I have finished my second Lightroom class at the Vanderbilt University Art Department. My question refers to our instructor’s comments concerning Raw versus JPEG. During both recent classes he has strongly stated that we should be shooting in JPEG not Raw. He said he shoots over 95 percent of his photos in JPEG. He said he rarely PP’s his photos and if needed he can do that in JPEG using Lightroom or Photoshop and get the same results. He is a University photographer, news photographer, mid 40’s, etc. He seems to know Lightroom and how to properly set up the catalog portion but I am having problems with his JPEG philosophy.

I will continue to shoot in raw but would appreciate any insight as to why an alleged professional would teach us to shoot in JPEG. Almost forgot to add that he also teaches a basic digital class and tells those students to shoot JPEG only as the files are smaller and require less PP. I have stated in open class that several friends who were professional photographers and still have photo web sites advised me to shoot in Raw and the reasons behind their advice. He answered he doesn’t understand why people continue to offer that type of advice.

I have decided to keep my mouth shut and try to finish the class I paid bucks for. Am I missing something?

Thanks

Hi, keeping your mouth shut and finishing the class is the smart way to go (I've done the opposite before and it was a mistake). You can always write a letter to the college after you finish the class letting them know what you thought of the instructor. As your instructor came from a news media background he is simply teaching what he knows and he is obviously biased toward what he knows, rather than being open to all of the possibilities. I teach LR at a junior college but never have I told anyone what they should do: I offer up all the possibilities and facts and then let them decide what works best for them and their photography goals. Shoot to match what your personal goals are, not what his personal goals are. There are many possibilities in photography and it is sad to hear that an instructor is so close-minded. Take what you can from the class and move on.

I have finished my second Lightroom class at the Vanderbilt University Art Department. My question refers to our instructor’s comments concerning Raw versus JPEG. During both recent classes he has strongly stated that we should be shooting in JPEG not Raw. He said he shoots over 95 percent of his photos in JPEG. He said he rarely PP’s his photos and if needed he can do that in JPEG using Lightroom or Photoshop and get the same results. He is a University photographer, news photographer, mid 40’s, etc. He seems to know Lightroom and how to properly set up the catalog portion but I am having problems with his JPEG philosophy.

I will continue to shoot in raw but would appreciate any insight as to why an alleged professional would teach us to shoot in JPEG. Almost forgot to add that he also teaches a basic digital class and tells those students to shoot JPEG only as the files are smaller and require less PP. I have stated in open class that several friends who were professional photographers and still have photo web sites advised me to shoot in Raw and the reasons behind their advice. He answered he doesn’t understand why people continue to offer that type of advice.

I have decided to keep my mouth shut and try to finish the class I paid bucks for. Am I missing something?

Thanks

I have finished my second Lightroom class at the Vanderbilt University Art Department. My question refers to our instructor’s comments concerning Raw versus JPEG. During both recent classes he has strongly stated that we should be shooting in JPEG not Raw. He said he shoots over 95 percent of his photos in JPEG. He said he rarely PP’s his photos and if needed he can do that in JPEG using Lightroom or Photoshop and get the same results. He is a University photographer, news photographer, mid 40’s, etc. He seems to know Lightroom and how to properly set up the catalog portion but I am having problems with his JPEG philosophy.

I will continue to shoot in raw but would appreciate any insight as to why an alleged professional would teach us to shoot in JPEG. Almost forgot to add that he also teaches a basic digital class and tells those students to shoot JPEG only as the files are smaller and require less PP. I have stated in open class that several friends who were professional photographers and still have photo web sites advised me to shoot in Raw and the reasons behind their advice. He answered he doesn’t understand why people continue to offer that type of advice.

I have decided to keep my mouth shut and try to finish the class I paid bucks for. Am I missing something?

Thanks

No, you should do what you think is best. I have nothing against other people that choose to shoot jpg, but I choose to shoot raw. I'm glad I do because every once in a while I forget to change my settings and get a shot that is way underexposed. I remember shooting in M (manual) and had my settings set for birds that were in full sun. All of a sudden a Summer Tanager flew into the shade of a large tree and I was so excited that I forgot to open up or change my setting for shade. I was 3 full stops underexposed. I only got a burst of about 5 shots off before he flew away. I looked at the back of my camera and saw a very dark image of the bird. I was very disappointed when I saw this. When I got home I was able to bring it back in Lightroom and had a decent image of a Summer Tanager.

I must also say, when taking pictures of a nice blue sky that varies in shades of blue, I get some banding when I shoot jpg. This happens because jpg images are only 8bit images. If you shoot in raw, and edit the image with blue sky's you are not going to get this kind of banding. Sometimes the banding will occur when saving the raw to jpg because it has too few gradations of blue in an 8bit image. Not always, but sometimes.

I have finished my second Lightroom class at the Vanderbilt University Art Department. My question refers to our instructor’s comments concerning Raw versus JPEG. During both recent classes he has strongly stated that we should be shooting in JPEG not Raw. He said he shoots over 95 percent of his photos in JPEG. He said he rarely PP’s his photos and if needed he can do that in JPEG using Lightroom or Photoshop and get the same results. He is a University photographer, news photographer, mid 40’s, etc. He seems to know Lightroom and how to properly set up the catalog portion but I am having problems with his JPEG philosophy.

I will continue to shoot in raw but would appreciate any insight as to why an alleged professional would teach us to shoot in JPEG. Almost forgot to add that he also teaches a basic digital class and tells those students to shoot JPEG only as the files are smaller and require less PP. I have stated in open class that several friends who were professional photographers and still have photo web sites advised me to shoot in Raw and the reasons behind their advice. He answered he doesn’t understand why people continue to offer that type of advice.

I have decided to keep my mouth shut and try to finish the class I paid bucks for. Am I missing something?

Thanks