The frequent discussions (arguments?) about shooting raw vs. jpg leave me confused. The following is about image processing ONLY and assumes the photographer is able to compose and set exposure to properly capture an image - both of which are skills unrelated to whether one shoots raw or jpg.

One side says shoot raw and then process offline in order to produce the best possible image - to your liking. Also, raw provides the greatest latitude for adjustments to correct exposure errors made when capturing the images. Ditto with being able to adjust for high dynamic range situations when no in-camera settings can produce a properly exposed image.

The other side says shoot jpg and just make sure you "get it right" when configuring your camera to capture the image. This seems to overlook those situations where light, physics, and mathematics make it impossible to capture a single properly exposed image. As you point out, they are both processed images.

Again, these contrasting comments leave me confused...

First, all camera sensors capture raw images and those raw images are processed into jpg, tif, etc - whatever format the individual photographer chooses (for in-camera shooters, whatever format the manufacturer chose to allow you to create).

In the traditional case of "raw shooters," the raw image processing is done offline using one of the various photo editing software products with a vast array of editing capabilities. Perhaps most importantly, editors offer the ability to adjust individual areas of an image without affecting the entire image and to repeatedly change those adjustments without altering the original image file.

In the case of "jpg shooters," that very same processing of the raw image occurs but it happens inside the camera based upon the particular image processing settings the photographer configured into the camera's menu options and how the manufacturer decided the controls would be applied. And, don't all in-camera options affect the entire image?

There's a third alternative that no one ever seems to talk about, the FREE raw photo editing software provided by the camera manufacturer: for Nikon, that's Capture NX-D; Canon has Canon Digital Photo Professional; and Sony has Imaging Edge, for example.

Each of these manufacturers editing software solutions allows one to capture/store raw images and then, later, apply any of the same internal settings that could have been used to produce a jpg image in-camera. These software editors use the same processing options, algorithms, and controls that were available in-camera. The benefit of shooting raw and then applying any of these equivalent in-camera options lets you select from any of those in-camera settings AFTER you have captured the image as a raw file. And, you can change your mind at any time and apply different "in-camera" controls. That means you can shoot raw and "get it right" even if you selected the wrong options and didn't "get it right" when capturing the image.

In sum: if you shoot raw and use the manufacturer's editing software, you can then later apply any of the same in-camera settings you choose - the same settings that were available in the camera to produce a jpg.

If you shoot jpg, well, you're pretty much done.

The power in the eyes of a person or animal draws you into a photograph. The stronger the eyes are, the more you will draw attention of the viewer. I do not photograph people that much but do like to emphasis eyes in my non-human subjects. I have done some reading on the subject and have a few ideas on emphasizing the eyes of a subject to create interest and emotion in a picture.
-Focus on the eyes, make sure they are in sharp focus
-Line of sight: use the eyes of a subject to point out something else in the picture or draw your eye outside the frame
-Ask the subject to incline their head so their eyes are on a diagonal
-Catchlights: these are the flickers of light or reflections in the eyes that bring it to life

I am looking forward to your photographs emphasizing eyes. Have fun and as always thanks for participating.

Our small retirement center amateur photo club has a private website which I created to be able to continue meeting during the pandemic to look at and discuss the photos via Zoom. The main "job" of the club is to show photos on a TV in a lounge playing in a continuous slideshow. The knowledge and abilities of the members vary widely. They use DSLRs, cell phones, point-and-shoots, and scan film prints. Some do not have photo editing software, or don't know how to make full use of what they do have.

From time to time a member wants to know why the colors of their photos look a little different than they observed when shooting the scene. I know it is not uncommon that color photos look different, and that there are many reasons why. But it gets the club too deep in the weeds when more experienced members try to explain it.

Can anyone recommend a website or a book that talks about the color issue in very simple terms for our non-technical amateur photographers? More along the lines of why this happens, rather than how to deal with it. From those resources I will prepare a introductory page for the website to begin an educational series dealing with that issue.

As we look back and consider 2020, how did your photography change? We probably all made less trips. Did you visit / revisit new subjects closer to home? Did you change your camera bodies or focal lengths? What changes will you make for 2021?

What is a resolution?
A firm decision to do or not to do something.

Will you learn to better use your current equipment?

Will you learn your processing software?

Will you organize your legacy images?

Will you organize your new images?

Will you sell your unused and outdated equipment?

Will you ask for help?

Will you answer a request for help?

Will you use selective focus with an off-center AF point placed specifically on the subject?

Will you investigate higher ISOs?

Will you use your flash?

Will you use your tripod?

Will you try Back Button Focus?

Will you change to mirroless?

Will you create an image over the next 365 days that achieves your resolution?