{"id":339521,"date":"2026-02-16T02:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T02:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/339521\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T02:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T02:24:12","slug":"limitations-boost-photographic-creativity-heres-why-i-ditched-raws-and-zooms-and-embraced-jpegs-and-prime-lenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/339521\/","title":{"rendered":"“Limitations” boost photographic creativity \u2013 here’s why I ditched RAWs and zooms, and embraced JPEGs and prime lenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have noticed that there is some debate among photographers between the JPEG and RAW formats. Actually JPEG vs RAW <\/a>isn’t much of a debate since, on the face of it, RAW files offer so much more flexibility than JPEGs for editing later on, and few practical disadvantages.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing. With flexibility comes choice and with choice comes decisions \u2013 and for photographers, decisions are not always easy to arrive at.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When you shoot RAW you can do almost anything with your photos, but how does that help you? If you can\u2019t decide on a pictorial style when you go out for a shoot, what makes you think it will be any easier to decide later?<\/p>\n

Are you actually delaying a difficult decision? That\u2019s procrastination. Or are you holding on to countless images that might prove useful one day when you can work out what to do with them? That sounds like hoarding.<\/p>\n

Choice is fine, but you also need decisions. And sometimes the less choice you have, the more creative the outcome.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"James\n<\/p>\n

We had a spirited debate about JPEG vs RAW on the Bokeh Face podcast \u2013\u00a0click here to jump straight to the discussion<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

This is why people buy monochrome cameras<\/a> like the Leica Q3 Monochrom<\/a> or Pentax K3 Mark III Monochrome<\/a>, two of the best cameras for black and white photography<\/a>. It’s not just because of any technical advantages but because they represent a firm creative decision.<\/p>\n

This idea is not new. The great Leonardo da Vinci firmly believed that it was constraint that drove creativity, not freedom. He also struggled during his life with procrastination and unfinished projects. Hmm\u2026 sounds familiar *strokes chin*.<\/p>\n

So the point I wanted to make about JPEGs is that once you choose a picture style in the camera \u2013 black-and-white, vivid, vintage, whatever \u2013 you\u2019re largely committed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s harder (sometimes impossible) to go back. You can\u2019t easily (if at all) change it later. You have to go out and shoot with that style in mind, basing your composition, your subjects, your angles, your whole photographic approach on that particular style.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Black
\n<\/p>\n

JPEG film simulations and picture styles might seem like unnecessary constraints, but they force you to commit to a creative decision instead of just hedging your bets (Image credit: Rod Lawton)<\/a><\/p>\n

Sounds like hard work, right, and also very limiting? But surely it\u2019s better to shoot with a specific plan than it is to shoot generic images that could perhaps, maybe, at some point in the future be turned into any number of different things you haven\u2019t yet decided on?<\/p>\n

I promise you, if you go out and shoot JPEGs you\u2019ll work extra hard at the camera settings and the composition to make those images work. Worried about losing the extended dynamic range of RAW files? Then get the exposure right, and accept that you can\u2019t always have shadow and highlight detail at the same time.<\/p>\n

The world will keep turning, and your pictures might just look that little bit fresher and more natural.<\/p>\n

Heck, if it worries you that much (shooting JPEG-only makes me nervous, too), shoot JPEG and RAW at the same time \u2013 but swap it around so that the JPEGs are your planned end point and the RAW files are just there for backup.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a bit of creative psychology. If you work hard to get your JPEGs right, your RAW files are going to be much better to work with, too.<\/p>\n

Pick up a prime and ditch the zoom<\/p>\n

\n

\"Close-up
\n<\/p>\n

Prime lenses bring restrictions \u2013 but also decisions (Image credit: Future)<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another choice vs decisions dilemma for photographers. Zoom lenses<\/a> give you far more flexibility than prime lenses<\/a>. Flexibility over where you need to stand, how big the subject is in the frame, how to manage the perspective relationships between near and far objects, and so on. The advantages are obvious.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s less obvious is the extra decision-making (or decision fatigue). Focal length is just one more variable in the picture-taking process. As a photographer you have finite time, attention and patience. Do you really want to devote so much of it to the camera and lens settings?<\/p>\n

Zoom lenses give you choice, but they also bring more decisions when quite possibly you have more than enough to make already. Have you heard of decision paralysis (aka analysis paralysis or choice paralysis)? Look it up. It’s a real thing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Canon
\n<\/p>\n

Zoom lenses are famously versatile, but they can add yet another layer of decision making \u2013 and potential Choice Paralysis (Image credit: Canon)<\/a><\/p>\n

When you shoot with a prime lens, things are simpler. You\u2019re close enough or you aren\u2019t, the composition works or it doesn\u2019t. There are fewer variables. Your mindset shifts from calculations to instinct.<\/p>\n

Sure, you\u2019ll miss some shots that you could have got if you had a zoom, but photographs are rarely sacred relics that can never be replaced. You can always go out and take more.<\/p>\n

If all you ever use is zooms, shooting with a prime lens will feel like wearing a straitjacket. But do it anyway. Stick with it. Keep shooting. Eventually you stop noticing the constraints of a fixed focal length and start noticing that photography is suddenly a lot simpler. If you try and try and try and still hate prime lenses<\/a>, then you can always go back to zooms.<\/p>\n

Just allow for the possibility that constraints can sometimes be better than choices. Sometimes it\u2019s better to make some decisions right at the start, whether its RAW files vs JPEGs or primes vs zooms, and commit properly to what you set out to do. It really can make a difference.<\/p>\n

You might also like… <\/p>\n

For more creativity-boosting exercises, this is why your \u2018smart\u2019 camera is actually making you a worse photographer<\/a>. If you’re still not sold on prime lenses, I used to think prime lenses were pretentious<\/a> \u2013 now I finally know why they are so popular. Hand here’s why I\u2019m starting to choose JPEG over RAW<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You may have noticed that there is some debate among photographers between the JPEG and RAW formats. Actually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-339521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116077937725761862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}