Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site harvard.ARPA
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!harvard!sasaki
From: sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki)
Newsgroups: net.rec.photo
Subject: Thoughts on the Zone System
Message-ID: <286@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 5-Aug-85 04:39:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: harvard.286
Posted: Mon Aug  5 04:39:09 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 7-Aug-85 00:23:28 EDT
References: <54600009@trsvax> <4088@alice.UUCP> <1418@peora.UUCP>
Reply-To: sasaki@harvard.UUCP (Marty sasaki)
Organization: Harvard Science Center
Lines: 43

There seems to be a bit of confusion about what the Zone System is all
about.  Here are my opinions of the Zone System. Be warned that I
studied with Minor White (one of the major Photography as Mysticism
teachers).

The main point of the Zone System is previsualization. It is not just
exposure with spot meters and special development. It is not contact
prints from 8x10 negatives. The Zone System is knowing how you want a
print to look and then applying whatever is necessary to acheive the
finished print.

Ansel Adams usually printed on the same grade of paper because he had
a system to expand or reduce the tonal range of his negatives so that
he could print on the same grade. With roll film (and 35mm) you cannot
use the same grade of paper because you can't control the individual
tonal range of negatives by development. You can use different grades
of paper to acheive the same results.

Anyone who does a lot of photography will do things that fit within
the Zone System, even though they don't know it. Most serious
photographers will come up with a personal film speed for the films
that they shoot most often. The development of film is also played
with until the contrast is right (allowing printing "normal" negatives
on "normal" graded paper). Glance through Adams' "The Negative" and
you will see that determining film speed and normal development are
important first steps in the Zone System.

If manipulation of a print is important to acheive the previsualized
effect, then you should do it. Burning in, dodging, using hot
developer, bleaching, etc., these are all important tools in realizing
the final image.

Bill Pierce, a well known magazine photographer, once wrote an article
in Camera 35 on the Zone System where he said, "I would rather drop my
pants in Times Square than use the Zone System. He then described how
he did things. Guess what? He described a system remarkably like one
described in the "Zone System Manual".
-- 
----------------
  Marty Sasaki				net:   sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
  Havard University Science Center	phone: 617-495-1270
  One Oxford Street
  Cambridge, MA 02138