5 Polish shots in raw Perfect your landscape

Use the flexibility of raw files to develop the potential in your pictures and control your creative direction with precision

While every good photographer works hard to get the shot right in-camera, there’s no doubt that shooting raw – your camera’s native image file format – is the best way to ensure the highest quality in terms of both the technical and aesthetic elements of your image. While there’s nothing wrong with shooting in Fine JPEG format if you don’t like editing your digital files, you’ll be limited in what you are able to do if you choose to take your image in a different creative direction.

A raw file is essentially a digital negative, and with a few minutes’ work in the raw-processing software of your choice, you can ensure your vision for the image is fully realised. This might sound like a very modern approach, but actually it’s no different to how some of the great masters of classic landscape photography worked. Take Ansel Adams, for example. He worked hard on location to get as much information into his film negative as possible, then went to town in the darkroom to bring his vision for the image to life.

Essentially, the digital workflow of shooting raw to capture the maximum amount of information, then perfecting that file in raw conversion software such as Lightroom or Camera Raw, is no different to what Adams did. With a classic landscape, you’re not looking to change the integrity of the scene by introducing something into the shot that wasn’t there, but you are trying to maximise the mood, composition and quality of the finished image.

If you’re new to processing raw files, these five tips will help you develop the editing skills you need – fast!