RAW vs Not RAW

I have only just got my head around RAW after nearly 4 years of full time photography. It daunted me because I like the easy way you can transfer over your JPEG's and instantly view them.

Then one day I thought I would give it a try and - well lets say I'm blown away by the amount of versatility you get and how much control over the photo you get. With TTV its easy to have photos blown out or too dark , RAW can - to a large extent help recover those lost pixels.

Take these side by side images that I took a week ago.

This is the original image, blown out very faded and not much contrast. A throw away, forgetful shot.

         

 I use Adobe Raw with the downloaded Nikon D300 info installed. It adjusted my exposure, I upped the strength of the blacks, split toned the shadows and highlights, adjusted the saturation and hue and finally came out with an image I ♥.