Re: the zone system vs. the Big Picture

[Edward Meyers <aghalide@phantom.com>]

On Fri, 19 Apr 1996, Charles E. Dunlap wrote:

> 
> > _The Negative_ covers only a tiny fraction of the
> >practical issues in photography.
> 
> The initial poster, who has yet to resurface (and I don't think that we 
> can blame him), seemed to be having trouble with flat, washed out prints. 
> This is almost certainly an exposure or printing problem. Someone wisely 
> recommended _The Negative_ as an excellent reference on practical 
> controls of tonal relationships. The recommendation addressed the 
> question well, and did not claim that _The Negative_ was an inclusive 
> text on photographic practice. Adams wrote _The Camera_ and _The Print_ 
> in order to round out his basic photography series. He was humble about 
> attempting to provide thorough coverage, but I think he did a very good 
> job.
> 
> >Adams' own photographs cover a very restricted
> >expressive range, and
> 
> I think there's an impression here that Adams was trying to preach a 
> particular way to view the world and a dogmatic approach to technical 
> controls. I recommend his autobiography to anyone who feels that such a 
> characterization is largely true. He was big hearted and accepting of 
> different points of view. He also photographed subjects which expressed a 
> variety of human responses to the natural world and to each other.
> 
> >the proportion of photographic images worth seeing that were
> >made by his methods is an infinitesimal fraction of the whole in both number
> >and variety.
> 
> That's ok. My experience is that I wasn't able to get the results I 
> wanted until I understood sensitometry. The Zone System is a practical 
> approach to employing sensitometric concepts that helped me and has 
> helped everyone I know who has taken the time to understand it. Anyone 
> finding success in photography has learned to employ sensitometric 
> principles, whether explained via the Zone System or learned by trial and 
> error.
> 
> >A further problem with this: for many kinds of photography, you simply
> >cannot plan an image like this - you know that the situation you're in
> >is evolving in an interesting way, and you know when the moment arrives
> >to take the picture, but the precise composition and tonal structure of
> >that picture is not knowable in advance; you may only know what you've
> >got after you've done the processing.
> 
> Another mistaken conception that people have about the Zone System is 
> that it was intended only for a contemplative approach using sheet film 
> and large format equipment. Adams describes these procedures because they 
> do allow ultimate control, but, as I noted in a previous post, he wrote a 
> chapter in an early seventies Leica Manual on applying the Zone System to 
> roll films. In a nutshell: determine the film speed for your equipment 
> and processing and for a roll of subjects with varying luminance ranges 
> develop the roll for N-1 and control contrast using paper grades. Very 
> practical and very serviceable in my experience.
> 
> -Charlie
> 
> Charles E. Dunlap
> Earth Sciences Dept.
> University of California
> Santa Cruz, CA 95064
> 
> 
Ansel was a neat guy. And he did a great job writing the first
series of five (?) books. I believe that there was a sixth in
the works, but never made it.
The latest series, Camera & Lens, Negative, Print, was (I was told)
written by Bob Baker, under the direction of Ansel. Or perhaps
Bob Baker, once a Polaroid employee, "helped" Ansel write them.
Is Bob on the internet? If you are, fess up, please. Ed Meyers