Review: RAW without FUD: How to Shoot RAW without Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

There are those who like to learn by reading, there are those who prefer classes, seminars and workshops, there are those who like video instruction, and there are those who�ll take it anyway they can get it. Each approach has its merits. Good DVDs in particular blend several of the strengths of other instruction forms: they are portable, and there�s a human leading you through the process, and best of all, you can go at your pace.

My first impression of the �RAW without FUD: How to Shoot RAW without Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt� DVD was amusement at the FUD acronym; I�d never heard it before. But according to the Wikipedia.com entry on FUD, it stands for �Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.� FUD has explicit roots as a way of describing political disinformation tactics�like those used by many politically oriented talk radio show hosts. But FUD-ing really gained traction in the corporate world in the early 1970s, and since �1991 the term has become generalized to refer to any kind of disinformation used as a competitive weapon" according to Eric S. Raymond�s �The Jargon File.�

Let�s be honest with ourselves for a moment: who among us hasn�t felt fear, uncertainty and doubt when confronting digital processing? Like it or not we are now not only photographers but also the lab, and to large extent the equivalent of being film manufacturers as well as being photographers and business owners. It�s all on our (or our assistants') shoulders, folks. That can be scary, and many people still stick to a JPEG-based way of working to get around it. That�s not good because to do so means losing a competitive qualitative edge.

By Ellis Vener

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