Black and white photography using the zone system devoloping, Taugh by Dan Biferie(Dayton Beach Community College) and Ansel Adams(Yosimite CA)...                                BLACK AND WHITE ZONE SYSTEM PHOTOGRAPHY

 

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4 generations of photographers

813-254-4413

 

All images copyrighted by: Samuel W. Johnston IV
©1999-2006

 

 

     For years now I've been doing zone system black and white prints. I took a class from Ansel Adams back in college at Yosemite National Park, having some knowledge already from Dan Biferie at Daytona Beach Community College, was a great help in further grasping the concept.  Learning from the master of Black and White photography has got to be my most memorable times, along with that period of time. However, getting into digital photography now, I'm torn as to which is best. Using film with only ten zones to control, along with lots of chemicals and time to create even a single image. Or now in our fast pace world, shooting digital and pressing a button to print on archival inks and papers, to create a print that has over a hundred different tones, that can last twice as long as traditional prints. And with incredible detail! I think as time goes on and people see the digital image as a forever medium, that film will become more accepted as art. I feel fortunate to be living and working in this time of history, having experienced the traditional way of developing and printing, and now seeing the new way of digital at it's infancy, coming into everyone's lives. Film still has my vote, having still more clarity in the larger formats than any chip. Along with more creativity in lighting and exposing. For instance try doing a double exposure on the same frame with digital. Yes you can Photoshop them together, but try doing that with one of my painting with light interiors with over 30 exposures. I've done test where I used 3 lights in digital, then 2 lights, then 1 light, and no apparent change in contrast or appearance. But with film, a very noticeable difference. There fore film can create a better mood in a single shot verses digital, however once a digital image is manipulated in Photoshop, you can create the same feeling as well.