Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/01/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The Leica large spot metering can be full badly shooting in the street with heavy light and shadow. Digital and LR/PSD can really help here. B&W film: expose for the shadow, develop for the highlight Color slide: expose for the highlight, pray for the shadow On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 3:33 PM, Jeffery Smith <jsmith342 at gmail.com> wrote: > I learned the Zone System from Fred Picker books, and used a Soligor spot > meter (with Picker's adhesive zone system guide stuck to it). I loved the > ritual of determining exposure using the Zone System, but I wasn't shooting > street photography at the time. Sometimes using the current auto everything > cameras (with face recognition, etc.) feels a bit like shooting a deer with > a laser guided missile. > > Jeffery > > On Jan 30, 2014, at 5:24 PM, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote: > > > Hi Ted > > > > When I shot LF I went through all the zone system stuff. I pulled out > my Pentax spotmeter this week and it has the film speeds taped to it for > film and developer combinations at N-1, N-2 and so on. Very helpful if you > are shooting sheet film and developing one sheet at a time - perhaps not > the best approach to covering the Olympics. When I took up 35mm I > discovered The New Zone System by Jim Brick. It has no doubt been posted > many times before but here it is: > > > > There are four zones. > > Zone Good, Zone Bad, Zone Ugly, Zone Butt Ugly. > > > > To use the system: > > Wake up. Get out of bed. Go outside. > > > > Zone Good > > It is light overcast, light shadows but good light direction. Normal > contrast. > > Expose normal (eg: ASA-100 @ 100) develop normal. > > > > Zone Bad > > It is dismally overcast, no shadows, perhaps even drizzle. Low > contrast. > > Underexpose one stop (eg: ASA-100 @ 200) overdevelop 20% > > > > Zone Ugly > > The sun is out, sky is clear with puffy clouds, and there are blatant > shadows. High contrast. > > Overexpose one stop (eg: ASA-100 @ 50) underdevelop 20% > > > > Zone Butt Ugly > > The sun is squinty bright, cloudless sky, and the shadows really > deep. Very high contrast. > > Go in, and go back to bed!. But, if you are a die-hard... > > Overexpose two stops (eg: ASA-100 @ 25) underdevelop 30% > > > > > > On 1/30/2014 10:04 AM, tedgrant at shaw.ca wrote: > >> John McMaster wrote: > >> > >>> You are correct Lluis, over 16 years since I last developed a B&W > film! Zone system all the way, spotmeter, exposure tests for base density > then development tests for highlights all measured on a densitometer - how > quickly I forgot :-(> > >> > >> Hi John, > >> When I read about the shooting methods of many of the crew I become > amazed I ever got an exposure during my 65 years of exposing film on any > assignment in my life? > >> MY METHOD......"OBSERVE - SHOOT!" :-) KISS! :-) Of course many times I > took light meter readings, generally landscapes and available light photos > of my children. Or working a crowd situation? I would take a reading, then > see what the camera was reading and if they were close? generally were... > SHOOT! Letting camera set and go with what it felt fit to use. > >> > >> Imagine me shooting in an operating room and taking meter readings for > every frame when on the last book. WOMEN IN MEDICINE! Where I exposed 500 > rolls of tri-x at ASA 800 using three M7's and a couple of R8's only a > quick peak at the shutter speed red in the view finder. If it looked cool? > 99.9% of the time it was "CLICK!" > >> > >> So you can imagine my surprise of many of you lads and all the testing > and checking you went through. The zone system? My interpretation of the > zone system? > >> > >> That's the demilitarized zone between the 2 Koreas and all you need to > know about that?????? DON'T GO THERE! ;-) I could never understand about > all the time wasted figuring it out unless you were shooting rocks and > ferns and peeling paint? REAL LIFE MOMENTS? And shooting 36 frames nearly > every frame under various light conditions? > >> > >> In any event as many of the LUG CREW who go through all the digital > techie stuff, I still try to keep it KISS as much as possible as I'm > shooting . It'll still be my method as I begin shooting with a new book > designer and editor next week producing a book on the University of > Victoria's School of Medicine and it's ten year celebration. > >> > >> However I'm in awe of the folks who have the patients for all the extra > "checking" and adjusting you go through in capturing your exposures. In > deed great admiration! > >> > >> HENNING RESPONDED: > >> Subject: Re: [Leica] Comparing B&W M9/MM > >> > >> > >> "I would say expose for the highlights, because if they're overcooked > you'll never see them again. Process (develop) for the shadows. This is > closer to how one treated slide film and in that sense it's like all > digital files. With the MM files you just have more DR and can easily pull > things out from the shadows when necessary.<<<<<<<<<<<<< > >> > >> I suppose one could offer: "What works for one shooter is total > confusion to another?" > >> > >> BOTTOM-LINE? "Whatever ones method is, as long as the end result is a > cool dude photo? Who cares how you capture it? Unless a special effect is > required for a similar looking image... IE: SWISHY - PAN IMAGES CREATING > SPEED APPEARANCES?" > >> > >> cheers, > >> ted > >> > >> > >> > >> "wHAT'S GOOD FOR ONE IS TOTAL CONFUSION FOR ANOTHER? tHE > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Leica Users Group. > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com> // http://facebook.com/richardmanphoto