RE: [Leica] Another Sin of my Youth

["Peter A. Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net>]

Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 10:12:57 -0400
From: "Nguyen, Olivier T [AMSTA-AR-CCF]" <onguyen@pica.army.mil>
Subject: RE: [Leica] Another Sin of my Youth
Message-ID:
<53EB67411602D211846900A0C9C7647A0FD7919A@mail3.pica.army.mil>
References: 

> Peter,
> that is a very very nice picture.  I would like to ask you a newbie question
> (i am a newbie).  when you print back and white, how do you know what is the
> right color for the skin tone ?  i experience with couple of my prints and
> different picture i get different tones.  Some darker than other.  is it
> correct? or I am doing something wrong?
> Olivier.

Thanks, Olivier!  When it comes to digital stuff, I'm a newbie, too,
although I did a lot of personal B&W darkroom stuff in the previous
century.  :-)

The nice thing about B&W is that the same scene can be printed with a
variety of tonal placements and contrast and still be acceptable. 
Exactly where on the gray scale you place things depends on what you
want your picture to be.  Realistic rendering in good, average
lighting?  Caucasian skin is traditionaly placed one "zone" above middle
(18%) grey, with darker skin a bit darker in the print.  But what's
truly "right" depends on the rest of the picture, and how it feels to
you.

Don't let the word "zone" scare you--it's just is one "click" on a scale
from pure black (0) to pure white (9), with the zones 1 and 8 being
black or white with some discernable detail, and the rest of the zones
falling between.  If you develop film "normally" (meaning normally for
Ansel Adams) a difference of one zone is one stop more or less exposure
on the film.  The 18% "middle grey" I mention above is Zone 5, with
well-lit Caucasian skin often placed on Zone 6. This explains the "meter
your hand and open up one stop" principle, because light meters are
traditionally set to render whatever you point them at as 18% grey.

But that's just a starting point.  In my "homeless man" picture, I
wanted things to be a bit dark, so I let a significant amount of shadow
stuff go black.  This accented the texture in the stone walls and kept
the somber mood of the men sleeping outside on a chill, foggy morning. 
The face is darker than one might usually print a subject's face, but it
works here.  The funny thing is that I used Photoshop for the first
time, and I must have not set some "preference" correctly.  So the
picture looked a little lighter in Photoshop than it does on the Web,
but it's still OK.

If you have a darkroom or a way to print digitally, I'd advise you to
make a series of test prints of a normally-lit B&W picture with a
person's face in it. Expose each one a little darker than the next. 
Develop, fix, wash and dry all of them (or the digital equivalent). 
Then look at them in normal light. You will quickly see that a certain
range looks right, with one exactly right for you.  Show the pictures to
a friend, and they might pick a different "best" print.

Now do the same with a darkly-lit scene, and a very brightly lit or
backlit one. Again, you'll see several acceptable prints, with one
that's just right. You'll also realize that the exact right tone for
skin varies with the lighting, what's around it, and what mood you want
to convey.

One great thing about photography is that you can study charts and
figures all day if you want.  But the motto, "Just Do It" works, too. 
Maybe better.

Hope this helps!

- --Peter Klein
Seattle, WA