Nikon D300 - Page 670

values, but you need to be aware that it can be done in the
computer so that you can expose accordingly with your
camera’s histogram. Then you will be prepared for later
post-processing of the image.
In fact, now that we have compressed the mid-range values,
Figure 9-20 more closely resembles what our eye normally
sees, so it looks more normal to us.
In many cases, your progression from the shooting site to
your digital darkroom can benefit if you shoot NEF (RAW)
images.
A RAW digital image contains an adjustable range of light.
With a RAW image you can use controls in Capture NX,
Photoshop, or even the basic Nikon Picture Project software
included with the D300(S) to select from the range of light
within the big RAW image file. It’s like moving the
histogram window to the left or right over all that wide range
of RAW image data. You select a final resting place for the
histogram window, capture the underlying RAW data, and
your image is ready for use.
This is a serious oversimplification of the process, but I hope
it is more understandable. In reality, the digital sensor records
a wider range of light than you can use in one image. While
you might be able to use about 5 stops of light range in a
normal image, the digital sensor probably records about 7
stops of light range. Although you can’t get all of that range
into the final image, it is there in the RAW file as a selectable
range. I prefer to think of it as a built-in bracket, since it
works the same way.
This bracketed light range within the image is present to a
very limited degree in JPEG, and a bit more so in TIFF
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