This issue marks the third year we've done an Editors' Choice section in our December issue. For us, this gives the editors a chance to think about a lot of great products we've seen over the last year. We put our names to the brief reviews because these are personal choices.

That's really what a lot of photographic and computer equipment reviewing is about—personal choices. To be honest, we could never come up with 50 products that all of us would agree are great for our readers to consider. And we'd never expect that every product would meet every reader's needs. Too often, we see reviews and reports on equipment that offer negative (or even positive) comments as if they were some absolute ruling that everyone could agree with.

We hope that our approach is a more reasonable one. Although some people would like us to tell them what is the perfect (fill in the blank) for them, that's an impossible task. What's perfect for one person can be poison for another, and they can both be right in their opinions. We try very hard to offer you choices and let you know the good things that are available. Then it's up to you to decide what really might meet your needs.

Our camera reports are like that. In every issue we show you some of the latest models and give you an idea of how they performed when shot by photographers. You'll note that our reviews show off real photography of subjects and compositions that readers might actually shoot. We want to do more than just give you a dry recitation of all the camera details (anybody can get that on the Web). We want to give you more of a feeling of the experience of using a camera so that you have a better idea of how it might work for you. The good news is that digital cameras are great. The bad news is that digital cameras are great, which means the choice is not easy.

Another feature that's sure to interest most of you is the article on George DeWolfe's black-and-white imagery. George is definitely a master of black-and-white. It used to be considered a sign of high art and photographic mastery to do fine black-and-white prints from the darkroom. George has gone beyond the darkroom's capabilities to expand the possibilities of this wonderful medium. And his prints are largely done with an inkjet printer.

Control over the image is important in any critical photographic work. Richard Pahl gives us some real insight on using an advanced darkroom technique to get more out of our images. While he's using Photoshop, this technique applies to most image-processing programs that use layers.

Negative or print film can give us more useable images than staying strictly with slides or digital cameras. Print film has a tremendous tonal range, allowing it to capture detail in dark areas and bright areas that are only black or white in a digital camera's or slide's image. You won't see it all from a print, however, since the film itself holds at least 10 times the color and tones that you'll see in a standard print from your local mini-lab. You'll be able to capture that detail in a scan. lbarionex Perello gives some tips on working with print film, and Mark Edward Harris tells us about his shoot with a new print film designed for scanning.

Some new software is out that you'll find of interest—these really are some top-notch image- and video-editing programs, and we've got brief reviews of them. We received a final copy of Photoshop 6 too late for this issue, but it will be reviewed in the next one.

As always, I hope you're having fun taking photos and working with them in the computer. Whether you just want a better print or you're after some wild effects, go for it! This is an exciting time for photography.