I is for IMAGES

Immense thanks to Denise Nesbitt for creating this incredibly creative site! All contributors post such interesting, inspirational, and impressive photos and writings and those of us who visit are inspired by your informative and illustrious offerings.

There are 3 IMAGE formats relevant to digital photography. I will try to illuminate them for as clearly as possible.

JPEG stands for "Joint Photographic Expert Group" and has become the standard format for storing photographic images in digital cameras and for displaying them on internet web pages. They are smaller than TIFF formats and as a result they lose some image data. However, “JPEG files achieve a smaller file size by compressing the image in a way that retains detail which matters most, while discarding details deemed to be less visually impactful.” (from http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/imagetypes.htm)

TIFF stands for "Tagged Image File Format" and is used mostly in the printing and publishing industry. They are significantly larger than JPEG images and can be compressed or uncompressed making sure the image retains all of the image information. This type of file is excellent for intermediate files that you may want to edit later. Many digital cameras have the capability of saving images in either TIFF or in JPEG, but TIFF images take up excessive space. Therefore, it is recommended that one use RAW format because they are significantly smaller while still retaining more information about your image.

The RAW file format is digital photography’s equal to the negative in film photography. It contains untouched, "raw" pixel information from the digital camera’s sensor, containing one red, green, or blue value at each pixel spot. Digital cameras normally "develop" this RAW file by converting it into a full color JPEG or TIFF file, and then store this file in the memory card. Because digital cameras have to make many decisions when developing a RAW file, this format offers more control over how the final JPEG or TIFF image is produced. If you’re interested in the steps a RAW file takes to change an image into a TIFF or JPEG file, see http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/RAW-file-format.htm.

In conclusion, I thought I’d show you some of my favourite images from over the past little while, all using a JPEG file format. These photos gave me hope that Spring cannot be far away. Come with me for a little tour of my neighbourhood, culminating in an awesome shot of a reflection of the iconic Vancouver Hotel in a new skyscraper in downtown Vancouver. I'll be using that same photo next week for another reason, so keep it in mind. Be sure to turn up your sound to hear the accompanying music.

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