We downloaded images in RAW format to the Date And Location file. We then tag and move our best session images to Raw1, discard the losers and move the remaining files we wish to keep for later review to Raw2. In other words, we split the images we want to retain into a primary and secondary file structure based on quality and catalogue them according to the date and location of the session to make them easy to locate as time progresses. Processed files are stored in the Master folder prior to Sharpening and Cropping. The latter are then placed in the Output folder using an alpha suffix to the original camera number to denote different versions of the Master file. Obviously, the original RAW files in the Raw1/Raw2 folders are never altered.

RAW Mode

There is basically only one reason to photograph in RAW Mode and that is to maximize the data available to gain total creative control over computer image interpretation. Simply put, a RAW file is a complete record of the camera sensor data. When you shoot in RAW Mode, the only on-camera settings that have an effect on the captured pixels are aperature, ISO and shutter speed. RAW file conversion, therefore, provides you with fairly broad control of white balance, colourimetric rendering, tonal response, detail rendition (sharpening and noise reduction) and, within limits, exposure compensation. Since a RAW file maximizes bit capture, you now have control over editing headroom in PhotoShop (editing is by nature destructive but considerably less so with files converted at 16-bit depth using wide colourimetric settings such as AdobeRGB1998 or ProPhotoRGB). Another way of putting this is that editing compressed data such as post conversion JPEG is inherently a harsh process as bit loss is already substantial.

For the novice, therefore, two factors help to reduce the complexity of decision making: a compressed TIFF file is "lossless" and retains the full quality of the original RAW image; and, all in-house printing is done at the 8-bit level. As stated above, photographing in RAW format assumes the image will undergo post processing using image editing software on a personal computer. The advantage of working from RAW data is you can change many of the camera shooting parameters after exposure. Obviously you can't change aperature, ISO or shutter speed but you can alter white balance and refine lighting (shadows, highlights, brightness, contrast) and colour (hue, saturation). If you want to maximize use of the original RAW file, you must convert to a 16-bit TIFF file for editing in CS3 or 8-bit if you want to utilize the full spectrum of tools available in the Elements software package. This allows you to perform a greater range of manipulation to the image without degrading quality. It's almost axiomatic, the more bits you start with the more lattitude you have to adjust other parameters downstream.

Colour Management

Camera RAW controls colour management functionality through the built-in profiles for each supported camera. Four output spaces define the colour "gamut" or range of supported colours: sRGB (minimum range good for Web graphics) to ProPhotoRGB (maximum range good for high end press prints). AdobeRGB(1998) is the output space that optimizes the importance of colour for our immediate purposes (it is also the most widely used by most professional wildlife photographers).

When an image has a colour profile assigned to it (you assign this directly from your camera menu), the monitor and printer should display colours according to the settings in the profile (colour management is an attempt to match monitor colour to print output as closely as possible). Don't expect an exact match. Monitors and printers reproduce colour gamuts differently. If your objective is to make accurate prints from RAW capture, you should be aware that "in-house" print technology cannot reproduce the bright, saturated colours that a monitor can display (obversely, print can reproduce dark saturated colours that a monitor can't display). Since one of the basic attractions of digital photography is image control, it would therefore seem obvious that producing predictable and accurate colour is of paramount importance. From a print perspective, good colour management is therefore a must if you want to ensure "What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get" (WYSIWYG).

Monitor Calibration And Printer Profiles

Colour Management is now "built-in" to most current operating systems. Since we previously defined AdobeRGB(1998) as our preferred camera working space, the trick now is to ensure this is translated to our monitor, editing software and printer as RAW files are converted and processed. Good colour management really begins with an accurately calibrated monitor, a process that requires specialized equipment. There are several methods available to characterize a monitor by creating a custom ICC device profile. A relatively cost effective solution that produces good results is Spyder2 available from Colorvision DataColor. Their software and hardware sensor are user friendly, resulting in a custom profile that matches your specific monitor. This definitely produces superior results to simply following the software calibration process built into Windows (you can try this approach through the Control Panel Menu by accessing Adobe Gamma and following the instructions). This is not recommended as it is tantamount to doing nothing and hoping for the best.

To produce consistently good results you are only half way there. You now need to ensure the your printer profile is capable of adjusting such crucial settings as paper type and size. Fortunately, most modern printers are supported with custom ICC profiles that allow you to to instantly select settings from the Print window in your operating system (in the past, custom ICC Profiles had to be downloaded from the manufacturer for each paper type and configured through the Properties button during each print session, a real time consuming and painful process). Embedded printer profiles are therefore a simple way to print from an application such as PhotoShop directly to a printer by allowing paper stock, size and other key choices to be made instantly while bypassing the colour management functionality employed by the printer. It is best to now Print With Preview and let PhotoShop determine colour by setting the printer colour management utility to off. If your printer driver cannot embed this functionality into your application software, refer to Scott Kelby's PhotoShop CS2 Book For Digital Photographers on pages 138 to 147 for the recommended procedure for acquiring and utilizing ICC Profiles if available from your printer manufacturer.

Configuring PhotoShop

Prior to actually processing an image, you must configure PhotoShop by defining your colour and profile preferences. Two steps are required. Both are in the Edit menu, one under Colour Settings and the other under Preferences. Rather than reproduce what are lengthly and well documented configuration recommendations, we would suggest you refer to pages 30 to 40 of the PhotoShop For Nature Photographers workbook by Ellen Anon and Tim Grey for the best overall explanation and summary.

There are also several tricks that you can employ to help improve your ability to perceive colour. One is to work under lighting conditions that are consistently dim with any artificial light minimized. Change the desktop background colour to neutral grey when editing an image by simply clicking the "F" letter key (pressing this key twice more returns the image to regular mode). Change the default setting for the Eyedropper Tool from Point Sample to 3 By 3 Average in the Options menu under Sample Size to produce a more representative reading of the pixels in the sample area. Finally, set target colour preferences for the Shadow, Highlight and Midtone areas in Curves by setting the default for each of the Eyedropper Tools as follows:

Black: R=20, G=20, B=20
Midtone: R=133, G=133, B=133
White: R=244, G=244, B=244

This latter adjustment is useful if you are trying to remove any colour cast bias that is inherent in your camera (usually blue or red) when sampling the respective colour areas in an image with each of the targeted Eyedropper Tools.

Lightroom

Digital is a much different world than film. Here, photographs are just bits, one hundred percent reliant on a computer that is subject to the vagaries of technology and obsolesence. Since your entire workflow is now a bitstream, you need a work environment that encapsulates "end-to-end" the critical tasks at hand - to import, sort, select, process, output and archive digital images. Although we use Breeze Systems and Photoshop CS3 to accomplish these tasks, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom now effectively integrates the entire process in a suite of application modules designed specifically to simplify raw image management and editing.

Conceptually, Lightroom is engineered in modules (Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web) that interface with a core image processor and database. How does this differ from CS3? The answer lies in the distinctly different approach each program uses to process images. Photoshop is basically a real time, single image editor that more often than not requires complex workarounds to achieve best results. Obversely, the controls in Lightroom perform each task as expected and are unemcumbered by Photoshop legacy issues. An example is how an image is progressively degraded in Photoshop as consecutive image adjustments are applied. Lightroom applies these adjustments only at the point that an image is exported, for example, in a fixed pixel format such as JPEG or TIFF. In other words, Lightroom preserves an image in raw state through development rather than render a file as a pixel image when converted in Adobe Camera RAW.

What does this mean from an amateur perspective? We would say everything unless you intend to utilize specific targeted processing functionality that only Photoshop can provide. In other words, Lightroom can be used to perform many of the tasks that were previously the domain of CS3 in a much more accommodating and speedier fashion. However, if you are comfortable using Photoshop, Lightroom certainly represents an effective "front end" process for importing, parsing and implementing basic select adjustments. Photoshop then acts as an effective "back end" enhancement module suitable for major retouching. Using import by reference, you can then easily place the derived image into the Lightroom Library. In effect, Lightroom becomes a raw and master archive where backup and print tasks are more easily controlled.

Whatever you choose, the case for total integration of Lightroom and Photoshop is still open to speculation. Our guess is that Lightroom will continue to emerge as a digital photography mainstay and become a cornerstone management and development program. If you are just getting started, we recommend that you don't look elsewhere. Keep in mind though, Breeze Systems does provide powerful Web development tools if you plan to create a standalone online presence.

You should also be aware that computer performance is a function of the size of your image captures. Lightroom will definitely need some computing power if you intend to use large files, say in the range of 11-16 megapixels. To be on the safe side, we recommend use of a dual core processor with a minimum of 1.5Gbytes of RAM.