This site documents a modern RAW photography workflow built on open standards, file-based metadata and open-source tools – and the tech that makes them possible.
When Darktable 5.6 was released, most of the attention focused on its new AI features. While RawTherapee remains my preferred RAW processor because its workflow suits the way I edit, one feature immediately caught my attention: AI Raw Denoise. Unlike traditional noise reduction, AI Raw Denoise works directly on the RAW sensor data before demosaicing,... Continue Reading →
If you use RawTherapee, here's a small but important update. The official RawPedia documentation has moved to a new home: https://rawpedia.pixls.us The previous address (https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com) is no longer available, so any old bookmarks or links in articles may no longer work. I'll gradually update the links in my own RawTherapee articles, but if you come... Continue Reading →
The Real Question Is How Much Of It Still Belongs In 2026 ? Every now and then I revisit a subject I thought had already been settled. Full Frame versus APS-C and Micro Four Thirds is one of them. To avoid any misunderstanding from the start, this is not a "which format is best" article.... Continue Reading →
When a Photography Project Becomes an Investigation Recently I came across the work and philosophy of Belgian photographer Stig De Block. What caught my attention was not a particular photograph, but a phrase: Re-Searching Identity. The more I thought about those words, the more familiar they felt. Not because I recognised them in my writing,... Continue Reading →
AI is everywhere these days. Cameras have AI autofocus, phones have AI image enhancement, and software companies are busy adding AI to products that never needed it. Meanwhile, one of the most useful forms of intelligence in my workflow comes from something far less glamorous: a handful of simple rules I created myself. A comment... Continue Reading →
2 minute read Cormorant Anti-Tank CanalJuvenileCormorant - Aalscholver - Phalacrocorax carboOlympus E-M5 MKIII - Leica 100-400mmf6.3 - 1/1000 - 6400isoRawTherapee 5.12 WaveletsCrop from full 5212px to 2606px This Great Cormorant was photographed with the 2019 Olympus E-M5 Mark III and the Leica 100-400mm at 400mm, f/6.3, 1/1000s, and ISO 6400. The image shown here is... Continue Reading →
5 minutes reading time The Wildlife Setup I Use with My Long Telephoto Lenses The settings below are the ones I currently use with the Olympus 100-400mm f/5-6.3, the Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO and the OM System 50-200mm f/2.8 PRO. Well, the earlier article about cheat sheets and settings was really the introduction to all... Continue Reading →
6 minutes read time The LightTherapee ApproachBuilding A Better Starting Point In RawTherapee - Final Part In the first two parts of this series, we focused on giving RawTherapee a better starting point. First by automatically applying tools such as Auto-Matched Curve and Film-Like Curve, then by creating custom camera profiles tailored to our own... Continue Reading →
EBBT-Airfield & Fort BrasschaatCormorant - Aalscholver - Phalacrocorax carboGreat Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) resting and fishing along the historic anti-tank canals. These large waterbirds are skilled divers, often disappearing beneath the surface for surprisingly long periods before emerging with a fish. Their dark plumage, hooked bill, and distinctive wing-drying posture make them one of the most... Continue Reading →
The scene never changed. The interpretation did. 5 minute reading time Why images look wrong before they make sense - Most photographers are familiar with presets and film simulation recipes. Fujifilm made them popular, but every camera brand has its own variations. You select a profile, choose a recipe, change a setting, and the camera... Continue Reading →
3 minute read time Last weekend I may have gotten a little ahead of myself with my enthusiasm when I posted a simple question: what ISO do you think this image was taken at? What struck me was not that the answers were wrong. Quite the opposite. The guesses were remarkably close, and nobody seemed... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time Sometimes lens reviews begin with MTF charts, brick walls, and endless pixel peeping. This one starts with a mistake. During my first outing with the DJI 15mm f/1.7, mounted on an Olympus E-M10 IV, I noticed something odd. The camera had been sitting without power for quite some time and had... Continue Reading →
Cormorant Anti-Tank CanalJuvenileCormorant - Aalscholver - Phalacrocorax carboOlympus E-M5 MKIII - Leica 100-400mmf6.3 - 1/1000 - iso ?RawTherapee 5.12 WaveletsCrop from full 5212px to 2606px This cormorant was photographed in poor light with a Micro Four Thirds camera and then cropped down to roughly half the original frame. The final image you see here was... Continue Reading →
3 minutes reading time Not long ago, someone emailed me to say that I often make things look easy, while for the average person they really aren't. And honestly, I understand exactly what they mean. But if we're being fair, that's not just true for computers. It's true for almost everything in life. The moment... Continue Reading →
Title: Grey WagtailScientific Name: Motacilla cinereaDescription: Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), a slender insect-eating songbird commonly found along streams, rivers, and other flowing waters. Easily recognised by its long tail, grey upperparts, and bright yellow underparts. This Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) was photographed with the OM System 50-200mm f/2.8 PRO. The image required a substantial crop,... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time Creating your own processing profiles is a great way to tailor RawTherapee to your camera, your workflow, and your personal editing style. There is, however, one extra step if you want those profiles to appear in Preferences → Image Processing → Default Processing Profile → For RAW Photos. Getting a profile... Continue Reading →
Another Extreme Test for the OM-1 Mark II and 50-200mm f/2.8 PRO The first challenge was simply finding a Beautiful Demoiselle in the deep shade of a woodland stream. The second challenge was being ready when another one arrived. For a few brief moments, the scene changed from a simple wildlife photograph into something more... Continue Reading →
6 minute read time Well, in the first part we relied on RawTherapee's bundled profiles to get an attractive starting point with virtually no effort. And to be fair, they work quite well, even very well, especially if you enjoy fine tuning a large number of settings for every single image. But not everyone works... Continue Reading →
What many future, and honestly quite a few current, users of RawTherapee really want is surprisingly simple: a clearer, more attractive starting point from the moment a RAW file opens. And to be fair, RawTherapee was never really designed around the idea of “instant beauty”. Its philosophy has always been about freedom, a neutral image,... Continue Reading →
An Extreme Field Test of the OM-1 Mark II and OM System 50-200mm f/2.8 PRO The article I published on June 1st generated quite a few comments about cropping., sensor size, and how far a modern file can be pushed. While interesting, that was never really the point. The crop was simply a tool. What... Continue Reading →
How big is enough? And who are you publishing for? For years photographers have been told to keep images small. Otherwise they get stolen, storage fills up, bandwidth costs rise, and websites become slow. The advice is repeated so often that it has become accepted wisdom. But accepted wisdom is not always the same as... Continue Reading →
There are pieces of photography software that simply refuse to die. The original Google Nik Collection is one of them. Back in 2016, Google made the entire Nik Collection free before eventually selling the software to DxO. Development stopped, time moved on, operating systems changed, Adobe changed everything three times, yet somehow version 1.2.11 is... Continue Reading →
One of the most common arguments against shorter wildlife lenses is simple: they don't have enough reach. Fair enough, a 200mm lens will never magically become a 400mm lens, although Micro Four Thirds photographers might smile at that statement. The more interesting question is how much detail remains once the bird is still a little... Continue Reading →
6 minute read time Some gear purchases are exciting. Others are simply practical.This one sits somewhere in between. I recently ordered a new lens coat from Chasing Birds for the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm F2.8 PRO, once again in their Green Leaf camouflage pattern, mainly because after enough years outdoors you start realizing... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time Updated 28/5/2026 Simple Metadata Copy Script for Linux (Win & macOS below) For years, photographers have argued endlessly about metadata. Some see EXIF as an essential part of digital photography, others strip it from every image they upload as if it were some kind of privacy risk. And honestly, somewhere along... Continue Reading →
