wrote:

how do you spice up your images in photoshop? where do you learn this?
i don't know exactly what you mean by exposure controls but on my
currently canon i can choose an exposure range from -3 to +3 i believe,
or when i'm lining up the picture in manual i have three options, a
box, a box with a dot in it, or a box with a circle and a dot inside
it. the circle/dot sets the exposure based on whats in the entire frame
and is the unchangeable default in auto mode, the dot in a box changes
the exposure based on whats in the direct center of the image.. so i
can just move my camera around until i find the exposure i like by
pointing it at different areas of darkness or brightness in the room,
hold the button down half way, frame up my picture and take it. it
works quite well because its quick and i see what its going to look
like on lcd in real time..

It is done with curves. See:
http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/c...1/curves-1.htm

and look at Figure 6. Digital doesn't have a "toe" to the
characteristic curve like film does. Doing something like in
Figure 6 adds that toe and gives a response more like film.

Ron has a lot of other great articles too.

Roger