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THETA Sensual Arts Modeling Forum
Zone system vs. Tweaking
Posted By: Henry Butz (24.185.186.154)
In Response To: Tweaking & zone
Location: Long Island, NY
Date: Sunday, 7 March 2004, at 5:06 p.m.
(Michael McGowan)
The zone system is intended to place the shadows and the highlights at the extreme ends of the film's latitude, which is about double that of color of film. More spectral information will be stored on a properly exposed zone system negative than any color negative. Contrast is enemy of color film and friend of black and white, so the contrast of color film is low.
Think of it this way. If you have a pocket full of coins: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and silver dollars, then you have a pocket full of black and white. But, if you only have nickels, dimes, and quarters then you have a pocket full of color (less exposure latitude). In Photoshop, we can call a quarter a silver dollar and a nickel a penny (increase the contrast between hi and low), but we still only have three different types of coins.
Ansel knew this all along - if you get it right on the negative, you'll have a better photograph in the end.
I do appreciate digital technology. And, some of it is hanging in art galleries. But, digital black and white will always be inferior to the real deal.
: Henry, don't you think the Zone System is about
: the pinnacle of tweaking? And Adams didn't
: stop tinkering once he had a negative. He
: kept on until the image matched what he had
: in his head.: That's all we are doing, regardless of medium:
: Getting images that express what we wanted
: to express.: Understanding the medium, whether it's
: "tweaking" lithographic to create
: tones or "tweaking" exposure and
: development to capture the right set of
: tones, photographers have never been ones to
: leave well-enough alone.: That means there are some truly dreadful Zone
: System prints out there (not by Adams), and
: loads of awful copies of the Westons as
: well.: Ultimately, if somebody produces an affecting
: image, I'm interested in looking.
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