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I have a friend visiting me next week for some Photoshop tuition and one of the topics he wants to explore is the Ansel Adams Zonal System for exposure. As I understand it this is really for film cameras and can't be replicated in digital. Right or wrong?

Is this about blown out highligts too, or just a spam for your web site ?

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html

Hey hey hey!!! No need for those outbursts. It was indeed a genuine question, and one i would also like to know the answer to. I had never even heard about that term "Zonal system" before. Im a big fan of Ansel Adams and any pointers on how to achieve such a "look" is most welcome. I can however admit that it looks like youre spamming your website since it has nothing to do your inquiry. You might wanna spellcheck me too....im swedish you know. #:o)

How come we say 'It's colder than hell outside' when isn't it realistically always colder than hell since hell is supposed to be fire and brimstone?
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Andreas

Mystic Pic

OK perhaps it would be best to define the question further as for me Ansel Adams Zone System is about the highlights, mid tones and shadows in an image and their relative values.

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html

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.

I have briefly messed with the zone idea but not applied it in depth. At least, I do know where to meter in a scene to get about what I want with highlight/shadow details. Still, some scenes are beyond what a single image at a single exposure will take in properly as shot. I would like to hear from more from those who have put the system to use...still needing the "darkroom", wet or digital to get it all I suppose.

tom, i'm still not sure i know where to meter. LOL! i just feel like i'm groping around in the dark sometimes. feels like playing music by ear is the best analogy i can come up with. i do what "FEELS" right. can you give me some insight into how you meter. you're spot metering most of the time???? am i remembering correctly? i'm doing that, but i'm never quite sure if i'm doing it in the right place. it all hasn't gelled yet. i'm confused this morning. my brain is like scrambled eggs. :(

Shiela your understanding of the principals seems to be perfect to me. Tom as you said appropiate metering is the key. I agree with Shiela I can see no reason why the principal is any different from film to digital. I try to meter the scene to give me the tonal ranges that I want, I also work the image in PS doing what for me is a standard workflow on tonal range to give me the result I am looking for.

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html

This link might make things a bit clearer http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/beckman/artclasses/Assign11.htm

It can be USED in Digital photography... well. Obviously not EVERY part of it. Zonal System involves 2 different topics: Shooting and Developing. (in synthesis) Obviously the developing part is very film-oriented. But some rules can be taken in digital post-processsing. Photoshop CS and CS2 helps a lot in this sense beacause introduce a lot of photographer-oriented tools that resembles film post-processing. For the shooting part: Shooting with the zonal system involves an in-depth analisys of the image you are about to shooting. And works. In digital i mean. I'm used to shoot images using Zonal system in film and i've used those experiences in digital too. Ah. You need a spot meter of about 5-7 deegrees spot to use this system. This is not a great problem if you have a modern digital camera with spot metering. For the ones who wanna try this technique: Just look on the net and apply a bit of common sense... you will be rewarded. Conclusion: As i've ststed before... Zonal system is a great Technique that forces you to analyze your image before shooting and can be applied on every image. Even if the Digital process put limits in this, following some rules that forces you to get the grasp of shades and lights of your images can only be a good technique.

Thank you Artax that is useful information and I will copy your comments and pass them on. Cheers

I've got a collection of Ansel's work with silver outlines in B&W is this what we are taking about?

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