I got inspired to write about shooting RAW after a friend left a comment on a photography post on my blog about how many photographers are afraid to shoot RAW. She thinks that this is a mistake, and I completely agree. I also fully understand that for numerous photographers, shooting RAW seems very overwhelming or is total unknown territory.Full disclosure: When I purchased my first DSLR in late 2012, I had never heard of RAW and didn't know why you would shoot RAW versus JPEG. Even as I did become familiar with the concept of RAW, I didn't switch to shooting RAW right away. I had just started using Photoshop Elements, I'd never used Lightroom, and I didn't understand the power of shooting RAW. So I kept shooting JPEGs.Fast forward six months to when I finally took the plunge, bought Lightroom, and shot my first set of RAW files. When I imported the files into Lightroom and started editing them, I couldn't believe the difference. I knew next to nothing about editing in Lightroom and still saw a significant improvement in my editing and consequently, final images. I've never looked back.If I had known that editing RAW files in Lightroom was so intuitive and that I'd see such a difference in my photos, I would have started shooting RAW immediately after purchasing a DSLR. If you've been on the fence, don't put it off any longer!In my shooting RAW post, I take you through the following points.

• What does "shooting RAW" mean?
• How do I shoot RAW?
• Uploading and editing RAW files seems like a lot of work. Does it really make a difference?
• But isn't it difficult and time-consuming to edit RAW files?
• But isn't photography software expensive? I like using free photography programs.
• But don't RAW files take up a lot of space?

I also take you through examples of editing JPEG and RAW versions of a single image. It's very difficult to appreciate the difference between shooting JPEG and RAW fully until you've tried it for yourself. But hopefully, learning more about RAW and reviewing examples of RAW versus JPEG images will help you make the decision to invest in Lightroom and start shooting RAW.Read the full post over on roseclearfield.com: DSLR Photography 101: Don't Be Afraid of Shooting RAW.SaveSaveSave