Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>Rod Fleming wrote: >> >> It's funny that so far no-one has mentioned what all of this is actually >> about- and that is one of the great axioms of photography- >> >> Expose For The Shadows And Develop For The Highlights >> >> That's all any zone system, Ansel's or Jim's, is teaching you to do. >> > >Well, almost. As I understand it, the "expose for the shadows and develop >for the highlights" rule of photography is really just a convenient >mnemonic for what is the real truth: Exposure controls negative density; >Development controls negative contrast. > >"Playing around" with these two and matching them to a known paper to >reproduce the subject brightness in the scene is what it's all about. > >Right? > >M. > Absolutely. But even if you do not use the zone system, and it really can't normally be used in a meaningful way for M6 photography, it is very helpful to know how it works as it helps one understand how films react in different circumstances. And it is great for testing film/developer combinations, but only in combination with test shots of the real world.