Am I being dense, doesn't Zenfolio recognise this format..can't upload what must be a widely used raw pic format. 

 ZF is set up primarily as a display site and not as an archival host. RAW files are just that, raw data from your camera's sensor. The RAW file is merely a digital version of a film negative that contains all the data recorded, as such, it isn't intended to be a display format. A RAW file rarely makes a very good image straight out of the camera. One has to decode it first with something like ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) or PhaseOne and then  use Photoshop/Lightroom/Elements/GIMP for post-processing to get a final image. Most people then save it in JPEG,TIFF, GIF, or PNG format for display or printing. There aren't many (if any) labs that will work with a straight out of the camera RAW format image. You have to process the RAW file yourself and save it in one of the widely accepted output formats for display or print. 

 Also, new RAW formats are introduced with each new camera that comes out. The site would constantly 'break' each time someone with a new camera (thus a new RAW format) uploaded images until a manufacturer released the specs for the new format. They would constantly be coding new fixes for each new format. Instead, it is the photographer's responsibility to make sure that their version of ACR, PhaseOne, or the RAW converter supplied by the camera manufacturer is up to date in order to read and allow post-processing of the newer RAW files. If you want straight from the camera to the Web as your workflow (zero post-processing), then use your camera's JPEG shooting mode and not RAW.

 Start with the Wikipedia entry  then see OpenRAW.org  and use Google for more in depth discussions. The ZF 'Features' page shows the currently accepted file formats for the site.

Thanks for your very informative and well phrased reply.

I'm new to photography (as you probably guessed). Currently looking for a 'workflow' for my NEF files using Capture NX and Photoshop CS3, to maybe Tiff and Jpg and for an archival / display site. Zenfolio is competaively priced, easy to use and displays well, have looked at Smugmug, Pbase, Photo.net and Flickr but they don't 'hit the spot'. 

I don't expect to sell any of my 'snaps' I just want to have a secure back up and for my family and friends to have access to my pics and I will post selected pics on DPreview for advice.

Any advice well received.

tomc

 Tom,

I don't advise using Capture NX (supplied by Nikon). ACR is built in to CS3 and does a much better (and faster) job. Capture NX has come a long way, but it still doesn't compare favorably to using ACR and passing the file directly into CS3. RAW shooting has a definite learning curve. You might want to look at Bruce Fraser's book 'Real World Camera RAW with Adobe Photoshop CS2'. An excellent resource for those new to RAW post-processing.

As far as archiving goes, there are as many strategies as there are photographers. Everyone has their own preferred method that they are comfortable with. I burn a copy of my RAW files to CD/DVD as soon as I download them from the camera. I also backup an additional copy to an external USB hard drive. Some also like the added security of using one of the many online backup/archiving services for their RAW files. Others even store their CF/SD cards in a safe place for a period of time before reformatting and using them again. You have to use what is comfortable and affordable for you. Many save their editing work as either a PSD or TIFF file with layers preserved. That is also a choice you have to make. The one important thing to remember is that all the programs mentioned here make zero changes to the actual RAW file. It is your negative and a photographer should make every effort within their means to preserve that file. One can always re-edit, but one usually can't get back a file or data that is gone or corrupted in some way.

Happy shooting to you! RAW is a challenge, but well worth it for the flexibility it provides. Also check out Fred Miranda's site, it is a bit more 'warm and fuzzy' than DPR (which can be brutally horrific) for reviews/evaluations of your work.

JKSeidel:

I don't advise using Capture NX (supplied by Nikon). ACR is built in to CS3 and does a much better (and faster) job. Capture NX has come a long way, but it still doesn't compare favorably to using ACR and passing the file directly into CS3. RAW shooting has a definite learning curve. You might want to look at Bruce Fraser's book 'Real World Camera RAW with Adobe Photoshop CS2'. An excellent resource for those new to RAW post-processing.

Tom, you might also look into Adobe's Lightroom product, which lets you manage libraries of RAW photos with ease.  It uses the same ACR processor as Photoshop CS3, and adds on top of it some great organizational capabilities, as well as a very intuitive workflow for RAW.  Using Lightroom, I am able to effectively cull down a shoot of 1000+ pictures to the ones I want to keep, and have all of those be rated, keyworded and organized within an hour or so...

JKSeidel:

 

As far as archiving goes, there are as many strategies as there are photographers. Everyone has their own preferred method that they are comfortable with. I burn a copy of my RAW files to CD/DVD as soon as I download them from the camera. 

I also burn the entire shoot's worth of RAW files to DVD as the second step in my workflow (the first being to get them onto the computer). Lightroom makes this part easy, too, by giving me the option of saving all of the files imported for a shoot into a secondary location, which I point at a DVD burn folder.

Then, after I've culled the shots down to the ones I want to keep, and done the adjustments to those, I export the final set out to either PSD or TIFF and burn that set to DVD as well.

Aaron Brown:

Tom, you might also look into Adobe's Lightroom product, which lets you manage libraries of RAW photos with ease.  It uses the same ACR processor as Photoshop CS3, and adds on top of it some great organizational capabilities, as well as a very intuitive workflow for RAW.

Aaron is right. I gave short shrift to Lightroom as I'm not a fan of the program. Many are huge fans though, and it does assist in taking out a lot of the drudgery out of organizing and definitely helps smooth out the workflow. I use Extensis Portfolio as my DAM (digital asset management) program, which you certainly will need as your collection of images grows. There are many other DAM programs out there (ThumbsPlus, IView, ImageFolio, etc.) and everyone has their own particular favorite. Look some up, most have trial versions that allow you to get a feel for the program to see if it meets your needs.

Thanks Aaron and JK, I'm checking out Lightroom now.

Very impressed with the forum, good concise suggestions, I will almost certainly confirm my trial account now, only hope my 'snaps' don't look out of place here,

Tom  

Tis turning out to be a great forum and very helpful!

Tomc I myself also use Capture NX and CS but then again at present I only "process" a few images at a time.

Regards

Steve

Aaron Brown:

Lightroom makes this part easy, too, by giving me the option of saving all of the files imported for a shoot into a secondary location

And there is also a free Lightroom plugin available for uploading your photos to Zenfolio (not as RAW, of course). Saves a lot of time.

You can find it here http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/lightroom-zenfolio/

YL.:

And there is also a free Lightroom plugin available for uploading your photos to Zenfolio (not as RAW, of course). Saves a lot of time.

You can find it here http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/lightroom-zenfolio/

Yes, yes!  Must not forget that little gem.  It makes managing my zenfolio-based site ridiculously easy.  As a matter of fact, I feel downright spoiled being able to just select a group of images within Lightroom, and directly publish them to a gallery on my site

DO NOT STOP USING CAPTURE NX...

There are a few things that Capture NX does well - it's a fantastic product for it's suitable purpose.   There's quite a few things that I do in Capture NX that I cannot do in PS3.  Do not use Nikon's library application... it sucks.

Jessiethe3rd:

DO NOT STOP USING CAPTURE NX...

There are a few things that Capture NX does well - it's a fantastic product for it's suitable purpose.   There's quite a few things that I do in Capture NX that I cannot do in PS3.

I very much like Capture NX for the results you can achieve with it, but hate it for the awful ergonomics (for my taste). So I switched to LR where the workflow is much smoother for me.