Customer Reviews

Understanding RAW Photography

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Understanding RAW Photography is a rare gem. In 140 pages, Andy Rouse explains the basics of how to deal with digital images from the photographer's point of view. This book is not 500 pages of fluff with some good information tossed in. It is a handbook of what steps the photographer must perform after the shutter is pressed.

Workflow is thoroughly discussed in 16 pages. Workflow is simply setting up the camera to shoot RAW file format, managing the RAW data, and editing/correcting the RAW data. This is tedious but not difficult work. Every DSLR camera manufacturer has their own proprietary software to deal with their own version of RAW data, so read the owner's manual for your camera and use the proprietary software or use freeware that accepts your camera's version of RAW data.

Chapter 2 "In the Field" has many excellent exposure tips, techniques for keeping the camera sensor clean, and backing up the camera memory card while on assignment.

The rest of the book deals with image editing, correction and processing, printing and digital asset management. These topics are discussed in a straight forward manner with enough information given so that the user can get an understanding of the process and then seek more advanced texts if greater detail is needed.

Every DSLR photographer today has the ability to become their own photo processing laboratory. Gone are the days of dropping off rolls of film at the processor's facility and then reviewing proof sheets or slides. Each user can set up the camera, capture the image, download the RAW files on to the computer, edit, correct, process and finally print the photos. This book helps the busy photographer understand and master this series of steps.

It is always difficult to give credence to any book about photography where the quality of the published pictures is suspect. The digital revolution as far as cameras are concerned have led those of us who were previously successful with film format into a whole new area of learning. Consequently, there are books and tutorial DVDs which seek to assist in that process of education. Those products generally fall into the 3 broad categories of Good, Not so good, and Abysmal.

In this case, however, we have an exception. This is a product which falls into the category of Excellent!

Quite seriously, this man knows his stuff, is able to take some pretty amazing photographs and also quite able to put his skills into book form so that we who wish to learn may do so.

His photography is of the highest calibre and, whilst I did not buy the book to look at his pictures - but, instead, purchased it in order to learn about RAW, I would have found it very difficult to accept anything written by someone who was not able to practise what they preach.

If you are at the stage where you also need to understand RAW, this is the book for you. It will not disappoint.

NM

-No, this isn't about down-and-dirty, raw, triple-x kinds of photo work. The "raw" refers to a special kind of computer file, used by the newest, digital still-cameras. As described in the book, it's a professional format that's clean, unaltered, uncompressed while in the camera...and seems to be slowly catching on everywhere, even though most amateurs (and some pros) still rely on the .jpg and .tif varieties of files. If you know nothing about .raw files, after reading "Understanding RAW Photography," you'll go away knowing something about them (maybe even lots more). You're encouraged to start experimenting and working with .raw files; but if you're beyond the introductory stage, the book will probably satisfy an urge for details.

Strange thing, though. Overall, this information-packed book seems less about ".raw" files and more about the total process of camera digitals to prints...no matter what kind of picture-format is used. -From selecting camera options to exposure to shooting to downloading to editing and even to hard-drive saving and filing...it's all covered. This is good; and it's interesting to read how one photog does it, but the material on the "RAW" gets noticeably thin. It's spread around all over. It's fragmented, well buried among many slow pages of how-to tutoring.

So, in the end, we're Still unsure about RAW's validity as a coming staple for the photo community. You know it's got to be a good thing, though, given the impressive personal wild-life pix the author's included throughout the edition. They're outstanding color pictures, especially as reproduced on the heavy, slightly-glossy pages of the book. -But is this because Andy specifically used the .raw file format...or are the pictures great because of all the post-shooting image altering, editing, tweaking, checking and changing he's done to his original .raw files? Can you get the same results with other, more commonly used, file formats? -It's not clear....

Too, author Rouse includes good info on "your greatest ally in the world of digital photography," says he. That would be: every photo's "histogram." -But for something so roundly important, why does Rouse assume everyone's already very familiar with it? He should have devoted one concise section on exactly what the histogram is, what it's for, what it does, what each of the graph lines means, what to look for in an "optimum" histogram. Instead, every now and then, he connects a photo to an illustration of its histogram graph and explains. Fuzzy histo-terms and curious histo-features included, it turns out, though, (for the new-comer on the subject) to be a vague explanation at best. If histograms are essential for digital shooters, then the author should have started at the beginning.

This reader's beyond the point-and-shoot digital arena but is not pro-experienced. -And he "learnt"* more than expected from this information-packed photography book. Even so, there's Still an inadequate feeling of full "understanding" of .raw, no matter what Rouse named his book. Indeed, the book's a worthwhile read for the rank amateur as well as good review for the professional...and is also valuable for in-betweens like myself. It works; but as for "Understanding RAW Files," (for some of us, I guess) this book's just a start.
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* Author Rouse actually uses this grammatical imperfection several times. At first, "learnt" seemed a distracting joke or a typo for the more correct "learned."

I purchased "Understanding RAW Photography" a few years ago, after I had been shooting in RAW format for a couple of years without really knowing what I was doing with the Adobe RAW converter in Photoshop. I was using Scott Kelby's Photoshop books, which included chapters on RAW, but I still didn't know much about the concept and the reasons for shooting RAW instead of JPGs.

In the introduction of the book, author Andy Rouse does a nice job of explaining why RAW is superior to JPG for photographers who want to process and edit their images using every bit of color information captured by their camera.

The information in the rest of the book covers Workflow Overview, In the Field, Editing Essentials, RAW Correction and Processing, Finishing Off, and Digital Asset Management. The book doesn't emphasize or focus on any particular editing software, but obviously Photoshop and other Adobe products like Elements and Lightroom are mentioned.

The 144-page book is a treasure trove of information that any photographer who shoots RAW format needs. The author assumes that the reader knows little about shooting and processing RAW, but the book moves steadily through the process and won't bore anyone who's not already an expert at RAW.

A recommended addition to almost any photographer's library.

I'm not a professional photographer but have always wanted to know more about RAW photography, the basics, and it's benefits, disadvantages, etc. I noticed this book in a bookstore near me and read some of it in the store. Even then I knew I had to order one through Amazon. After receiving it and reading more I am more excited than ever about how excellent this book is. This book is so well written and so well laid out. For me, it is just perfect.

Andy Rouse starts at the beginning with what RAW is and why it's so beneficial and important. He also reviews and makes comparison to other file formats. He then very clearly and logically lays out a work flow ALL the way from before you take the RAW photograph to loading and processing your images in your computer. This is what I have tried to find in many other books without success. While his references to software used is at times a little out of date this does not detract from the book at all because all you need to do is realize there may be more recent software you should look at to update his information. The work flow would not change, just some of the software.

His description of what to prioritize and in what order in processing the RAW files is especially informative and helpful to beginners as well as more experienced photographers. When I have read other books they usually inundate you with too many options to modify the images and get way too technical and confusing. Andy Rouse strikes just the perfect balance here describing the most important things to look at to optimize your photos and why.

The book is relatively short in length and medium format size, about 8 1/2 x 11. It is well illustrated with comparison photos as well as software screen shots. All in glossy rich color. This is a quality book in style and content. His manner of presentation, writing style, is clear and concise. The book has a deceptively large amount of useful information in a relatively short book.

I don't write too many reviews because I don't find too many amazing and wonderful things but this book is exceptional. Relatively small and easy to take with you I will be carrying this with me on vacations and short trips often just to review and reference many of the chapters. I know I will have this book next to me at the computer and be emulating his work flow to a great extent and paying attention to what he refers to as important issues to address in setting up your own personal work flow.

As I said before this is exactly what I had been looking for to find out about RAW, and the bonus was his excellent and well laid out description of work flow to handle your RAW files and make them great.

Although I am an experienced photographer I have not been brave enough to venture into the world of RAW photography. Wanting to optimize the quality of my photos, RAW seemed to be the next logical step. However, I was unable to find any books on the shelves of the local bookstores that provided more than a cursory overview of RAW. Certainly, none of my questions got answered. After reading reviews about this book on Amazon I decided to order. I was not dissappointed. The book is extremely well-written in layman's terms with examples so that even the most dense photographer (such as me) could figure out how to shoot in RAW. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone worried about striking out into new territory!!

I thought the book was superficial in dealing with the subject of raw photogrpahy. There were many great pictures but not enough depth in the coverage. I had the impression that the author was just trying to showcase his love of wild animal photography.

I purchased this and 2 other items, I have received this book and it was destroyed by shipping. I did receive another book intact and the the 3rd is lost somewhere. My review say's the whole damm thing sucks.