i've been studying and focusing on Ansel Adams' images a lot these days, and i have been studying the Zonal System as well. i certainly think this can be replicated in digital, and i'm trying to achieve that.

the way i understand it, the Zonal System is basically about exposure and development.

since with digital cameras, as in film, we can meter, can we not apply those techniques?

Adams' technique is so powerful and incredible if you ask me! he was able to show the brightest brights and the darkest darks and the the shades inbetween in such a way to show such extreme contrast. and he did it without losing details. i look at his images and am just amazed at the tonal ranges.

i've been trying to understand my camera's metering system better (it's digital) and trying to learn how to understand metering better.

In the Zonal system, Adams spoke about pushing and pulling the film. pushing was underexposing and pulling was overexposing.

so, as you can see, in digital photography, we can certainly meter and we can push and pull.

i need to start over and underexposing by a step or two, besides taking a correctly exposed image.

Anyway, i've only begun studying the Zonal System for a short time now, and i really feel like i'm just kinda "out there" on my own, HOPING i'm understanding what Adams was trying to say, and HOPING i can achieve a better looking photograph. i may not be understanding things correctly. i never read his book. i would like to though. i just read pieces of articles. i have no idea if i'm on the right track.

great thread, and i'd love to hear from others. i would like to know if i'm doing anything right or if i'm understanding things correctly.

Attached Link: http://www.uihealthcare.com/news/pacemaker/2004/summer/camerainapill.html

i did a little googling to see what articles i could find on the web, Tom, about that camera that you swallow. here's just one. Richard...cameras that work with more of the senses...ah man....now i have to learn more about that!

wow...lots of rain for you folks! doug, your images are fantastic! i would be so excited to get those! Akemi...beautiful sky! Hope you guys get lots of sunshine! :)

LOL Pascale! :) I'm gonna sit this one out too. i'll hang out on the sidelines with jeff! :)

Tom, i was reading what they are doing with photography and the medical world. i'll see if i can find that article. no wait...i mailed that magazine to my brother after i finished reading it. anyway, the article was about cameras that you SWALLOW. It takes pictures of your gastrointestinal tract i believe. the camera was like teeeny tiny. oh man...i'll have to see if i can find something on the web about it in the morning. i'm so sleepy, Tom. night. :)

ooooh, i hope you get to see it and take pictures, Jock!!!! how exciting! and richard, thanks for the link...i never saw anything like that before in my life! :)

you're so silly! :)

i decided to show you my b/w conversion. i like it better in b/w because for me the image is a bit busy with all the colors. anyway, if you like the b/w, you could just add one more step to the image above. 11. go to channel mixer and check monochrome. the settings for this conversion: Red 35; Green 33; Blue 35. Anyway, that's my take on your image. like i said...maybe it's better just to keep yours the way it is the way you originally had it. nighty night sister chick! it's 3 a.m. and i'm getting sleepy. *hugs* :)

well, Marlene...i gotta tell ya, this was a hard image for me to work with. i couldn't do much about the highlights. when i tried to reduce them the regular way (shadows/midtones/highlights), it just didn't work. anyway, here's the color version and my steps in PSP. not sure that this is any better than your original. perhaps the way you did it in the first place is better than with the postwork i did. but here are my steps anyway. 1. crop (that was kemal's idea BTW. i was gonna crop it the way i suggested but decided to show you his version...just as another alternative). 2. curves adjustment (input 48; output 74) 3. bumped up the contrast to 7. 4. then i went to edit and copied the image. 5. then i undid everything i did except for the crop. 6. next, i went to layers and promoted the cropped image to a layer. 7. go to edit, and then paste as a new layer (you'll be pasting in a copy of the image after it has the curves adjustment and contrast added.) the reason i did this is because i wasn't happy with the image after doing curves and contrast. i thought maybe a blending might work better. 8. go to layers, properties and then click on luminence. 9. adjust your opacity to 56. 10. layers merge, merge all.

okey dokey! let me see what i can do. :)

LOVE it, Andreas! you did a wonderful job cloning in that background!! and Marlene's right! You certainly do have your own signature style!!! and what a wonderful one it is!! :) MAS4eva!!

Marlene, if you like, i'll be happy to try my hand at this image and give you step-by-step instructions on what i did. i use PSP. i seem to recall that you use PS. i don't know how easy it would be to convert my instructions since i'm not familiar with PS. but i'd be more than happy to do that! :) just let me know. i'm getting ready to leave for work in just a minute, so i wouldn't be able to start it until tonight. :)

this image has nice clarity, Andreas. actually, i didn't even notice those blurry webs in the front until you mentioned it. :)your DOF is wonderful here! not sure why those particular webs are blurry. i asked kemal...he said he wonders if they look like that because of the wind. the only thing i find a bit distracting is the upper right hand corner where it's white. could try to reduce the highlights, but probably what i would do is see if i could clone in some of that blue background. Anyway, this one is a BEAUTY!!! those droplets are fabulous!

soldiers?? LOL! how cute! now that's a fancy way to eat eggs and toast! so interesting to see different things from other cultures! anyway, now i can look at your image and just enjoy it since i know what it is! :)

oh man, Joe...i LOVE your "Nothin' but Sepia" page!!! WoW!!!!! The two portraits are dynamite and i so much enjoy how you did your toning! these images are so strong and just breathtaking!!! I'll look at more in a bit. Anyway...real world stuff is the most important stuff!!! you are very wise to step-back from here a bit to make you sure have the time and energy to attend to those things. glad you'll still be around! Take it easy, joe, and talk to ya later! :)