[Leica] IMG: Another Monochrome Lighthouse

[Tina Manley]

I just started experimenting with the -2/3 and yellow filter on this trip
after reading that is how Jay got his excellent results with the MM.
Before that I did not use exposure compensation or filters but I still have
not been able to get some of my MM files to look the way I want them to.  I
did not see the logic behind using Silver Efex since that is more of a
conversion program, but Leica includes it with the MM for a reason, I
guess.  I have used it to convert color to B&W but never to convert B&W to
different B&W!

I would love to see what everybody would do with a raw MM file and then
explain how they did it!!

I still love the MM but would love to learn to get the most out of it.  It
took me many years of darkroom work to learn to get what I wanted from
film.  I'm hoping to cut the learning time with the MM.  I'm getting too
old too fast.

Thanks,

Tina

On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 3:55 PM, George Lottermoser <
george.imagist at icloud.com> wrote:

>
> On Oct 21, 2014, at 2:39 PM, Tina Manley wrote:
>
> > But the Zone system is exactly what I use and always have!  With film, I
> > looked for Zone 5 and metered off of something like the ground or grass
> and
> > then recomposed.  With the Monochrome and the danger of overexposing the
> > highlights, I try to find Zone 6 or 7 to meter off of.  I usually use the
> > center-weighted metering but sometimes, in tricky lighting, I use the
> spot
> > meter.  I'll admit that my normal style is documentary, not art, so I'm
> > shooting very fast, handheld, and moving on.  The K2 yellow filter that I
> > used this trip should just increase the contrast slightly, especially the
> > sky.  I don't normally use filters at all but the Monochrome files look
> > very flat just imported into LR.  I'll try running them through Silver
> FX.
> > Suggested settings?
>
> Metering off of Zone 5 subject placement doesn't "use the Zone System"
> so much as simply locate the area where the meter puts any and everything.
>
> And if you've set the camera to -2/3… then…?
> You've actually put the subject Zone V closer to Zone IV.
>
> Then using the camera's meter, with a yellow filter on the camera,
> and pointing it at the grass… well if the grass has turned a bit yellow…
> where is your actual value in your Monochrom file… probably considerably
> lighter than Zone V?
>
> In other words… way too many variables… to call it "using the Zone System"
> which by definition requires controlling all the variables to render
> consistent and known results.
>
> Determining precisely where a given subject value renders without detail
> in both the highlight and shadow
> is where I start to understand the Monochrom sensor's dynamic range;
> and to precisely PLACE those highlight values where I want them to be;
> consistently.
>
> Regards,
> George Lottermoser
>
> http://www.imagist.com
> http://www.imagist.com/blog
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist
>
>
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>



-- 
Tina Manley
www.tinamanley.com
tina-manley.artistwebsites.com