Not everybody who uses Photoshop is a photographer. Some are retouchers, others simply want to learn. Even for those who are photographers, it’s not always possible to go and shoot the kinds of images you need to test out certain techniques. Especially if you’re just starting out with photography. This was the challenge faced by Kash Goudarzi and Gifton Okoronkwo. Too much of their time was being taken up by work and study, but they wanted to improve their post processing techniques. With little time to get out and shoot, they were lacking in photos with which to learn. Freely available raw files are limited in number, so they have created their own platform. Wesaturate.
Their goal is to create a platform which allows photographers to upload and share their raw files. Others can then download them and use them. A bit like Pixabay, but for raw files – although jpg files can be uploaded, too.
Kash told DIYP a little about how the process works. He also speaks of some of the protections in place to prevent it from just becoming a personal image dump. While the images will be released under the Creative Commons Zero license, it isn’t just about sourcing images to use in production. Kash says that the focus on Wesaturate will be about learning. The site is aimed squarely at photographers who wish to better their own abilities. Users can upload 2 photos every 24 hours. This ensures that we don’t become a file storage service. It also will motivate users to upload quality work. If a user doesn’t want to upload a RAW file, they have the option to upload just the JPG file. The site’s still under closed testing at the moment, but has a tentative launch date of April 17th. The site’s basically done, they’re just going through and double checking for bugs. For now, just to whet your appetites, you can download this image in both jpg and raw formats to have a bit of a play.
To download the image, or keep updated on the launch, head over to Wesaturate to be alerted when it goes live.
