About The Pictures
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Digital Post Processing.
In digital, as it is in traditional film, post-processing is a must if you want high quality images. There are generally two camps when it comes to photo editing. One believes that it should only be used to simulate what is possible for regular film processing, such as dodge and burn, black and white conversion, etc. The other camp believes that once in the realm of digital, anything can be done as long as you get the results you want. I have to say I am more of a follower of the first school of thought, but when the urge arises, I will not hesitate to manipulate my images heavily.

I use Photoshop 6.0 as my primary tool for editing. It is probably the best image editing program out there, and useful because many third party actions (scripts) have been developed for it. There are several excellent free and low-priced actions available that are designed specifically for use with the Canon D30, but the main ones I use are developed by Fred Miranda. More details about these actions can be found in his website.

Digital Velvia: developed by Fred Miranda. It is an action that simulates the high saturation qualities of the popular Fuji Velvia film. There are three components of the action which produces a low, medium, and high saturation image. Results are generally much better than simple saturation adjustment in Photoshop because it minimizes the enhancement of noise. The action is available for a small fee. It is not D30 specific.

Edge Sharpen: developed by Fred Miranda. A simple but effective action for sharpening images. It is an improvement on the Unsharp Mask filter because there is an extra adjustment step to minimize the enhancement of noise. There are two separate actions for 8-bit and 16-bit TIFF images. This is a free action and it is not D30 specific.

Simulated Gradual Filter: a general tip for simulating a gradual filter in Photoshop. In his website, Fred Miranda describes the use of 16-bit Linear files to simulate GDs. The advantage of this technique is that it requires the use of only one exposure.

Duotones/Quatones: another way of achieving effective black and white images in Photoshop. This is more geared towards printing B&W images in color inkjet printers. Images must first be converted to greyscale mode then adjusted using Duotone or Quadtone. Photoshop comes with several very nice presets that can simulate various B&W printing processes.