📷 From JPEG to RAW: A Quiet Shift Toward Intentional Seeing

Why I Now Post-Process My Nikon Files—and What That Reveals About Image-Making

For years, I shot JPEGs. Fuji’s film simulations gave me elegant tonality straight out of the camera. Canon’s colour science rendered skin and light with warmth and familiarity. I trusted the camera to interpret the scene for me—and often, it did so beautifully.

But something changed when I began shooting with Nikon.

Not because the JPEGs were better. They weren’t. But the RAW files—those quiet, unprocessed digital negatives—held something deeper. When I opened them in Lightroom, I found not just more data, but more possibilities. More room to listen, to revise, to honour the complexity of the moment.

🧭 Why RAW, and Why Now?

RAW isn’t just about technical superiority. It’s about intentionality. It’s about resisting the flattening of history and allowing the image to remain open—unfinished, revisitable, alive.

Here’s what I’ve come to value:

• Dynamic Range: Nikon RAWs let me recover shadow detail in temple interiors and preserve highlights in sunlit border zones. The files breathe.

• Colour Neutrality: Unlike Fuji’s stylised profiles, Nikon’s RAWs feel like a blank canvas. I’m not fighting a baked-in aesthetic—I’m shaping one.

• Ethical Flexibility: Every edit is reversible. The original remains untouched. That matters when documenting contested heritage or postcolonial landscapes.

• Archival Integrity: RAW preserves the full scene for future reinterpretation. It aligns with my commitment to living archives and long-term educational use.

🖼 JPEG as Interpretation, RAW as Witness

JPEGs are interpretations—quick, confident, and often beautiful. But they’re also final. They discard data, compress nuance, and lock in choices made by algorithms.

RAW, by contrast, is a kind of witnessing. It holds everything. It waits. It invites you to return, to reconsider, to see again.

In my work—whether mapping colonial-era treaties or teaching ethical documentary practice—that openness is essential. It’s not just about image quality. It’s about honouring complexity.

🔄 A Shift in Practice

I still admire Fuji’s JPEGs. I still use Canon for certain projects. But with Nikon, I’ve found a workflow that mirrors my philosophy:

• Shoot in RAW

• Process with restraint

• Archive with care

• Teach with transparency

It’s slower. It’s quieter. But it’s more aligned with how I want to see—and how I want others to see, too.

🧠 Final Thought

This shift from JPEG to RAW isn’t just technical—it’s ethical. It’s about choosing a format that respects the moment, the subject, and the future viewer. It’s about leaving space for revision, reflection, and re-seeing.

In a world of instant filters and compressed narratives, RAW is a quiet act of resistance. And for me, it’s become a way of seeing that feels more honest, more intentional, and more alive.