There’s a segment of the photography world which advocates for zero editing. Perhaps you’ve seen a video or read an article treating an unedited JPEG like a badge of honor. Processing is unnecessary if you’re doing things correctly, they’ll say. Pull the card out of the camera, print the image as is, and sell it.

Striving to capture the shot correctly in-camera is an excellent discipline and a worthy aspiration. Editing ought not to be viewed as a crutch to fix issues which should have been addressed at capture.

But shooting in JPEG to avoid processing is a nonsensical concept, because there is no such thing as an unedited digital photograph. It’s simply a matter of who’s doing the editing. JPEG files have been edited – by the camera.

Getting it right in-camera doesn’t mean you can control the behavior and characteristics of light. Capturing and saving more data to the card – i.e. working in RAW – makes challenging conditions much easier to manage.

Your camera can handle very demanding situations, if you let it record the necessary information.

Think of it this way: would you buy a $4,000 full-suspension mountain bike with a 12-speed drivetrain, only to lock the suspension and leave the bike stuck in middle gear? The drivetrain is built to adapt to tough, unpredictable conditions – but by locking it down, you force yourself to work much harder whenever the trail changes. The bike rolls fine on flat pavement, but the moment the trail gets steep, you’ve thrown away all the engineering you paid for.

For photographers, situations such as high-contrast environments are the “rough terrain.”

The Data Advantage

Admittedly, premium cameras utilize sophisticated algorithms to determine which colors to keep, how to optimize the dynamic range, and so forth – but it’s still the camera making the decisions, not you, and a lot of your data is being scrapped.

RAW format captures vastly more tonal values than JPEG. This additional information makes it possible to manage harsh dynamic range by rescuing highlights and shadows. Even when there's some clipping, it's often possible to pull back overexposed areas and coax detail out of shadows. (Also bear in mind that the histogram is an 8-bit display, even when shooting in RAW. This means you’ve got some cushion beyond what’s visible on the screen.)

If a bright sky is clipped in JPEG, that detail cannot be rescued. Likewise, attempting to lift deep shadows in JPEG introduces artifacts and noise.

Color Control Without Quality Loss

If your camera miscalculates the color temperature while shooting in JPEG, it can be difficult to fix the color cast later without degrading the file. In RAW, white balance is easily changeable with zero loss of image quality.

Streamlined Editing

Proponents of JPEG shooting argue that it will vastly reduce – or completely eliminate – editing time.

Perhaps.

But what if the image you pull off the card isn’t quite “ready for prime time?” You might find yourself investing a great deal of effort trying to address something that would have otherwise been a simple tweak if you’d allowed the camera to capture and retain more data.

Your workflow can be extremely efficient if you shoot in RAW and are thoughtful about getting things correct at the time of capture.

Future-Proofing

Software evolves. A RAW file shot today can be reprocessed five years from now using advanced tools that haven't even been invented yet.

The Bottom Line

None of this means you need to spend hours glued to a monitor fine-tuning minute details, manipulating a dozen sliders, or creating multiple masks for every image. If that's part of your creative vision, great! Go for it. But as mentioned earlier, if you're mindful at capture, your computer time can be minimal.

Efficient processing isn't about fixing mistakes; it's simply finishing the job you started when you released the shutter.

If you prefer the speed of JPEGs and love what comes straight out of your camera, stick with it. Photography is personal, and the best workflow is the one that brings you joy.

But consider this: getting it right in camera isn’t about JPEG versus RAW. It’s about acquiring (and saving) data at the moment of capture. Shooting RAW protects that information, as well as your creative vision. Don’t leave your best tools in the bag.

You bought a high-performance camera system designed to navigate the wildest landscape conditions imaginable—so shift into all 12 gears, unlock the suspension, and give yourself room to ride.

This photograph is just one example of what a RAW capture makes possible. 15 years ago, a situation like this would have required HDR. (Either that or I wouldn't have attempted it.)

This is Turret Arch in Arches National Park, late in the day. I wasn't there to shoot; I was scouting for the next morning. The light was harsh. Therefore, I'd left my tripod in the car and was wondering why I bothered to bring the camera.

When I got closer to Turret (which is not what I was scouting), the positions of the clouds visible on the other side of the arch, along with the woman who provided scale, stopped me in my tracks.

Facing west, the contrast was significant. I set the meter to avoid blowing out the highlights and hoped there'd be enough data to pull some detail out of the rock.

Straight off the card, the rock was a sea of black: merely a shape. As expected. But where RAW capture is concerned, there's definitely something to that saying about "more than meets the eye."

As you can see, there was quite a bit of detail available in the shadows. Not only that, I was surprised to find that chromatic aberration wasn't an issue.

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