Oh Baby I like it RAW NEF (well sometimes)

I admit I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a problem I've had ever since I was a girl. My African Drumming teacher told my parents that I was too overconfident. I still think he was just irritated because I was a fast learner.

I took about 70 pictures after my digital photography class today. That's normal for me. My class is on Bowery, a great place for night photography. When I leave the YMCA where they hold the classes it's like 9:30 and I'm so giddy I wander around shooting like a freak and I swear that until I hit Astor place I don't even know where I am. I use some tall building in the distance as a landmark to let me know I'm walking towards Broadway. Other than that, I have run into a pole or something before I look around for cross streets.

I discovered I could shoot in black and white just messing around with mode settings in my camera. I was convinced I couldn't when I forst got the camera and was pretty sad about it since I could take b&w with my point and shoot. I AM LIVING!!!!! THE WORLD THROUGH b&W on an SLR???
You don't even know!!!


NEF RAW
This is a setting Marget Long told us about in class. She shoots on a large (really large) format Canon and she mostly shoots raw which is most easily explained as an unprocessed pure image. She likes to do very close editing and control all aspects of her picture, something which digital photography will adjust in every way when shooting in automatic. Digital cameras do everything for you. Shooting in Raw does away with all that and it's interesting to see the difference in photos you take in RAW and the ones with all the automatic compensation of light and color levels you never think about until you see a picture that is completely naked.

RAW

Processed


I have to start keeping a shooting diary so I can actually understand what the hell I'm doing.