Shooting in the RAW

I have to admit, I never really used the RAW format on my camera to it’s full potential. That is until I actually took the time to delve into the many tweaks and options available in Photoshop CS3′s RAW plugin a few months ago. It was always easier to just snap a pic in JPEG mode and been done with it. With RAW, everything becomes important. White balance, color, contrast, sharpness, noise filtering, black levels and exposure. Things most people never even think about are available for you to adjust.

I used RAW mode before many times but just taking the time to properly adjust the settings produced a much better iamge than what I orignally took. If you have a RAW mode, use it. For almost anything I shoot that has importance I shoot in RAW mode. RAW rocks!

Sites That Don’t Need Search?

I was just looking at Smashing Magazine’s article(s) on web design trends in 2009 and it got me thinking about search. In particular which sites need search and which sites can get by without it. I never added a search box to any of my Justin’s Diecasts sites because I figured the “Car List” feature was enough. Besides, where would I put it?

While the drop down menu can be considered ancient I still think it has it’s place and the “Car List” uses it well. If a person comes to my site knowing what he or she is looking for they simply find the car maker in the list. If they just want to browse, it’s great for browsing. It works because I don’t have a site that contains must-have information. Instead, I provide a kind of entertainment. That might be a peculiar way to label it but that’s what it is. A site like CNN needs search. Blogs need search. But some sites do not.

As sites become leaner and are designed with more white space in might, I think the idea of “no search design” might take flight. I know I like going to a site and immediately knowing what to do and how to find the information I want. Searching is one way but so is navigation if its done properly.