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Last week, photographer extraordinaire Natalie Norton wrote a post here on DPS with 4 reasons not to write off shooting in automatic. And I totally agree that sometimes, as we climb the ladder (which never ends) towards ultimate knowledge (does it exist?) in our journey with photography (which also never ends), we can complicate things so much. Aren’t we all guilty of over thinking and forgetting our roots? The roots which made us fall in love with photography in the first place?
I would say (with complete confidence) that when we found our love for photography for the very first time, we all shot jpegs in automatic. And certainly, we need to move on, move up and learn learn learn. But don’t forget the joy you felt when you just shot because you loved it.
So following Natalie’s lead, here are my 4 reasons you shouldn’t underestimate the power of a jpeg (and why you just might want to go back to it from time to time)
Now, of course, my professional preference is shooting in raw. I’m a heavy editor type (and a control freak) and so I almost always shoot in raw because of the power and control it gives me. But don’t underestimate the times when shooting in jpeg could actually save your butt!
Challenge: If you have a camera that allows you to shoot in RAW + JPEG, give it a try! Take both images into your computer and see what the jpeg file compression did to help (or hurt) your image. This will help you understand the fundamental difference and envision the times you can picture yourself shooting in jpeg.
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