RAW is a method of saving the image in the camera where exactly what the camera sees is saved. This gives great flexibility when you come to edit your images (yep you’ll also need editing software, Photoshop CS3 is the big boy while Photoshop Elements is his cut down but capable little bother).

The alternative to RAW is to shoot in jpeg which creates a small size file which can be saved quicker the trouble with jpeg, is that it throws away some of the pixels and makes decisions about how the image will look, decisions that most photographers feel are best left to them.

Alistair