Before and After Raw Conversion - the power of Raw.

Beaver Lake near Winfield, BC.  Same image, before (right) and after (left).

I have written several blogs on the benefits of shooting in raw exposure mode.  One of the greatest reasons to choose raw over jpeg is that you have much detail in the shadows and highlights of an image.  This is especially useful when there are significant differences in lighting between important parts of the shot.

The above photo is a good example.  I took the picture by exposing for the sunny areas.  The Adirondack chairs were in deep shade and could hardly be seen.  Adjusting the blacks (very dark values) and shadows (mid-dark values) by increasing their luminosity (making them brighter) made them look as if they were filled with flash or exposed in the same light.  You could get a similar photo using HDR (high dynamic range) which involves bracketing over a wide range and compiling the pictures together, but you don't always end up with a natural-looking shot doing that.

If you have ever shot slide film, you would know that underexposing an image by a bit is far better than overexposing it by a bit.  Digital media is much the same; if you are going to make a mistake on exposure, underexposure is better than overexposure.  The reason is simple; there is a lot more information in the darks than in the lights.  Details can be nursed out from shadows whereas highlights are easily blown out leaving no information behind.

If you are shooting a scene where there are important details in differently lit areas, consider exposing for the brightly lit section and working on the shadows in post.  Doing it the other way around will likely produce less satisfactory results.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com