Converting from RAW to Jpeg with ACR

Whenever I step out of the house I have a camera with me, usually it is a tiny point and shoot - you never can tell when a photo opportunity will rear its head and if the camera is safely at home, tucked up in a padded camera bag that shot is lost and forever forgotten. I much prefer to take my photos with my Olympus SLR but it has to be left home occasionally!

Having enjoyed a few opportunities especially designed so that I can indulge my photo taking enthusiasm,lately, I have plenty of pictures to choose from when I feel like sharing!
Today I have been reliving the latest holiday in New Zealand as I convert each shot taken in RAW format on the SLR, correcting any exposure problems and brightening the dark shadows to reveal hidden details. So far I have only reached day two so there are only 1500 files to go. (Just guessing!) With ten days shooting with an average of 100 shots per day there are still a lot of pictures to look at! I have read of pro shooters who shoot masses and only keep three, I am afraid I have more keepers than I have rubbish! The digital format was invented for people like me!
But I am not sharing any NZ pictures with you today. I spend time in this great land of ours (Australia) and never tire of the wonders I find in the bush. So many of the plants are small and insignificant but when you stop and look closer they are stunning in their complexity. I have no idea of the plant name for this little hard leafed fern I found near the sea shore. It must be salt tolerant and able to withstand all kinds of weather. The texture of the plant tells me that. But look at the little twirls on the edges of the leaves, They are exquisite!

f 5.6 1/160 ISO 200

If you wish to see this picture larger, click on it and you will be taken to a larger version which will also enlarge when the magnifier is selected.

My second plant picture is of grass seed heads. Growing in the open, some grasses have evolved to have their seeds spread by the wind. These seedheads are ripe and ready to expel their load of seeds and they catch the sunlight and look soft and tactile. Actually I cannot resist holding out my hand and letting the grasses brush over my palm.

F8.0 1/400 ISO 200

And finally one of the dramatic and very large plants that inhabit our rainforests. These plants are ferns and are epiphytic, drawing their nutrients from the air. They are found high in the trees or low on the ground - where ever the spore has taken a hold. Of course they are also a very popular garden plant and make a dramatic statement, growing equally as large as they would if left in the bush.

F6.3 1/40 ISO 100

They are given the common name "Crows nest fern" because of the way they grow into a circle of leaves surrounding the growing heart. This particular fern caught my camera's attention because of the way a shaft of sunlight caught it. Thanks to the way a RAW file can be manipulated I have been able to reveal the very dark plants that surround it without compromising the brightly lit area.
Photoshop has a special sub program called "Adobe Camera Raw" or ACR which I use when converting my SLR photos. I only use a few of the controls available because I only want to bring out the best of what I have rather than recreate the photograph completely! However it is something I couldn't live without!
AJ