Raw

I had the opportunity to take part in a fungi photography morning at Clumber Park, Notts, which has recorded over 600 species of fungi. I could not have booked a wetter day. The rain was torrential and I was the only photographer who attended! Armed with methods to improve my fungi photography after having read  Edwards, G,(2009) 100 ways to take better nature and wildlife photographs, during the summer, I knew there would be fungus in natural light and some I to which I would have to add artificial light.
Daylight
Trametes Versicolour (Turkey tail fungus)

Original1/10 F4 ISO400 105mm (x1.6 crop factor)

In order to convert the images, I first cropped both to the same size using Photoshop as it allows the user to command the RAW and Jpeg individually.

Raw

 RAW
> checked colour temperature with slider bar
> moved the blacks to 0
> checked the exposure was acceptable
> increased contrast using S curve
> unsharp mask 10%

Jpeg

Jpeg
> Set colour temperature using white temperature dropper
> New adjustment layer – levels - checked highlight and shadow clippings – slid to 0.84 to increase overall contrast
> Unsharp mask 10%










Comparison
Raw image colours look more natural. Raw image had more even tone. Easier to process in RAW than Jpeg version. Both images showed highlights and shadows.
Personal preference – Raw because there is more detail in the decaying leaves, even when taken at F4 and the focal point was the centre of the fungus. Advantage to me is in the processing as Photoshop can be opened and the image tweaked again without losing detail.

Artificial light
Calocera Viscosa (Staghorn fungus)
This image was taken in the heavy down pour under an umbrella and in a dense part of the forest where there was not a lot of natural light. In order to make the image more effective, I used a torch for artificial light, as recommended by Edwards (2009).

Original

1/4 F4 ISO800 105mm (x1.6 crop factor)

I first  cropped these images to the same size in Photoshop.

Raw

Raw
Some highlight and shadow clipping present
>  Checked colour temperature
>  –1 Exposure compensation applied
>  Pushed black back to 0
> Brightness increased slightly
> contrast increased slightly
> unsharp mask 10%

Jpeg

JPEG
> New adjustment layer> levels  >check highlight and shadow clipping > check colour temperature> increase contrast from 1 to 0.8
> unsharp mask 10%







Comparison
The jpeg image is very shiny (reflected light) in comparison. In this instance I preferred working with the raw because I was able to produce more of a contrast between the background and fungus. There seems to be no difference in the amount of noise, colour of the fungus, colour temperature.

 High Dynamic Range Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Derbyshire

Original
1/250 F16 ISO400 18mmx1.6 crop factor

Raw

Raw
> temperature ok
> blacks set to 0
> s curve to increase contrast (highlights +8, lights +13, darks –7, shadows –8)
> smart layer> lens distortion> vertical –14
> crop

Jpeg

JPEG
> temperature, black and white point ok
> smart filter> lens distortion> vertical-14
> crop








Comparison
More detail retained in RAW at same size. Cannot increase size of JPEG  too much without becoming pixelated.More noise present in JPEG. Colours are similar. Green is slightly brighter on the jpeg image.

Learning
This was an interesting exercise to complete as I had not realised that in some images there is little difference between the Jpeg and RAW image apart from size and detail. The difference for me was in the processing of the RAW image and at this point creativity takes over from how you think you remember seeing the image to how you think it ought to look. With the JPEG. Taking the third image of the building, I began to see that a raw image does need processing to look like the jpeg. I liked the ease of having all the slider bars on the same screen in Photoshop so it is easy to see what you have done to the image. There are times when RAW images are not appropriate such as some sports photography (motorcycling, cycling) because the camera is slowed down too much, so I will continue to take both file types.

Bibliography
Edwards, G,(2009) 100 ways to take better nature and wildlife photographs, David and Charles, Cincinatti, Ohio