1st time using LR
- Thread starter run4fun
- Start date
I would, but it's a preference. There's more work to do in Post if you shoot in RAW (only because the camera doesn't do it for you like it does when you shoot JPG), but you can do so much more than the camera can after the fact in Lightroom.
I do like your shot though. HDR? Is that what's going on in the sky, or did it actually look like that?
RocketCowboy
Senior Member
I'm seeing different gradients in the sky, but I'm thinking it's artifacts from editing a jpeg in LR and then saving again. It feels over-exposed, or HDR'ed like @kluisi mentioned, but I'm pretty novice here with LR too.
My preference has been to shoot RAW, but I'll also shoot RAW+JPG at times (currently how my camera is set) so that I can compare the two images and decide how much time I'm willing to put into post.
I dig the composition, and think if this had been shot in RAW you'd have the flexibility to clean up what I think I'm seeing in the sky...
My preference has been to shoot RAW, but I'll also shoot RAW+JPG at times (currently how my camera is set) so that I can compare the two images and decide how much time I'm willing to put into post.
I dig the composition, and think if this had been shot in RAW you'd have the flexibility to clean up what I think I'm seeing in the sky...
I too see a lot of banding in the sky. The image just seemed "overworked" to me but that may just be personal preference.
I shoot nearly 100% in RAW. CS5 has a great .NEF converter so there is really no reason not to. Of course the files are a lot bigger than a .jpg, but RAW gives you more flexibility in tweaking even before you do any tweaking within the actual program.
I shoot nearly 100% in RAW. CS5 has a great .NEF converter so there is really no reason not to. Of course the files are a lot bigger than a .jpg, but RAW gives you more flexibility in tweaking even before you do any tweaking within the actual program.
Adobe does lossless editing in JPG too, which means,yes, you might as well be shooting Raw.
If you make edits in the JPG, and save it, lossless means the original is always preserved, and it simply saves your edit info (the list of changes, so to speak). Then if you look at that image in other software, lossless means it only sees the original JPG, it does not see your edits. So Lightroom needs to output a new JPG for all other software to see (anything not Lightroom). Lightroom knows how to apply those edits to the new copy it outputs.
So it might as well be Raw. Raw has more range, does not suffer the original JPG problems, does not shift the data back and forth, etc.
Raw is pretty much the idea.
It is true that Raw does not have the camera settings in it. But you can of course set any of those settings you want in Lightroom for it, with the huge advantage of being able to see it first, to know what it needs, and to get it like you want it. This is extreme advantage.
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I'd invite you to watch the video at Why shoot Raw?
Particularly the section starting about minute 7:40
Particularly the section starting about minute 7:40
Well the good news is that IMO everything below the horizon looks great to me, but the sky definitely needs some work (or maybe needs less work. I'm guessing you bumped the clarity, contrast, and/or sharpening up too high. Maybe you needed that for the ground, but you can use the gradient tool to apply those same edits to different parts of the image. Give it another try and see if you can even out the blue banding in the sky some.
You can create and automatically apply a preset on import. Although not hard, that may be more than you want to think about at this point in your learning, so try this instead: Shoot a few raw only shots and import them. In the develop module, turn on camera calibration. Click on the profile choices under camera calibration. Try each one and see what you like. Set it as the default. (alt key)
This might be enough of an initial tweak to put you at ease to shoot raw only. I shot Raw + jpg for awhile, but I was importing both and it made for clutter and confusion and was not helping my learning.
