Adobe camera RAW

[JonHob]

I'm not really sure if this post should be in this section but here goes...

I guess that most sports shooters will be using Adobe's Camera RAW or Lightroom for editing their RAW files? I normally use Lr 5 for my motorsport but for faster paced football, I use Photoshop and Camera RAW. At this point you will all be shouting "why are you using RAW?" Well because I prefer to. I might change this at some point.

My only annoyance is that I hate the Camera RAW interface. To do quick edits means clicking on tiny slider pins and the brush and crop options are over on the top left of the screen (yes there are keyboard shortcuts). Why not put it on the top right so they are faster to get to? I sometimes use presets but these are hidden away again, only accessible but clicking a tiny button. I'm surprised Adobe hasn't redesigned this interface and thought of the sport togs who will be busy looking at the screen and the event in front of them. I guess, at this point, you will be telling me to just shoot JPEG!!!.

I have tried going straight in to Ps CS6 and running Actions which include Crop, Levels, Sharpening and a re-size before saving and closing the images. This is great but I don't think the sharpening is anywhere near as good as when it's in Camera RAW? Also, occasionally, the crop function goes all weird on me!! Your thoughts are invited.

I would love it if you could set Import Presets in the same way as Lr or even Actions, like using the F keys. I know a JPEG adds sharpening which would cut this process out but in evening matches I find the flexibility of a RAW file a massive help.

What are your thoughts? Do you all use Photoshop or is there a great alternative? I wonder if Camera Bits will be releasing an editing app in the future? Should I just shoot JPEG and go straight in to Photoshop?


Thanks in advance

[Hayo Baan]

First of all, I would keep shooting RAW
That said, in each raw file there is already a jpg built in (it is what you see when you browse your files with PM). The quality is usually more than good enough for most things (though not all cameras carry a full sized jpg, Nikons always do and to my knowledge all recent Canons too). So basically you could argue you are already shooting jpg as well

I don't really see your problem with the slider size (compared to lightroom camera raw's ones are quite big), nor the icons being at the top left (hey, use the keyboard!). Getting to the presets is indeed quite finicky, but you can easily apply any preset upon initial opening (camera raw never needs to import anything, you open it directly). First of all, there is the camera defaults you can tweak to your hearts content. Disadvantage is that this default then applies to all your new images, and perhaps you like different settings for different types of shots. This is where Bridge may come to the solution: in bridge you can easily apply presets just by right clicking on one or more images and then selecting the preset of your choice. This applies the preset immediately, even without having to open camera raw!

Hope this helps a bit,
Hayo

[elliot]

+1 on shooting raw.

I took some Photoshop and raw processing tutorials on the web, and they completely changed the way I approach editing.  Look up Damien Symonds ("Ask Damien").

I used Lightroom for about 5 years, until quitting cold turkey and moving to Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop.  Once you learn some techniques and what to look for, it goes pretty smoothly. 

I bought DxO Optics Pro late last year when they had a sale, and that is an amazing program. I now use it as a starting point for all my editing because its default edit is great.  But it's interface into Photoshop is clunky; it assumes you use Lightroom.  It automatically adjust for all lens distortions, so you can make even the cheapest equipment look great.  I love the FilmPack for Black and White processing.  But often I need to go into PS for local edits, and it's a lot less convenient than to go from ACR to PS.

I use Photo Mechanic to do a first cut rating.  The problem I have is that I take concert photos, and sometimes its hard to imagine how a poorly-lit photo will turn out in editing, so it's tough to rate them without trying some edits first.  What I am working on now is a flow where I batch edit and export all 700 of my shots from DxO, and then us PM to rate the edited photos. Then I take the keepers and move them into another folder and delete all the exports and start over with the keepers.  I little clunky, but I'm a programmer and am looking into doing this with batch scripts.

Have fun!

--Elliot