A free RAW editor? Sign me up…

So you just got home from a day of shooting and realize that you had the white balance all wrong.  You decide that you are going to shoot RAW.  So after fiddling with some photos, you want to edit them.  But you load the software that came with your camera and… you don’t like it.  Because you are not a pro with hundreds (or thousands to spend on software), I just found a product for you.

Welcome, RAW Therapee. It is your perfect price, free. That’s right, free. But if you like it, there is an option to donate a couple dollars to the programmer, which you will want to do after using this program.

It is a fully featured RAW editor comparable to Adobe Camera Raw (a plugin for Photoshop).

You can easily edit :

• White balance
• Exposure
• Channels
• Recover highlights/Shadows
• Sharpness
• Colour
• Noise reduction

All of these things are easily accessible and easy to use. Click save and you have a proper JPEG (or what ever file format you choose) to give to your family and friends.

Check it out at Raw Therapee. It is available for Windows and Linux (sorry Mac, weird, I know).

The Church

Here is a photo from a recent trip to the Westcott United Church. The church is closing due to decreased support from the community. Very Sad. Taken with my FA 50mm f1.4 lens. I love the OOF areas with this lens.

As always, thanks for looking and comments, criticisms are welcome!

Old Film Camera Lenses

Thanks to ebay, the world of film lenses has been opened up to the digital age. I have just tried to bite the LBA (lens buying addiction), with the purchase of 2 lenses. The Cosina 28mm f2.8 and the off-brand 135mm f2.8.

I have recently received my Cosina 28mm f2.8 in the mail and have found out how good the old glass is mostly, the best glass! The quality of the pictures is so good compared to the two kit lenses I also own. The quick speed of the f2.8 is so nice to have and makes the background OOF (out of focus) area look so nice!

Here is a very quick picture of my set-up right now.

I think everyone should go to their local pawn shop, donation stores, ebay and places like craigslist or kijiki and find these lenses. Not only is it fun to go out and look at these pieces of glass, but the results you can create are mind blowing. Good luck!

Here is a quick shot of my cat with my new 28!