Everyone photographs in raw, there are no exceptions

Friday 27 August 2021, 16:08 by Nando Harmsen | 5,657 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

You have photographers who shoot in jpeg file format, and photographers who shoot in raw. That is what we always tell each other. But I say that everyone photographs in raw, without exception. Even those who set their camera to jpeg. I'll explain how that works.

As you probably hear everywhere, shooting in raw is the way to make maximum use of your camera's capabilities. It allows you to use all the available image information contained in the raw file. If necessary, of course.

This Nikon Z 6 II shows how the photos can be saved. Which do you prefer? A photo in raw or jpeg format? You undoubtedly have a good reason for your choice.
On the other side of the divide are the photographers who, despite all that advice, simply shoot in jpeg. Sometimes the reason is that they believe this is the only proper way to photograph. Sometimes it is due to a kind of fear of having to edit a raw file.

But what exactly is a JPEG photo from the camera? Do you really create a JPEG photo when you press the shutter button, or not? The answer may be surprising. You always create a raw file.

Recording digital light

Taking a photo is nothing more than recording an amount of light and a pattern of light. The digital sensor does not actually make a photo, but provides information about the amount and distribution of light. This is, of course, a very simplified explanation, but we should not make it too complicated either.

All that information about the light is stored in a digital file. Various additional information is then added to it: the EXIF data. This includes the exposure settings, colour profiles, picture styles or film simulations, contrast, colour saturation, sharpening and white balance.

The EXIF data contains all the information needed to create a JPEG, and more. In this example from Lightroom Classic, you can see some of the information from this photo next to the photo itself.

The difference between the raw photographer and the JPEG photographer

The raw photographer takes the raw file and edits it, using or not using the accompanying information I mentioned above. The raw photographer does this on their computer with the software of their choice. This gives them the freedom to change some settings.

The JPEG photographer leaves the editing of their raw file to the computer built into the camera. The camera generates a JPEG photo from that raw data using these built-in settings, which you can regard as a kind of 'presets'. As a JPEG photographer, you can choose from different 'presets' or even adjust them.

The appearance of your JPEG photo from the camera can be manipulated completely. On this Fujifilm GFX-50s, you can see several options, such as colour, sharpness, film simulation, highlights and shadows.

The JPEG photographer edits their photo too

This means that the JPEG photographer has already done their photo editing before taking the photo. Is your camera set to the landscape or portrait picture style? Have you chosen a Velvia film simulation or a neutral look?

Are you using an HDR function or increasing the dynamic range? Have you chosen a specific white balance, or adjusted the sharpening of your photo? Perhaps you chose black and white.

This photo is a JPEG from a Nikon Z fc, with the black and white picture style and a red filter added. The contrast was also increased in the camera. This is image editing in the camera.
All these settings affect the final result that comes out of the camera. They are the edits carried out on the unseen raw file in the camera. The JPEG photographer therefore uses their camera for the editing. The raw photographer does this afterwards on a computer and is not limited by the camera's setting options.

JPEG or raw is a personal choice

This is not intended to convince a JPEG photographer to shoot in raw. Far from it. But I do want to make it clear that the result a JPEG photographer gets depends entirely on the settings made on the camera. These may be your own settings, or settings chosen for you by the manufacturer.

In other words, you as a JPEG photographer have also edited the raw data from your sensor into a final result. Even if you use the default settings chosen for you by the manufacturer.

This photo was taken with the Velvia film simulation from a Fujifilm X100t camera. A special look that comes straight out of the camera as a JPEG.
Are you a JPEG photographer? Then I am very curious about your reason for shooting in JPEG. Do you also use the setting options your camera offers JPEG photographers? Share it in a comment below this post.

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