The Practical Zone System [antikvár]

Preface As long as I can earn enough to pay my taxes I'll be happy. I'm not a professional photographer you know, I'm an amateur. "Amateur" is the French word for lover. Imogen Cunningham Much has changed in the years since 1986 when this book was first published. At that time fine art black-and-white photography and the Zone System were somewhat closer to the margins of mainstream photographic practice than they are today. One sign of the change is that all of the major manufacturers of photographic suppHes have made a serious recommitment to providing serious "amateurs" with high-quality black-and-white materials. Kodak, for example, has developed its "T-Max" line of films and developers and added Elite to its list of exhibition-quality black-and-white papers. Ilford responded with Delta 400 and 100, updated its standard films to HP-5, FP-4, and Pan-F "Plus," and improved its Multigrade Fiberbase paper. There are also dozens of excellent new black-and-white films and papers on the market by Agfa, Oriental, and other manufacturers. Not surprisingly, there has also been an increasing demand for clear information on how to best take advantage of these new tools. This book is written for those of you who love the art of photography but are frustrated with photographic technique. Typically, many of us have small darkrooms and large investments in equipment, and we have spent far too much time trying to figure out how photography works. Unfortunately, many of us are left with the lingering feeling that there may not be a simple and practical way to learn how to take technically good photographs. Until Ansel Adams (in collaboration with Fred Archer) formulated the Zone System, a serious student had only two choices: either study sensi-tometry at a professional school or stumble along learning by trial and error. The Zone System has made photographic technique much more simple and reliable. Unfortunately, over the years the Zone System has gained a reputation for being complex and a waste of time. Happily this