Boy if you follow me ya’ll know I try not to jump into the technical stuff. It’s not my way. I see lots of Photography Educators out there that can not wait to muddle your brain with all kinds of techno babble. This is NOT my style!
Do I have knowledge of some of this feldercarb? Yes, but only as much as I need, to assist me with my interpretations artistically, or as a fine art printer. This brings me to the point of bit depth in a digital image and why it’s important in your work.
Simplified… Bit Depth Has A Lot To Do With Detail In Your Image
It’s really as simple as that. The very simplest of images, a one bit image can only show two values or tones; a “0” White and a “1” Black. In a two bit image there are four different combinations; “00,” “01,” “10,” & “11.” If “00” represents black. and “11” represents white, then “01” equals dark grey and “10” equals light grey.
Is your head starting to hurt now? I promise I’ll make this a bit easier in just a second. (pun intended) The last example of bit depth is two, but the number of tones represented is 2 to the second power which equals four. An 8 bit image is 2 to the eighth power which equals 256 different tones which can be assigned to each pixel. A 16 bit image will be 2 to the 16th power which equals 65,536 tones that can be assigned to each pixel.
Ok I’ll stop here for now ‘cuz your brain is prolly hitting overload and you’ve had enough of this… “But Garrett, I just wanna take pretty pictures!” “Why does this crap matter?” Simple! A 16 bit image allows you the ability to show more colors or tones in your final image. An 8bit image is capable of 16.7 million colors (256 tonal values in three channels red, blue and green) and the 16 bit image can produce 281 Trillion Colors!
A Lower Bit Depth Results In Less Color Possibilities
8 Bit images are more commonly used for web graphics and small prints. Why? Simple! Less information means less to interpret and faster loading time. Every time I show you an image in my blog it’s an 8 bit jpeg in the sRGB colorspace. If you want to see the “real image” look at my print which is a 16 bit tiff file in Adobe RGB 1998. A MUCH LARGER FILE! Also a far better representation of my work.
That 16 bit file allows me a lot more editing room to stretch and pull those colors and tones in order to show you what my eyes actually saw. Where this is really important, is in places like sunset images, or sunrise images. Actually any image that requires a large tonal range in colors. A 16 bit tiff image will give you a much better transition in those colors.
Really simplified? When I was a kid we went from the 8 pack of crayons to the 64 pack, to that 128 pack! Man! Did I love coloring with all those extra colors! Didn’t you?
The Trade Off Is Larger Files And Better Computers Are Needed
This is the key reason why Gaming Computers, and Photography Digital Darkrooms are typically the most powerful computer systems. Also? Higher end cameras require better processors and sensors as well. Add in the fact that good glass is not cheap to make and now you understand why our art can be so expensive.
This is also the reason you look at the images of really good Photographers now a days and wonder why, or how to accomplish that work yourself.
Can you edit an 8 bit image and convert that to 16 bits? No. Too many colors are missing, the result will not be any better. Can you edit a 16 bit image and save it to a 8 bit image and not “lose anything?” Once again, no. Because the 8 bit file structure will kill some of your 16 bit colors, and not reproduce them. So right away now, you really understand every time you reduce your file to post it online or print it, you are degrading your image.
If you are now thinking “hey Garrett, I’m ok with that 8 bit jpeg and only posting my images online”…
That’s perfectly fine with me. It’s your life, your right, and your art. I’m cool with that. For my uses though I’m personally on the journey to create the absolute best images and prints I’m capable of. I’m always trying to improve, and the journey never ends. Isn’t that cool? You might not think so, but it’s my life, my right, and my art isn’t it? ^_^
Why Do You Enjoy Photography?
What makes you invest all of this time, energy, and money into our art? That can be just as many reasons as there are colors in a 16 bit Adobe RGB 1998 tiff file! This my friends is very cool! Because with out all of those reasons, and everyone being different, then we would be presented with a one bit image. A pretty boring world if you ask me.
Oh yeah! Another reason I love Photography? The last two images above in this post can no longer be captured. One is from a show I was commissioned to Photograph on the strip that is no longer in production. As a matter of fact the showroom and the Casino are no longer even there. And the Mirage Hotel with that very cool and exceptionally hard to Photograph Volcano? It’s been sold, and the Volcano is gone as well.
See? The journey never ends and it’s always changing!
Once again… thanks for reading!
Coming Attractions
It’s not too late to sign up and be a part of my online, 52 week Photography course and campfire community. All you need now is $19.00 to reserve your spot! Christmas Day that special reservation price goes away. Yet still the first six months of this year long class is only $249.00!
That’s one less Starbucks a week! Every two weeks there will be a new video to learn with and new challenges. You can view these videos all you like and for life! Anytime you wish and at your leisure. Yes I will be teaching LightRoom and PhotoShop in these classes too! You don’t even have to get out of your jammies! All members of this community will also have the opportunity to attend free PhotoSafaris just for them! So? Wait no longer! Click the link to sign up TODAY!
