Entire books have been written about this topic, and it’s akin to opening a can of worms. I have only a few words to say about it, but I hope you’ll read them with an open mind. Your workflow, and the amount of time you spend on your workflow, may depend on how these few words impact you.

When you shoot RAW, you create the digital counterpart to a film negative. All the information available to the camera is stored in those files but they cannot be used “as is” and must be “processed” before they can be printed, with generic software such as Photoshop or with software created by the camera’s manufacturer. For most applications, the maker’s software is better because it has been engineered for files created by a specific brand of camera. Software like Photoshop, even though it does a good job, must be generic enough to process files from every manufacturer and so can only work with those factors shared by all cameras.

On the other hand, jpegs have been programmed, by you and how you set the camera, to process themselves as they are shot and loaded onto the card. Once that’s done your options are limited.

Does that mean jpegs are bad? Absolutely not. Control your exposure and lighting parameters and jpegs will do a wonderful job for you without any extra work. I don’t allow photographers to shoot RAW in any of my workshops. Once they see that they can control the shoot and the light to very close tolerances they become True Believers (well, some of them, anyway).

Regardless, while RAW files contain more information and exposure latitude than Jpegs, they also require additional work from you, and that’s the bottom line. Here’s an easy workaround option. If you think a shoot will give you trouble or you don’t think you can control the situation, shoot both RAW and large jpegs at the same time. When you load the files onto your computer take a look at the jpegs first. If you’re shots are on the money burn everything to a disc for backup and work with just the jpegs. You have the RAW files if you need them. Note that shooting both formats will fill a card much more rapidly.

The beauty of shooting controlled jpegs is that you can take the files straight to proofs, without any additional processing time, and make minor tweaks later, after prints are ordered and money is on the table.

Can you tell the difference? This image was shot as both RAW and .jpg. The RAW file was processed “as is,” without any additional tweaking; the jpeg is straight out of the camera. Tight control over the exposure is the key to successful jpegs.