lossless file, on a 36Megapixel camera could be 46 MB CRW is Canon’s older RAW file format, written in CIFF, Canon Image File Format, which is structured similar to a TIFF file. CR2 is Canon’s newer file format, still CIFF
ARW/SR2/SRF is Sony’s version of RAW image files. Sony RAW Image FILE format. It's based on the TIFF, or TAG Image File Format and is similar to other RAW files from Sony cameras, like SR2 and SRF. ORF is Olympus’ RAW image file format. PEF is Pentax’ RAW image file format.
Size Matters
Don't know what lies you've been told, but, size does matter.
If all you are doing is shooting, and posting to Facebook, why capture a massive file? Shoot JPG.
A typical uncompressed, 14bit RAW image at 24 Megapixels, can be as large as 51 MB. A typical JPG image from a camera can be as small as 1 to 2 MB, and as large as a 10 MB file, for the same camera, depending what you set for the file compression in camera. Basically, in the menu of your camera, it will allow you to set what file size you want to save.
FOR ME, my camera shoots with 2 Memory cards. I choose to shoot largest RAW possible on the first card, and JPG with medium file size for the backup. My camera cards can hold about 800, and I always carry a space card for the RAW storage slot.
I have some software that allows my computer to translate the RAW image into something my computer can understand, and my photo processing software can handle for me to make any POST image capture processing, such as adding some sharpness, or making the shadows less dark, or any number of other filters or processes to change the basic RAW image file.
So, why shoot RAW?
- Highest quality of image out of camera sensor
- MOST important, when you edit and make changes, you are not working on the original, you’re working on “versions” and able to go back to original file, without any edits.
- Greater dynamic range, easier to “fix” overexposed, or underexposed images.
- Easy to correct white balance, later in post processing.
- More control and greater flexibility in Noise Reduction in Lightroom and Photoshop.
About the only big drawback is, it’s a bit more work. Essentially, you have to go into some digital darkroom (Camera RAW, or Lightroom, etc), and do some “developing” to get an image for display, or print.
Up next, My work flow, from prep, to camera, to computer, to the digital darkroom.
Part 5 WORK for yourself: My Machine, My Hardware!
Part 4 WORK for yourself: More Stuff? More Money!
Part 3 WORK for yourself: Camera? What Camera?
Part 2 WORK For Yourself: Wait? You Charge HOW Much?
Part 1 WORK for Yourself: How Much Can I Make?
