Shooting JPEG only was never front of mind for me because I had bought into the “always shoot RAW” school of thinking from the first day I had a camera capable of shooting RAW.
But just recently, while browsing some of my older photos I realised that many of the JPEG versions of nearly all of my photos looked pretty damn good! Impressively so in many cases.
So I thought to myself – now I have a good case for shooting JPEG only – at least for a while. Call it the project I committed to in my 2026 Creativity Action List.
Shooting JPEG only for a few months
Just because I’ll be shooting JPEG only doesn’t mean I’ll be using my images straight-out-of-camera. I enjoy post-processing – but want to cut down on the time I have traditionally spent working on RAW files.
I am, however, going to be bold – well, bold for me.
Going forward I am NOT going to be shooting RAW plus JPEG…I’m going to be shooting JPEG only.
I guess the main purpose of this project from my perspective is to prove to myself that JPEGs are fit for purpose – i.e. fit for my purpose to meet my photographic expectations – plus I am hoping to dispel, at least in my mind, a few myths relating to JPEG images – myths like:
- all settings are “baked in” – a common term suggesting that there is very little lattitude for adjustments in post processing;
- you can’t recover shadows and highlights in JPEGs;
- being a compressed file format, the quality is not suitable for “serious” use;
- everytime a JPEG is opened, worked on and saved, the quality deteriorates…
- and so on…
This is a selection of JPEGs that started me down the track of shooting JPEG only.
Sunrise, Henley Lake was PP’d in Photolab 9, with a touch of Portra 400 added via the FilmPack add-in. Highlights were pulled back using a tone curve.
Again the base emulation is Portra 400 for Parawa Junction Hotel, with DxO Clearview being used slightly to add a bit of depth to the overall image.
West Coast South Island – there is no film emulation used here, but just a wee touch of Smart Lighting, a wee touch of ClearView, and a mask to bring the shadows out in the dark trees.
( I think it is important to let you know that the DxO software I use has been provided to me at no cost. I am a DxO affiliate, so if you use the code RickH15 at the DxO store, you’ll receive 15% discount off any NEW DxO product purchase, and I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
Trees in the mist – apart from the border and resizing is SOOC.
This is one of my favorites. Henley Lake reflection is finished with a Portra 400 look, and a LUT called Timeless.
On the strength of these five photos here, I can’t say with any certainty that I have dispelled all the JPEG myths to my total satisfaction, but what I can say is that there certainly seems to be enough lattitude to override many of the baked in settings.
I was able to reduce blown out highlights to my satisfaction; I could lift shadows to my satisfaction; and, with the capabilities of modern editing software there is no degradation of image quality becasue of the non-destructive nature of DxO Photolab.
Yes – shooting JPEG is fit for (my) purpose and is not only is a viable choice for amateurs like myself – and I’m sure also for serious photographers.