Out of my comfort zone - a local rural area, as seen straight from the camera
Retro//Reflection - Issue #30
Once or twice per month I send out a letter with a handful of (my) photographs and share a bit of insight on the ‘why?’ or ‘how?’. As an enthusiastic photographer, anything goes.
Maybe you’ll learn something?
Or perhaps it will spark some inspiration?
My cameras have always been set to store images in RAW+JPEG format. The stupid part is that I basically never look at the jpegs and always edit the raw images afterwards. Heck, I almost never even export the jpeg files from the memory card! Once, I accidently changed the camera settings to store jpeg-only, and felt miserable for not having the raw data …
I do enjoy editing the raw files though, but I’m so far behind that I’m still editing images from 2009. The first year I got myself a camera that was able to shoot in raw format. No joke.
Also, today’s cameras, like the Fuji X-T5 I’m using, are so good I’m doubting more and more whether I still really need to edit the raw files or if I can do with the straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) jpegs?
Long story short; I’m looking for ways to simplify my editing process so that I can catch up1.
So on a bright and harsh sunny Sunday midday I set the camera to jpeg-only, dialed in a Fuji X Weekly film simulation I’ve been looking into and set off for an hour photographing a local rural area.
How’d it go?
One thing I learned is that to fully appreciate shooting “SOOC style” is that you really need to know what kind of “look” you want your photos to have, because editing afterwards is a bit limited. Sure, you can still crop, do some minor exposure adjustments or clean up here and there, but colors, white balance etc. are pretty much WYSIWYG.
And even after nearly 20 years of photographing, I still don’t really have a preference how my photos should look. I guess that is why I like editing?
The Fuji film simulation I picked was to mimic that typical Wes Anderson-look, which should work well in these bright sunny conditions. But when reviewing the photos on my big screen, I’m not sure the rural area I photographed suited this. The photos look okay, but are not how I think I would have edited them.
And that is, for now, still my biggest reluctance to keep my camera set to jpeg-only. Or to just use the SOOC jpeg files without feeling the urge to edit them anyways2.
Can I make it work?
I understand that I need to experiment more (which is not a bad thing), so I came up with an alternative way of working: I return to shoot raw+jpeg and dial in looks as presets what I think would work for the things I want to photograph (the X-T5 allows 7 and one ‘manual’, so plenty of choice).
If I’m not satisfied with what I’ve got, I can use Fuji’s X Raw Studio to try different combinations of parameter values. This is a pretty cool way to basically edit the raw file in camera, but on your computer (if that makes sense?). Maybe I’ll write about this in the near future, because I think this is a great way to explore and experiment. At least for Fuji shooters, that is …
And if all else fails, I can always edit the raw file manually.
Maybe in due time I can create a handful of presets that I like and I will use. Time will tell, but it’s something I’m going to try and find out …
Worthwhile//Reads
Something new to end this issue. Here are three (random) photography-related articles I recently read (on Substack) that I think are worth sharing!
That’s it for this issue. Thank you for showing your interest. Feel free to leave a comment, ask a question or tell me anything else that comes to mind. Appreciate it!
Until next time,
Ronald
ronaldsmeets.info
ps: this article/letter/post is free, because I’m not doing this to make a profit. Also, I don’t like subscriptions at all. However, if you do want to show your support, a coffee always helps me writing and posting here ;-)
Without relying on AI to do it for me …
Maybe that’s the drawback of having digital files? They are never finished :)
Well first off, thanks for the recommendation! That’s so nice of you to share my post! Seems like we were on a similar wave length with our most recent posts as I was also talking about Fuji simulations. I think these photos turned out great, When experimenting with recipes I’ve found I prefer some of the more unique or specific ones, like the Wes Anderson one, yield more interesting results when used out of “context”.
I'm a fujifilm shooter as well and I love using film simulations. I still edit my raws in Lightroom, but the sooc jpgs are great for sharing quickly with friends and family