I recently concluded over two weeks in Portugal, and for the entirety of that journey, I shot only JPEGs. Before this, my most recent travels were a combination of RAW + JPEG, but I consistently found that when I returned home and had a chance to look through the images, the JPEGs were the choice almost every time.

I’ve been shooting Fujifilm long enough to know that the usual “JPEG vs RAW” argument doesn’t really fit here. Fujifilm’s JPEGs, especially when you dial in that perfect film simulation or custom recipe, can often come out so close to the realized vision and tone that they deem RAW files unnecessary.

Since switching to Fujifilm as my primary camera, I’ve embraced a “less is more” approach. I’ve increasingly relied less on using RAW files and more on the quality of Fujifilm’s JPEG files to the point where I’ve seriously considered shooting JPEG-only during my travels. Fujifilm cameras produce exceptional JPEGs straight out of the camera.

Most modern cameras allow you to shoot RAW and JPEG simultaneously, capturing your subject’s uncompressed and unedited version and a compressed and processed version of the same file. You can alter the JPEG capture with Fujifilm, giving your JPEG file various treatments by choosing a predetermined film simulation or creating and using your custom recipe.

Street photography can be challenging. When street photographers venture out with a camera in hand, they have to accept that they will miss some shots, and they also have to prepare to take photos even when unsure of what might happen. As photographers, we have many gear/options to choose from, and part of what makes a photographer good at what they do is the knowledge they have of the gear they use.