By using Auto WB, there is one less thing that must be monitored and adjusted.Ĭanon provides many Picture Styles-Neutral, Standard, Landscape, Portrait, Faithful, Auto-that can be set which send instructions to the camera about how the embedded JPEG in a RAW file or a JPEG alone should be processed in-camera. With a RAW file, it is easy enough to adjust the white balance after the fact with no loss of quality. While I still do this sometimes-such as when using only flash to light the subject or the Milky Way-I now leave the setting at Auto white balance most of the time. If I shot only RAW, most people would have a difficult time viewing them.īecause I formerly shot JPEG and RAW, I usually set the white balance to match the prevailing light. Now the only time I shoot a JPEG and a RAW at the same time occurs when I might be photographing people and I need the JPEGs immediately to give to the people so they can decide what images they like. Shooting RAW only, reduces the chance of filling the camera’s buffer, which allows more consecutive images to be shot and stored on the memory card. Now that I use and enjoy processing with DPP 4, I shoot large RAW files exclusively, and process only the images I wish to show into a high-quality JPEG. I used the JPEG when I needed to show the images to workshop clients immediately. I once used to set my camera to simultaneously capture a large JPEG and a large RAW file. I use the Copy Stamp Tool in DPP 4 to copy an area next to the offending object and stamp it out. Now that I can quickly stamp out a sugar water feeding tube, wayward bird seeds, or bird excrement, I don’t worry about these things so much. I am a ruthless editor who values free space on my hard drives.Ģ) Leave a Prop or Feeder Tube in the Imageįor most of my career, I carefully composed and set up the scene to eliminate any prop or bird food I might be using. My goal is to keep only the very best, or bad ones for teaching purposes, and delete everything else which often is 95% or more. By doing it this way, I can run an initial screening of 1000 hummingbird images in less than an hour. Once I have gone through the set of images, I exit QuickCheck and then delete all the images in the set that did not get a #1. Any image that looks great compositionally and is sharp gets checked by merely pressing the #1 on my computer keyboard. Then I select QuickCheck and blow the images up to 100% to check for sharpness. I select a group of similar images that have been downloaded to an external hard drive. Now I find the QuickCheck feature in DPP 4 works better for deciding what images to keep. Not only that, but I once used PhotoMechanic to view my images first to decide what I want to keep, and delete the rest. I love how simple it is to adjust the shadows and highlights, correct for noise, change individual colors for brightness or saturation, sharpen, crop, level or tilt the horizon in the image, remove extra catch lights from a hummingbird’s eye, and so much more. Now I eagerly and efficiently process my RAW images with DPP 4 and actually enjoy it. DPP 4 is a huge upgrade over all previous versions. I did try the free software that is bundled with new Canon cameras, but have been previously unimpressed until I saw what Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP 4) can do. I have never relied on software to create new images and still don’t have Lightroom or Photoshop installed on my computer. I love to push camera technology to make it produce the images I see in-camera. Wow, what a period of discovery! I hope this list and the short explanations help you uncover new directions in your photography. This article started out as, The Top Ten Changes to my Photography, but this list continuously grows. Nobody is more thrilled than I to figure out better ways to shoot images, and I am always willing to share what I discover with others. While I did well academically in college, the best thing I acquired was a passion for learning. I continually look for better methods to improve my photographic techniques, and fortunately, new approaches steadily become evident. The past two years have profoundly changed the way I shoot outdoor images.
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