Children's Portrait Photography Handbook

However, your options for correcting the image after the
shoot aren’t as powerful as with a RAW file. JPEG is also
a “lossy” format, meaning that the images are subject to
degradation by repeated opening and closing. Most pho-
tographers who shoot in JPEG mode either save the file
as a JPEG copy each time they work on it, or save it to a
“lossless” TIFF format, so it can be saved again and again
without degradation.
RAW.RAW files offer the benefit of retaining the
highest amount image data from the original capture.
This gives you the ability to almost completely correct
for underexposure.
RAW files also contain more data than JPEG files,
which feature some level of compression. As a result, if
you need faster burst rates, RAW files will slow you down
(although new cameras with bigger buffers—and buffer
upgrades for existing cameras—have improved the situa-
tion greatly). RAW files will also fill up your storage cards
or microdrives more quickly than JPEGs.
Shooting in the RAW mode requires the use of RAW
file-processing software that translates the file informa-
tion and converts it to a useable format. Only a few years
ago RAW file-processing software was limited to the cam-
era manufacturer’s software, which was often slow and
difficult to use. With the introduction of independent
software like Adobe Camera RAW and Phase One’s Cap-

ture One DSLR, RAW file processing is not nearly as

daunting.

Metadata.

DSLRs give you the option of tagging your digital image

files with data, which often includes the image’s date,

time, and camera settings. To view this information in

Photoshop, go to File > File Info and look at the EXIF

data in the pull-down menu. Here, you will see all of the

data that the camera automatically tags with the file. You

DIGITAL CONSIDERATIONS 25

TOP—Tim Schooler always uses a large softbox (4x6 feet) for his
main and accent lights. Of his image treatments, he says, “I am not
a fan of over-softening skin, I think it is done too much these days.
But with digital, and the high-resolution sensors we’re using now,
you have to do a subtle amount of diffusion to take the edge off.
But I still want to see detail in the skin, so I’ll apply a slight level
of diffusion on a layer, then back if off until I can see skin pores. I
have Capture One set for high contrast skin tones, and 7-percent
increase in color saturation that gives my finished images a little
more color. Seniors seem to like it. My goal is to shoot everything
as a finished image. In fact, that’s how I proof. Nothing is edited
or retouched before the client sees it. Then we retouch only what
they ask for.”

BOTTOM—Tim Schooler shoots all his senior images in RAW mode,
using Phase One’s Capture One, which has four options to emu-
late “the look” of film. Tim uses a custom profile from Magne
Nielson for skin tones. In Capture One, you can set the default
film type to Linear Response, Film Standard, Film Extra Shadows
or Film High Contrast. Tim says, “I used to use film standard but
found I was tweaking the curves for a bit more punch in Photo-
shop. Now I use film high contrast and I find its a lot closer to
Kodak Portra VC, which was my preferred film type before we
went digital.”