Q For The Mac Users Who Shoot In Raw

[j]

I've just finished doing a basic DSLR course and one of the things that was discussed was shooting in RAW. I knew it existed, but I've never done it, as I'm not really one for playing with my photos.

But now I've seen how much you can improve a photo

I have a Macbook Pro, which has iphoto installed on it. If you click the edit button, there seem to be the same controls that were on whatever the program we were using at the CIT were, exposure, saturation, contrast, definition, highlights etc.

My question is - do I need another program if I'm shooting in RAW, or will that do it? I'm not exactly sure what I need to be able to do it - my understanding is that you download the file then need to convert it to jpeg or whatever you're using? It was a really brief overview of RAW, so I would need to do something a bit more indepth before I launched into I think

[huga]

I use Lightroom, edit the RAW and then export as a jpg.

I've just had a try with iphoto - it's pretty clunky and cumbersome, but I guess it just depends on what you want out of it.

[j]

I use Lightroom, edit the RAW and then export as a jpg.

I've just had a try with iphoto - it's pretty clunky and cumbersome, but I guess it just depends on what you want out of it.

Thanks Huga

I don't know what I want out of it, because I've never used it before. I just didn't know if I "needed" to buy another program or if that was sufficient - the teacher wasn't a Mac user, so didn't know what it was capable of and whether it would do or not.

[huga]

Well, technically you don't need to. But if you feel like trying something else, you can always download a trial of lightroom.

[ruthless]

I use Lightroom too, but check the disks that came with your DSLR, there may be editing software on one.

[CrazyCresties]

If you trial Lightroom and like it, you can buy the software download from B&H for $130 USD, or go for a Creative Cloud subscription via Adobe. I love Lightroom and found it pretty intuitive to learn - the 'non destructive' editing element is brilliant!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/983326-REG/adobe_65215298_photoshop_lightroom_5_software.html

https://www.adobe.com/au/products/photoshop-lightroom.html

[teekay]

I used to use iPhoto, before I started to really persue photography as a hobby. Then I did the free trial of Lightroom and was totally sold. If you can afford it, it is totally worth it IMO.

[j]

Thanks all. Our teacher mentioned both Lightroom and Photoshop elements and said that one was better than the other for RAW and the other was better for manipulation, but I don't remember which was which.

Ruthless - stop being so practical :laugh: That would be like telling a man to read a manual (slaps forehead and writes mental note to have a look at the discs that came with the camera)

[Linda K]

I also use photoshop, and love it - as for shooting in raw, I wouldn't shoot any other way, I prefer to do my own editing, & not let the camera do it

[huga]

I use both. LR for ease of importing, culling and batch editing (a wedding is generally 1000+ RAW images). PS for finer stuff like cloning and slight tweaking here and there. I wouldn't be without either, but it's a necessity for me - not so much if you're just starting out and only taking a few shots here and there :)

[Ben's Dad]

I use Photoshop, only because I'm used to it.

There are other options out there as others have mentioned...

There is also the free "GIMP" program which doesn't work with RAW natively, but does have a plugin to convert http://howtogimp.com/raw-photos-with-gimp/

[PossumCorner]

Or there's Sagelight that Persephone put some of us onto a while ago. Cheap if not free: okay with RAW and good to mark time with until you get Photoshop and Lightroom. Perseph had some nice before/after links for some Sagelight work.