B&W Photography, Zone System and you

This is a great thread, full of information. So, please allow me two insert my two cents. I am not a professional photographer and I do not develop my own film (but I plan to). I use roll film, mostly 35mm, but 120 as well. I understand, conceptually, the zone system very well, but I fail to understand how full application of it it could help me, as not being a pro, it may take me a couple of weeks, under varying conditions to finish a roll, so adjusting development time will not work. I have read that "zone system for 35mm" book, and applying its methods helped tremendously. I find I can get good results by metering zone III in shadows and hoping the highlights fall in place. On the other hand, I find highlights are often more difficult to adjust in photoshop than shadows, so I wonder if metering for highlights would be a better method for digital darkroom manipulation. Haven't tried that yet.
 
Rey,

I think you're on the right track - that is exactly how I use it - meter the shadows I want in zone 3, stop down two stops from the reading, and I'm good. That's not Ansel Adams' zone system, but frankly, old Ansel wasn't a street shooter so who cares? That zone for 35mm is what made sense to me, too.

I wouldn't meter for highlights - just use a yellow filter to make sure you get some nice tone in your skies. Black and white film has a wide latitude, so if you get the shadows right, the rest will falll nicely whatever the contrast situation is. I also usually overdevelop by 30secs to a minute, which errs on the side of making sure I have some detail in my highlights, and the extra time won't affect your shadows.

Multicontrast photo papers are so good these days, it's hard not to be able to save some pretty badly missed exposures - I know I have. It can take a lot longer than a perfectly exposed negative, but it can be done.

In Photoshop however (and this is why I don't use it for black and white work) I too find I have problems with the shadows getting as dense as I want them without taking on a blocky, digital look. I admit I'm not the best on PS though, so it could just be my lack of experience on a PC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom