When I began this article, I set out to prove that RAW was king and JPEG was for the naive. While I still think shooting in RAW mode is the best strategy for overall image quality and creative control, I did learn a new way to improve JPEG images using Adobe RAW processing techniques and exposure compensation. In this article, I compare RAW and JPEG by running them through the same processing techniques. The results are startling. For this post I'm making the grand assumption that you are using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Raw. If you don't have those two programs and have splurged on a Digital SLR and corresponding kit, you should seriously re-evaluate where you are spending your photography dollar. Like it or not, Photoshop will give you far more control over your final image than any other piece of hardware you can buy. If you don't believe me, download a trial version here and see for yourself. Exposure Compensation: RAW vs JPEG I started off with an underexposed image that I shot last month on the Oregon coast. The image was composed on a Canon 5d with a 17-40L lens and was shot from the balcony of our hotel. Now ...

  Last October I was faced with one of my toughest challenges as a consumer - I was getting married and I needed to hire the photographer.  My now wife knew this would be an impossible task and was not going to touch it with a 10 foot pole - no, this one was mine.  Here's how I went about hiring my photographer, the steps I took, and what I feel is important to know when hiring your own wedding (or any event) photographer. The Process of Hiring a Photographer Figure out what you want in a Photographer - My process started with a long period of procrastination.  Periodically I would scan local photographer's websites, but was often underwhelmed by the stock poses and overwhelmed by the "packages."  Not that it put my wife's mind at ease, but all this waiting and perusing allowed me to get clear on what I wanted in a wedding photographer. To me, wedding photography is all about image quality, style and story-telling.  Our venue was not the traditional pew lined isle of a church, but rather a pecan grove in central Phoenix.  Liz and I both love the outdoors, so it just made sense to make that a ...