Diggin99
Established
Hi everyone!
I have been doing film off and on for a while now and yet I am not getting the results I want in a consistant way. I have decided that what really I want to do is understand exposure. Now I have read many books, looked at online web sites etc. I have gone out and used manual camera and the Sunny/16 rule, thee shady/8 etc. I have also used in camera meters on SLR's and RF. Additionally I have tested different films, developers, development times etc. I know that the end result I want are pictures with deep rich tones. I thought I would present here some pictures with examples, any comments welcome!
Tones that I like:
Taken with a FED 2, HP5, developed in Gainer vitamin C formula
Here is an example of a shot where I like the composition, but the tones are not all they could be:
Sorry this was with a Nikon EM, FP4, Pyrocat HD Semi-stand. 35 minutes.
Now I have done a lot of research and my conclusions have been as follows, The film, developer, camera, and lenses I use are not the key to achieving the tonality I want, it all boils down to exposure. I read in Fred Picker's "Zone IV" Workshop (and many other places) that:
"A reflected light exposure meter reading of any evenly illuminated single toned surface provides camera setting information that will result in a negative density which will produce a "middle gray" in the print." (Picker: pg1)
I decided to test this out for myself and did some testing with shots from yard.
Here is a shot of a tree outside myhouse. I am using a Leica CL to meter on the tree:
Taken on the Leica CL, Nokton 40 S.C. lens, FP4 in R09.
Now I realize that my development times on these may not be perfect, far from it, but now when I look back at the shots I have taken over the last few months I can see that those which relied on a meter reading have very smiliar mid-grey tones. Not what I am looking for as an end result.
One final test I did, I have also read that one method for exposure you can use is to meter the darkest part of a picture and adjust the exposure and expose for 2 fstops less. (This I read in Horensteins Black and White Photography). So I did this, with the same tree:
Also taken with the CL.
Now I know that when printing , or using photoshop, these can be adjusted, but I have not done this here. I am hopeful that it will soon click together, meanwhile I will continue to go out and have fun. Any thoughts welcome!
Nancy
I have been doing film off and on for a while now and yet I am not getting the results I want in a consistant way. I have decided that what really I want to do is understand exposure. Now I have read many books, looked at online web sites etc. I have gone out and used manual camera and the Sunny/16 rule, thee shady/8 etc. I have also used in camera meters on SLR's and RF. Additionally I have tested different films, developers, development times etc. I know that the end result I want are pictures with deep rich tones. I thought I would present here some pictures with examples, any comments welcome!
Tones that I like:
Taken with a FED 2, HP5, developed in Gainer vitamin C formula
Here is an example of a shot where I like the composition, but the tones are not all they could be:
Sorry this was with a Nikon EM, FP4, Pyrocat HD Semi-stand. 35 minutes.
Now I have done a lot of research and my conclusions have been as follows, The film, developer, camera, and lenses I use are not the key to achieving the tonality I want, it all boils down to exposure. I read in Fred Picker's "Zone IV" Workshop (and many other places) that:
"A reflected light exposure meter reading of any evenly illuminated single toned surface provides camera setting information that will result in a negative density which will produce a "middle gray" in the print." (Picker: pg1)
I decided to test this out for myself and did some testing with shots from yard.
Here is a shot of a tree outside myhouse. I am using a Leica CL to meter on the tree:
Taken on the Leica CL, Nokton 40 S.C. lens, FP4 in R09.
Now I realize that my development times on these may not be perfect, far from it, but now when I look back at the shots I have taken over the last few months I can see that those which relied on a meter reading have very smiliar mid-grey tones. Not what I am looking for as an end result.
One final test I did, I have also read that one method for exposure you can use is to meter the darkest part of a picture and adjust the exposure and expose for 2 fstops less. (This I read in Horensteins Black and White Photography). So I did this, with the same tree:
Also taken with the CL.
Now I know that when printing , or using photoshop, these can be adjusted, but I have not done this here. I am hopeful that it will soon click together, meanwhile I will continue to go out and have fun. Any thoughts welcome!
Nancy
