Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/04/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Wed, 17 Apr 1996, Eric Larsen wrote: > > I've taught people photography. If you teach someone who knows *nothing* > about photography, teaching the Zone System is a snap. You simply tell > them how a light meter works, how to judge a scene, and when to over or > underexpose. These students will never have an exposure problem in their > lives. > > It's the ones who already "know photography" that can't believe the Zone > System works. They always try to "second guess" and screw things up. I've had exactly the same experience explaining the Zone system to friends who like to take pictures, but know next to nothing about the mechnics of the process. In 1 hour over breakfast I managed to explain it to a friend who was amazed at the simplicity of the process: it cleared up many confusions for him. It's my impression that it is its very simplicity that throws some people who have been photographing for years: I have also found that _some_ people who know a fair amount about photography have a hard time with it. When I first had it explained, my principle feeling was one of regret: I couldn't believe how much time and and how many pictures I had wasted through not understanding properly what I was doing. Gary Toop