A couple of questions

[Kandiwilde]

Last week I upgraded my Nikon D60 to a Nikon D3200 and I made a new years resolution to become a better photographer as with my D60 I never took it out of Auto. So I have a few questions...

1) I really want to shoot in raw but I like the idea of having the jpeg as well. Do any of you shoot in the RAW+Jpeg option and is it worth it?

2) I currently have 2 sandisk 16gb level 10 memory cards but it is only showing that if I shoot in raw+jpeg I can get 350 images on the card. Is it best to not use the large size image and use the smaller medium image so I can get more images on my card? I've seen some threads where people can get way more raw+jpeg images on a smaller card than what I can get on the 16gb. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong on this one or what is best. What size do most of you shoot in?

3) Should I go for lightroom or photoshop? Is it easy to convert the raw files to jpeg for sharing once I have finished processing them?

4) How do you make the jump from auto to manual mode without screwing up too many pictures?

Thanks for any advice that you can give me, I really appreciate it

 

[photo_chick]

1. I personally don't see the point in shooting RAW + jpeg because you can always use a preset to process your RAW files if you don't . But other people like to shoot that way. To each his own. If it works for you, go with it.

2. Always shoot with the best image quality your camera can. Memory cards are relatively cheap and you never know what you may want to do with those files in the future.

3. If it's a choice between Lightroom and Photoshop I usually say Photoshop because it can do everything image editing wise Lightroom can and a whole lot more. While I find Lightroom's image management capabilities to be a huge benefit to my workflow, I could not work at all without Photoshop.

4. You don't. You're going to have a lot of poor technical quality shots until you really get a handle on the technical side of things. It's the nature of learning the craft.

 

[havoc315]

Last week I upgraded my Nikon D60 to a Nikon D3200 and I made a new years resolution to become a better photographer as with my D60 I never took it out of Auto. So I have a few questions...

1) I really want to shoot in raw but I like the idea of having the jpeg as well.
Do any of you shoot in the RAW+Jpeg option and is it worth it?

I don't often shoot that way, but I did it a lot when I first started learning RAW. Eventually, as I learned to process my RAW files, and started to always prefer my own post-processing, I stopped using jpegs. But lately, I've started using the RAW+JPEG modes again for some types of pictures. For example, I like how my camera processes portrait jpegs. So I'll shoot those in RAW+JPEG. Using the RAWs only as a "backup."


I'd suggest definitely starting out with RAW+JPEG. As you process your RAW file, compare it to the camera jpeg. Figure out how they differ, how you can improve. It's a good learning exercise.

2) I currently have 2 sandisk 16gb level 10 memory cards but it is only showing that if I shoot in raw+jpeg I can get 350 images on the card. Is it best to not use the large size image and use the smaller medium image so I can get more images on my card? I've seen some threads where people can get way more raw+jpeg images on a smaller card than what I can get on the 16gb. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong on this one or what is best. What size do most of you shoot in?

Personal preference and depends on how large of a size you may ultimately want to print or share.

3) Should I go for lightroom or photoshop? Is it easy to convert the raw files to jpeg for sharing once I have finished processing them?

For pure RAW processing, Lightroom is better. Very intuitive, very easy sharing. Very easy to bulk process. Very easy to organize tons of images. Photoshop is better for getting into the nitty gritty of editing a single image. Not simply adjusting the RAW exposure, but changing the actual content of the image. (deleting objects, for example).

4) How do you make the jump from auto to manual mode without screwing up too many pictures?

Practice!! And take tons of pictures! And if you have the time while you are learning, take the same shot in Auto mode and in manual mode. It all will come with practice though.

Thanks for any advice that you can give me, I really appreciate it

Good luck. Just don't be afraid to get out there and shoot shoot shoot.

 

[Kandiwilde]

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

Hopefully by the time I get to Disney in August I will be taking my photos using something other than Auto mode. I've been trying to read 'Understanding Exposure' but it's making my head hurt, maybe I'm just too dumb for this

 

[Nayan]

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

Hopefully by the time I get to Disney in August I will be taking my photos using something other than Auto mode. I've been trying to read 'Understanding Exposure' but it's making my head hurt, maybe I'm just too dumb for this

No you are not dumb! I have the same issue trying to understand what they're saying through reading. What I have been doing though is looking at other photography sites, especially specific ones like how to shoot flowers, fireworks, fountains, etc. I look at what settings they used to take the photo, write it down, then go practice myself. It is slowly sinking in plus I am actually using my camera so it's a win-win.

 

[Kandiwilde]

No you are not dumb! I have the same issue trying to understand what they're saying through reading. What I have been doing though is looking at other photography sites, especially specific ones like how to shoot flowers, fireworks, fountains, etc. I look at what settings they used to take the photo, write it down, then go practice myself. It is slowly sinking in plus I am actually using my camera so it's a win-win.

I'm starting to think my dyscalculia is partly to blame for my struggle to understand some of the more technical issues. My brain struggles with numbers and this could be making understanding f stops and ISO a bit more difficult. Trust me to love something that my brain hates.

 

[fla4fun]

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

Hopefully by the time I get to Disney in August I will be taking my photos using something other than Auto mode. I've been trying to read 'Understanding Exposure' but it's making my head hurt, maybe I'm just too dumb for this

You aren't dumb - you're just learning something new. It takes time and practice.

You don't have to be completely off Auto when you go to Disney. It has it's uses. Sometimes a photo opportunity comes up quickly and you just have to point and snap. I've had my new DSLR almost three months now, and I'm still learning as well. When I have the chance, I take the same photo with a lot of different modes and settings just to see how it changes the result. You wouldn't believe how many photos I have of the ceiling fan in my living room, lol! Even at Disney, I've just taken time out to explore and experiment with the camera, and I find I'm noticing a lot of details in the parks I hadn't really paid attention to before.

I'm fortunate in that I live close to WDW so I can practice with the camera any time I want to. My goal to to get good photos on the dark rides like I used to when I shot film.

 

[Kandiwilde]

You aren't dumb - you're just learning something new. It takes time and practice.

You don't have to be completely off Auto when you go to Disney. It has it's uses. Sometimes a photo opportunity comes up quickly and you just have to point and snap. I've had my new DSLR almost three months now, and I'm still learning as well. When I have the chance, I take the same photo with a lot of different modes and settings just to see how it changes the result. You wouldn't believe how many photos I have of the ceiling fan in my living room, lol! Even at Disney, I've just taken time out to explore and experiment with the camera, and I find I'm noticing a lot of details in the parks I hadn't really paid attention to before.

I'm fortunate in that I live close to WDW so I can practice with the camera any time I want to. My goal to to get good photos on the dark rides like I used to when I shot film.

I wish I lived closer to WDW. The grey winter in the UK is not inspiring me to take photos at all. I'm longing for the sun!! I may go to the Natural History museum next week and see what shots I can get there.

 

[SrisonS]

I'd highly suggest getting LIghtroom. It's very easy to use. Has great photo management. And you can still do a lot with your photos. You can also download free trial versions of each.

 

[Kandiwilde]

I'd highly suggest getting LIghtroom. It's very easy to use. Has great photo management. And you can still do a lot with your photos. You can also download free trial versions of each.

My gut is telling me to go with Lightroom, do you know if I could get student discount as my brother is at university?

 

[mom2rtk]

My gut is telling me to go with Lightroom, do you know if I could get student discount as my brother is at university?

I'm sure he could order it with a discount and I suppose install it on your computer.

I bought it with an educational discount with my son's high school ID. Got a great deal too.

 

[brie182]

I shoot only raw. It's easy to turn them into Jpegs. I also use lightroom as my organizer and photoshop to edit.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I stayed with jpgs while learning to shoot in manual. Once I mastered that I turned my attention to shooting raw and learning processing. It just was a lot of learning and mastering at once.

And Lightroom is fairly easy but it definitely doesn't hold a candle to photoshop.

Good luck!

 

[SkaGoat]

I suggest if you are planning on getting Lightroom to only shoot RAW and not worry about RAW+JPEG. It's fairly straight forward to export JPEGs from Lightroom, and even directly into sharing sites like Facebook & Flickr.

Instead of going straight from Auto to Manual, why not try and get the hang of Aperture Priority (A) and Shutter Priority (S) first.

To this day I spend 95% of the time in Aperture priority, very rarely use full manual.

 

[havoc315]

I stayed with jpgs while learning to shoot in manual. Once I mastered that I turned my attention to shooting raw and learning processing. It just was a lot of learning and mastering at once.

And Lightroom is fairly easy but it definitely doesn't hold a candle to photoshop.

Good luck!

And I feel photoshop doesn't hold a candle to lightroom! Lol.
It really depends what you use it for.
Heavy duty editing-- you can do a thousand times more with Photoshop.
But if you are importing 1,000 RAW pictures... Organizing them, and doing raw processing to them.. Lightroom is far more streamlined and efficient than Photoshop.

I love going into metadata in my lightroom catalog... And having the ability to pull up every picture I took in 2011 using my 50mm lens.

Photoshop and Lightroom have a lot of overlapping capabilities but they are designed for very different uses. Photoshop is designed for getting into the nitty gritty of a single image at a time. Lightroom is meant for handling your entire library, including turning all your RAWs into properly processed jpegs.

 

[photo_chick]

And I feel photoshop doesn't hold a candle to lightroom! Lol.
It really depends what you use it for.
Heavy duty editing-- you can do a thousand times more with Photoshop.
But if you are importing 1,000 RAW pictures... Organizing them, and doing raw processing to them.. Lightroom is far more streamlined and efficient than Photoshop.

I love going into metadata in my lightroom catalog... And having the ability to pull up every picture I took in 2011 using my 50mm lens.

Photoshop and Lightroom have a lot of overlapping capabilities but they are designed for very different uses. Photoshop is designed for getting into the nitty gritty of a single image at a time. Lightroom is meant for handling your entire library, including turning all your RAWs into properly processed jpegs.

Photoshop does batch editing very well. Actually better than LR if you set it up the right way. It is not designed to handle only one image at a time. Lightroom, at it's heart, is an extremely pared down version of Photoshop merged with Bridge. I'm not saying it's not great software. I use it daily for image management and basic RAW processing. But it can't substitute for Photoshop when it comes to image editing. If you think it can then you're missing a whole lot that Photoshop can do.

 

[havoc315]

Photoshop does batch editing very well. Actually better than LR if you set it up the right way. It is not designed to handle only one image at a time. Lightroom, at it's heart, is an extremely pared down version of Photoshop merged with Bridge. I'm not saying it's not great software. I use it daily for image management and basic RAW processing. But it can't substitute for Photoshop when it comes to image editing. If you think it can then you're missing a whole lot that Photoshop can do.

Yes... I said for image editing, you can do a thousand times more with Photoshop. For library management, I greatly prefer lightroom. Lightroom handles 90% of my post processing. Another 8% goes to Portrait Professional. Only 1-2 out of a 100 of my photos, do I then subject to a more advanced image editor. (I've used Photoshop, PSP, currently most OnOne Photo Suite)

 

[photo_chick]

Yes... I said for image editing, you can do a thousand times more with Photoshop. For library management, I greatly prefer lightroom. Lightroom handles 90% of my post processing. Another 8% goes to Portrait Professional. Only 1-2 out of a 100 of my photos, do I then subject to a more advanced image editor. (I've used Photoshop, PSP, currently most OnOne Photo Suite)

Photoshop tools actually give you greater control over even basic editing than Lightroom. I think that's where our views differ here. I do like OnOne's suite though. Especially Perfect Portrait. Very easy to use skin retouching tools.

 

[havoc315]

Photoshop tools actually give you greater control over even basic editing than Lightroom. I think that's where our views differ here. I do like OnOne's suite though. Especially Perfect Portrait. Very easy to use skin retouching tools.

For most of my photos, my only post processing is:
-Apply lens correction
-Crop, if appropriate
-Adjust WB if necessary
-adjust dynamic range -- shadows, highlights, blacks, whites
-Adjust contrast and brightness
-Occasionally some quick spot removal (not often)
-NR and masked sharpening
-Upload

Since that's it for my editing, I find it quicker to go through Lightroom.

For portraits, I basically replaced Perfect Portrait with Professional Portrait. (I think that's what it's called). It's much more powerful except need to sometimes really use restraint. It can re-shape faces, etc.

OnOne, if you are using the most recent suite, has added content aware brushes. (For erasing anything bigger than a tiny spot)

But what I like about OnOne is also their masking and layers software. No, it is not nearly as good and powerful as Photoshop. But I find it much faster and easier to use than Photoshop. (For my very limited use of masks. Maybe 3 pictures per year, lol).

 

[SkaGoat]

Photoshop tools actually give you greater control over even basic editing than Lightroom.

Photoshop is way overkill for many users. In fact I don't use it all, I use Apple's Aperture for organization and editing. I personally like how Aperture organizes photos a lot better, it's behind Lightroom in it's editing controls (but has been improving), but it's organization, and lack of a modal interface (like Lightroom has) makes it a lot better.