If you're not a newbie wedding photographer anymore, you might already be set in your ways when it comes to your workflow while covering weddings. As you go to more and more wedding events, your style as a photographer comes through and your personal stamp in every photo will be easy to recognize.

However, for those who are just starting out the industry, the basics that they need to learn may prove to be overwhelming. To help you out, we will check on one particular issue which is still being debated on until now in all the photography circles, not just for pros and amateur lensmen who are covering weddings.

Here, we will try to learn more about the pros and cons of using the JPEG format in processing your photos, as opposed to the raw image files.

JPEG & Raw Image Files: The Basics

Before delving deeper into the pros and cons of using either type of image files, here's a quick definition of the two. First, JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group and it is a file format created in 1992, which is supported by practically every image editing software existing in the market today.

On the other hand, raw image file is the one 'taken' by your camera which contains all of the original file data. This is advantageous in such a way that you have the creative freedom to process and edit the photos as you like. It's because unlike JPEG image files which have already been pre-compressed and processed by the camera for you, raw image files are similar to a film's negative.

One other thing which makes raw image files not so desirable for some photographers is that they take up a huge amount of space on your memory card. There's also no standard format for what raw images look like – it usually depends on your camera model.

The Pros & Cons of JPEG File Format

Now that you have a basic idea about the difference between JPEG and raw image files, let us check on the pros and cons of the JPEG file format. On the positive side, since JPEG files take up a smaller space per photo on your memory card, you will get to have more shots per burst.

It's also quicker and easier to transfer the images directly onto your computer. Finally, no converter is required since very little processing is required once you download JPEG files.

The downside of this type of image file format is that the white balance is fixed; it takes up a significant amount of space on your memory card, it has limited capabilities for image adjustment; and noise is already built into the image.

The Verdict: Should Wedding Photographers Go for JPEG or Raw Image Files?

As mentioned earlier, you would have already developed your own workflow if you have been in the wedding photography business for a certain amount of time. So in the debate against JPEG versus raw files, it's still a matter of what your personal and professional preferences are.

If you're the photojournalistic type of wedding photographer, you may want to shoot more using raw image files, as it gives you a greater leeway when processing images. If you're the traditional type of wedding photographer who goes for posed photographs – or if you use a combination of both styles – then you can use both types of image files.

Fortunately, the DSLR cameras today allow you to easily switch between a JPEG and a raw image format. There are even some models which allow you to shoot in both formats.

All in all, a pretty good rule to follow is to assess the situation that you are taking photos of, decide which file type to use and shoot. By being aware of the pros and cons of both the JPEG and the raw file type, switching between the two will be pretty instinctive for you – depending on what the situation calls for. As such, you can create the most beautiful wedding photos out of each and every click of your camera.