Are you a photographer who prefers to shoot in the JPEG file format? In that case, you have to get everything right in the camera. Correcting a mistake afterward is limited. There are different in-camera tools available that allow you to get the best possible results.
On most occasions, it’s advisable to shoot in the raw file format. This allows you to use the full dynamic range of the sensor and correct small mistakes afterward. It also allows you to use local adjustments to get the result you desire.
There can be reasons to prefer shooting in the JPEG file format. Perhaps there is no time available for post-processing, or you don’t like spending time in the digital darkroom called Lightroom. Or you just prefer direct in-camera results for personal reasons.
Whatever the reason is, if you shoot in the JPEG format, there are still tools available to manipulate the results. It’s easy to use the basic settings, but optimizing settings can give even better results. I have listed a couple of these settings that are worth looking at.
Choose the Best White Balance
Often, an automatic white balance is advised. It will measure the color temperature and will set the appropriate white balance to ensure white will be white. However, this is not always correct. At the end of the day, warm colors appear, and during the blue hour, the light is predominantly bluish. White doesn’t have to be white at all; it takes the color of the light that is present.
Or perhaps the color can be offset on purpose, adding a deliberate atmosphere to the image. Play around with the settings to get the desired appearance. Don’t rely blindly on the mindless algorithm of a computer calculating the white balance.
Use Highlight Priority
One of the issues of the JPEG file format is its limited range of tones. It only has 256 per channel.
While the sensor does capture a wider range of tones, it will be reduced to the eight stops of the JPEG file. However, it is possible to adjust the way a camera is reducing the dynamic range. By setting the highlight priority setting, or active D-lighting, or however it’s called, it will take the highlights into account. This way there is less risk of clipping highlights and more details will appear in the bright areas of the image.
Choose High Dynamic Range
Although highlight priority will recover details in the highlights, there is a limit to its ability. If the dynamic range of the subject is too large, clipping will occur no matter what. It will even show clipping with the raw file format.
The solution in this case is the high dynamic range setting of your camera, also called HDR. With this setting activated, the camera takes an exposure bracketing series and merges these together into one single HDR image.
Often, three images are used for this function, but you can set the amount of stops in-between these images. I would advise choosing no more than two stops. It also allows using special HDR effects. This way you can influence the tone mapping of the image.
Often these effects are not that great, but this can be a personal opinion. Try the possibilities and find the effect that suits your needs.
HDR settings are perfect for sunrise, sunset, or with silhouettes. It doesn’t perform magic, but the result can prevent deep and harsh shadows or clipping highlights.
Use Picture Profiles
Every modern camera has a selection of picture profiles available. These can have different names on different brands. Well known are the film simulation profiles of the Fujifilm cameras.
Try the different film simulations, or picture profiles, and find out what the appearance will be. Find out which ones you like the most. But different profiles can be used under different circumstances, or when special effects are desired.
This is the place where black and white can be found as well. Sometimes this is called monochrome. Just remember, with JPEG these settings can’t be changed afterward. But as a JPEG photographer, this should be well known.
Adjust the Picture Profiles
Picture profiles or film simulation settings can be tweaked as well. With most cameras, that is. Dive into the settings of your chosen picture profile and change settings. Sharpness, contrast, and some have even filter effects available.
Don’t be afraid to lose the basic settings. No matter how much you change, there is always a reset available. However, often you can save a changed picture profile under a custom setting.
Creative Filter Effects
Last but not least are the creative filter effects. These are not available on every camera, but if they are these are perhaps worth looking at. The effects can be quite dramatic or even unique in some way or another. Think of miniature effects, fisheye effects, panoramas, and many more.
With some cameras, these effects can be tweaked as well. Find out what the possibilities are, and see if they’re useful for your photography.
Shooting JPEG Isn’t Wrong, It’s a Choice
Although many amateur photographers are convinced that shooting in the raw file format is the only proper way, it isn’t. The choice of using in-camera JPEG doesn’t say anything about the quality of your photography, nor does it tell anything about the quality of the image itself. Shooting JPEG is nothing more than using the in-camera post-processing abilities.
However, it’s true that a raw file allows you to use the full capabilities of your camera's sensor. But you have to perform post-processing on a computer afterward. If you don’t like that, or you don’t want to spend the time or energy on that, just hold on to shooting JPEG in-camera. It won’t make you any less.
Just keep in mind that there are a lot of possibilities built into your camera that allow you to influence the JPEG outcome. I have listed six of those but perhaps you know of a few more. Please share any other tips and tricks for shooting in-camera JPEGs in the comments below.
Certain press agencies are now asking to have photographic images submitted in JPEG format. So, many of us can benefit from this article, such as news and sports photographers which may be forced to work within the confines of JPEG. And, definitely, Knowing to do manual WB on the fly helps, even when shooting only in RAW. Regarding me, my photography style lets me go double down: RAW+JPEG. If you, like me, are still attached to RAW, make sure that your shooting workflow allows RAW+JPEG and/or your camera allows both formats simultaneously with minimal or no production penalty (how many continuous images at your highest fps rate can you shoot before your camera buffer fills up).
All fine and dandy for an old Canon! What about some new Sony's and Nikon's mirrorless cameras. Yes all have settings just for jpegs and it seems no book or Youtube covers jpeg settings only!
This is not camera brand related. This applies for all brands
With how much the cost has come down for storage and how fast cameras have gotten with their write speeds and buffers, why would someone want to shoot jpeg only when they could at least do raw + jpeg?
The speed and storage is cheap enough, that even if you are a jpeg shooter, and raw helps you even 1-2% of the time, then it is still worth doing raw + jpeg. and if the photo shoot turns out fine, then you can simply delete the raw files, or better yet, keep them since raw interpreters improve over time. Try Adobe camera raw process V6 on a 15+ year old raw file, and the results are amazing compared to the processing from those days.
Keep both, add more storage as needed, and when bored, revisit old files with newer software.
In cases like that, there may still be a time when it is useful, e.g, imagine something major happens and the one perfect moment capture has the exposure and colors off by a decent amount, (likely to be an extremely rare issue), if the raw file helps in even that one time event, it would have been worth it. Think of it more as having it and not needing it, rather than needing it and not having it.
With modern hardware, there is effectively no downside to have it and not need it 99.9% of the time.
For many years I shot RAW + JPEG. Finally 2 years ago I decided to just shoot JPEG. I pay greater attention to my camera settings, particularly exposure and WB and only have very few photos where I cannot recover details in under exposed parts of the picture. The editing SW I use was specifically developed for requirements. In my flickr account (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jowul/) are enough examples that show the results I get.
Why would you shoot both if one of the file formats will never be used. If the cost of storage is the reason, it's the wrong reason.
Basically, performance and storage performance has reached a point where there is virtually no downside, It is effectively at a point where if you are mainly a jpeg shooter, you can treat the raw file similarly to how you would treat a fire extinguisher. Many people will keep one on each level of their home, and simply not use them on a day to day basis, but in the event you need it, then you will be glad you have it.
If during an event, you shoot 1000 photos, and the raw file lets you save even 1 of the shots, then during that event, shooting raw+ jpeg was well worth it. Furthermore if you truly need the small amount of space savings, you can simply delete the raw files afterwards.
Raw files are good to have. Even if not used at current time. Before digital we used film made for daylight. That is a good starting point for digital, also for sunset. Of cause for people and skintone it shuld be auto unless a litle flash.
I know lots of photographers who don't care for raw. They like shooting in jpeg for their own reasons. I prefer raw myself, but I can understand why someone would choose for jpeg only.
Raw is to negative film as JPG is to transparency film. There is a time and place for both. But if IQ is of primary importance, you'll want to have a raw to work with. I almost always shoot raw + jpg. Raw for best IQ, jpg to share images quickly. Good article, btw. I think a lot of people who shoot primarily, or only, jpg tend to not try out the various options they have in camera.
Indeed. I hope I can inspire the jpeg-only photographers with this article.