Photo Couch Podcast #27 MP3

Down in Big Bend NP Gavin is watching the sun set and talking about things he reviews and essential items he’s learned to watch for when making image. What are you pressure points. Head over to f164.com and share them in the comments.

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Subscribe in iTunes – Direct Podcast Feed – Facebook Page

Photo Couch is the companion podcast of Gavin’s f164 project. Sort of an audio journal. Nothing fancy here. Just short musings, tips, and thoughts on photography. You can listen below, or subscribe for free and get all the latest episodes. If you want more, you can also check out Gavin’s full podcast, Pro Photo Show.

Photo Couch Podcast #26 MP3

Gavin is down south working with landscapes. Today Gavin is talking a bit about taking your time and planning your scene well for the light it needs. Or if need be, change your scene to work well with the light you have.

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Subscribe in iTunes – Direct Podcast Feed – Facebook Page

Photo Couch is the companion podcast of Gavin’s f164 project. Sort of an audio journal. Nothing fancy here. Just short musings, tips, and thoughts on photography. You can listen below, or subscribe for free and get all the latest episodes. If you want more, you can also check out Gavin’s full podcast, Pro Photo Show.

Churning Beauty, Jan 2012 by Gavin Seim. HWY 101, Oregon Coast.

One thing I love about the sea is the way it shows natural art with such simplicity. We traveled the 101 for a few hundred miles early on in our winter tour. With that came some bad weather and some moments of sweeping coastal beauty.

The line of beauty is something most experienced artists are familiar with. If not in name, then in practice. It’s that sort of sweeping S curve that comes from nature itself and is nearly always pleasing to the eye. That’s what really stuck me here. The entire coast with it’s waves rolling, is a series of sweeping curving lines. One has to wounder if Hogarth, the man recognized with making the line of beauty a known artistic element, looked out over these very shores.

The result of this days work is a square that showcases details of the ocean. Leaving much to imagination, but leading me thru the scene, reminding me how beautiful and powerful the water is. The passage of man means nothing to the sea. It simply moves on, rolling over the footprints and awaiting another day.

Release Details: Coming Soon.

For Photographers. How it was made…

Canon MK2, 70-200L @145mm f16, 60sec, ISO400.

This was a fairly grey day here. Those ones where you’re not sure if there’s anything good. But there always is, if you look close. I’m always sucked in my the coastal waves and looking at this I realized that my approach was not a wide scene with dramatic skies, because there were no dramatic skies and it only would have come out plain.

The subject was the beauty of these waves. The lines they made were almost perfect. And so I focused on those alone. The lines of the waves, blocked on the right by the shore and few rocks. Simplicity became the focus and I feel it worked. I essentially did one setup, but I captured a good amount of frames, so I could get this one with the water lines just the way I wanted.

I processed in LR with Silver Shadows and, then worked details carefully, both in LR and Photoshop. Some burn and dodging and working with tonal values. Mainly with a focus on the water being white and the sand dark. I wanted a stark contrast and I went beyond the presets base settings, pushing the whites until they nearly clipped. But there is no clipping.

Finally I added one of my textures. Not much, in fact you may not even notice. But it just imparted a few nuances to the scene and a bit more texture to the sand.

I spent a good deal on time on the crop and finally opted for the square. It’s not something I do often, but by going square I feel I took the emphasis away from the frame shape and left it completely on the lines and tones in the scene.

It seems simplicity wins again…. Gav

Evening Passage. Upper Tipsoo Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Fall 2011, by Gavin Seim.

We made a trip this fall into the forests above Yakima, below the rear entrance of Mount Rainier national park. It’s a breathtaking view up here if the weather favors you. And while it was pretty grey on this evening around sunset, the sky had it’s moments and beauty. There was indeed a gentle subtlety singing in those peaks, hidden away within the folds of light and shadow,

The result is Evening passage, a silent reflection in the upper lake, made calmer my the gentle passing of clouds and ripples in this long sunset exposure.

Release Details: Prints Currently available. Contact the Studio for availability and ordering.

• 51 inch Master Original Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 | $2100
• 39 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 20 | $500
• 35 inch True Metal – Limited Edition of, 12 | $400
• 24 inch open edition mounted print | $99

For Photographers. How it was made… Canon MK2, 17-40 @40mm f13, 60sec, ISO200.

I was tripod mounted with a low perspective, the long exposure gave me the nicely streaking clouds and made the refection even smoother. I started the development process with the Super Simple and Equalizer X presets from Power Workflow 3. Then going into further refinements and some brushwork to control tonal range and get things looking reasonably refined.

Next I went into PS. The key to this one seemed to be a subtle touch. It was was of those days where the light is not screaming at you. Demanding your notice of it’s radiance. And yet there can be a gentle subtly to that sort of light. Something you often have to work a bit to reveal, but light that is there. . Mainly I used careful burning and dodging and a bit of pixel painting to bring in some highlight and color from the sky.

After that I headed back into LR for a few final tweaks and to very carefully think out my crop. Trimming a bit of extra sky and considering where the frame should break on the right and the left. The result is above. Could the light have been “better?” perhaps by the standard we normally use. But then it would have been different. I’m happy with this frame and I think it tells a little story about the uncertain whether of the mounts,

Swirling City, 2011 by Gavin Seim. From the bridge, Twin Cities MN. Time Exposure.

This was about a year ago now, during our Fall 2010 road trip and my visit to the Twin Cities to teach an HDR workshop. I was walking with my group downtown, crossing over a bridge, the name of which escapes me. It’s big city here. industry and concrete. But flowing water always mesmerizes me. I took my time setting up, feeling that if I hurried I would get little more than a snapshot. In the end my effort paid off in this long exposure just between St. Paul and Minneapolis. The structures of the city meeting with the awesome power of the water and doing a dance right in front of my lens.

Release Details: Prints Coming Soon… Contact Gavin for details.

For photographers. How it was made…

Canon 5D MK2, 17-40L 4.0 @40mm, f16, ISO50 – 15sec, 21sec, 40sec.

This is a three image bracket merged in Photomatix as an HDR. It might have worked well without tonemapping and just with some layer masking, or even as a well exposed single, but the bracketed HDR gave me lots to work with. And lots of work to do.

The advantage of a full tone mapped HDR like this is you get a ton if information to work with. The disadvantage is you must be work that information correctly, because if you leave all of it it generally breeds chaos. There’s will generally be too much light and not enough shadow due to mostly mid range valued of the tonemapped image. I’m not suggesting either approach is bad. They’re just tools and it’s how you use them that counts.

I processed the tomemapped result with Silver Shadows and then tweaked details until the image looked good in LR. Then I went into Photoshop for the real work. Spending a good deal of time burning and dodging very specific details to control my tonal values. I also did some Pixel Painting in the clouds and water to control the details even more. Pixel painting is where I sample a color (say a cloud) and gently paint over it at a low opacity to soften, add detail etc. It’s a manual process but very effective in everything from portraits to pictorials. It’s something I cover in depth in my Cloning video workshop if you want to learn more.

Also in finishing I gently added texture using the Fossil Stone texture from Naked Elements. When I use texture I usually blend very gently. It’s there, but it may not jump out at you. It just gives a subtly to stone and sky. A little more depth of character to this pictorial scene.

All told, I used the tonemapped HDR merge to being out the detail I wanted and suppress detail that I felt would be distracting. A cropped a bit off the sky, as while there are nice clouds, it’s not the subject and too much of them was too distracting. I always have to remind myself not to include a lot of sky for the sake of it. Only when it’s right and contributes well to the scene.

All told I’m quite satisfied with the result here. It’s a good memory of a neat city and it will look good hanging in my gallery.

Until next time… Gav

Isabella Breeze. Lake Isabella CA. Spring 2011. Linhof 4x5.

This has been sitting for the summer, but as we start traveling once again for 3 months of road touring, I decided it was worth posting.  It’s my very first 4×5 exposure. Well, not including the accidental frame I ruined because I forgot to shut the lens. 4×5 film is something I’ve spent 2011 falling in love with. This frame is imperfect, but I wanted to share because I never want to forget the feeling it gave me. A sense of wonder at the sheer simple function, yet inspiring complexity and quality of the large format medium. It’s an operation that by it’s very nature forces one to slow down, to think and to visualize.

I stood right on the shore of Lake Isabella, almost at the water line at sunset on this early Spring day in 2011. It’s actually the very one I talked about on the drive back, during this Episode of the Photo Couch podcast. It’s was a calm relaxing sunset on the edge is this beautiful lake and it felt good. Once the sun had faded I packed up and drove to the other end of the lake where we had camped the trailer on the shore. Where kids and my beautiful wife were waiting with a hot spaghetti dinner.

For Photographers… 

Linhof Technicha IV. Symmar lens @135mm? Delta 100 4×5. Exposure unknown.

This was before I had collected the proper filters for black and white, took proper notes, or even knew what every control on a large format camera did. It’s a flawed image in many ways. Though a bit of processing on the scan with my PW3 Presets and some manual tweaks, brought out the character pretty well, for negative that was poorly developed from a reputable lab. It was dirty, scratched and not exposed the best. But here it is in all it’s glory. After the LR work, I did a bit of gentle Burn and Dodge to bring out the light a bit better.

But while this may never be a vast wall print, I enjoy the image and I’ll always remember it as that first 4×5. I’ll be glad that it was actually not that bad. It serves to remind me that imperfection is human, but that the more I slow down, analyze and refine my craft the beautiful and complicated my images can become.

Gavin

Right cut. Original RAW file desaturated in LR. Left cut, same file with the Dynamic Silver III preset from Silver Shadows 2 applied in LR.

Just a few quick observations today. One reason I stay in a RAW as long as possible is that quality and dynamic tonal control is at it’s highest on an original RAW file. Once we leave that environment, we can certainly still work with tonal values, but we throw away some of that precious information.

On the right is a sharpened and desaturated original file from Sunset’s Hidden Falls. On the left, the same file with nothing more than applying Dynamic Silver III from my new Silver Shadows 2 toolkit. This effect pulls out dynamic range without flattening the shadow and contrast too much. It could also be done manually of course.

Once I have the dynamic range under control, then I’ll move on to external edits as needed. I don’t hesitate to go into Photoshop (though I try to stay in 16bit mode) for detail work. I did plenty of that on the final version of this). But getting my basic tonal range managed before I leave the RAW file behind gives me better results and helps me maintain that quality as high as possible for my wall prints. It’s a better wokflow and a better image.

Gav

Artists Sunset - Ken Whitmire. Fall 2011 by Gavin Seim. Pacific City Oregon. 20x24 print on canvas.

It was one of those Sunsets. The ones with stunning clouds and radiant colors that seem to last forever. Like a great song that keeps on playing. I was on a road trip to the Oregon Coast with Ken Whitmire, the renown portraitist. Ken was working with a family on the beach in Pacific City and I assisted, while getting images and video for a project we were working on.

About halfway through Ken was on his ladder, having this family of five walk down the beach. I just stood back and watched. A bit envious of the amazing portraits he was going to take home. It was a stunning evening. I took in the incredible ocean landscape with some awe. In between video clips, I decided to go vertical and try to illustrate Ken as the working professional in his environment. I hoped for a sort of memorable feel that that artists and photographers could relate to.

This has been really well received. I admit, I did not realize it would strike such a chord, but I’m glad it did. To me this says something about creative craftsmanship and taking your time. It reminds us to take the extra steps up that ladder to make an image Great. That’s what Ken Whitmire has done for over fifty years and I’m glad I got to be  a small part of that.

Our road trip was a memorable one in more ways than one, but I’ll save that for later. In fact by brother and I will be working on a short story from this trip. Watch for that on our writing page, The Brothers Seim. In the meantime prints of this will be coming off soon.

For photographers. How it was made…

Canon 5D MK2, 24-79L 2.8 @31mm, f5.6, ISO400, 1/800 sec, Induro tripod.

Though this was a long sunset, things were moving pretty fast at this point. Ken was working with the family and I was helping out with lights and such. That and working to get video footage for our project. But I remember realizing that I was moving too fast. I stopped about this time and said to myself “slow down, think about what you have here.”

It can be hard to slow and think while under even a little pressure. I made myself stop and think. Where’s the subject, where’s the rock, how much space, what about a vertical? I slowed down enough to visualize a bit and it paid off, as it always does. I also din the more I visualize, the more natural it becomes. We need to stop the clicking and take the time to “see” the elements in a scene and decide how they should be used. The rock provided a counter balance here and taking the time to consider that, told me I should move over, keeping that space between it and the subject. I just took a little time to think it through. Perhaps not even enough. There are still elements I think I could have done better. It’s easy to neglect to really “see” when we get caught up in the moment.

The light and color here was stunning already (the best kind) and processing was not complicated. I used Power Workflow 3 in Lightroom to start with. I believe it was the Super Gentle and Heritage presets, making things pop and colors shine. Then I took some extra time, dialing settings more precisely. This is generally how I use effects. In a large batch I may a apply a global corrections and call it good. But for my best, I’ll refine further and make them sing.

Next I went into Photoshop and did a bit of burn and dodge to bring out extra cloud detail and control tonal values. For the final version you see here, I went back with that same file into PS, and worked a bit more. A little pixel painting to control detail and even a tad bit of retouching to remove a few pieces of lens strap that were sticking out. Small things, but when an image is going to print I analyze the details. Interestingly there is almost no clipped black  and no clipped white in this. Though areas look black, there is some little detail in all but the smallest areas. I like keeping black and especially white clipping to a minimun.

In the end I’m really happy with the result. I must confess I did not expect this to strike the chord that it did. I’m glad I slowed down and thought about the scene. Every time that pays off, it serves to remind me to slow down and think carefully even more next time. Anyone can make a snapshot, but a photographer needs to do something more. We need to Raise the Bar.

Gavin.

Song of a Dreary Day - Upper Tipsoo Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Sept 2011, by Gavin Seim.

Mountains are something that never quite grow old. But they don’t always cooperate with my whims. Clouds and mists and empty skies,this was one of those days. Sort of.

We headed up the mountain around sunset. A group of photographers and I were out camping that weekend for an event I had organized. I was hoping for one of those radiant late summer sunsets, but not today. Oh, it’s beautiful and peaceful and all, but that does not mean the light was doing exactly what I wanted.

Still, even on the days that seem less than perfect, there is light. Light that has a subtle beauty all it’s own, especially if you catch it at the right time. Well, there was light on those peaks, and there were even dramatic clouds mixed in with that sky that at a glance appeared a bit boring. They kept peeking out as they blew past the peaks, and I waited for them. I think there was a song in that light after all.

For photographers. How it was made…

Canon 5D MK2, 17-40L 4.0 @40mm, f13, ISO160, 1/3 sec.

This is one of those frames about which I was unsure at first. I set up the composition and then took quite a few frames, as I also wanted to make a silver time lapse (link coming soon). The clouds were blowing up on the mountain so things were constantly changing, giving me a chance to find something.

We didn’t get those radiant shafts of light or peaks that just break out and dance. Still, this is something I’ve been wondering about. Nothing beats good light. But not all good light has to reach out and grab you. Does it? I think there is ideal light for you. A light that may fit your pre-conceptions or visualization of the scene. But is there ever really bad light if you adapt your visualization to what you have instead of what you want and if you have the experience to make it happen? I think maybe not.

This was mild light, but I was still able to pick a frame that had the best it offered. The lenticular clouds above the mountain, some mottled texture in the gray. But even then, it did not jump out. I made the best frame I could, then went to work back at the studio to bring out those real world subtitles into the final print.

The first key here was the LR process. I worked with my presets, then tweaked the channels further, pulling as much definition in the sky as possible while leveraging green colors that would give me a vibrant foreground. I was starting to see potential, and I actually made a new preset from the resulting process for Silver Shadows2.

Next came the burn and dodge to bring about what I had visualized. I harp on this a lot, but good tone control is essential to the final process. The more subtle light is, the more carefully I have to burn and dodge. I prefer when the tonal values appear more natural in contrasting balance, but even when they don’t, the image can still be developed. I take this same approach on color or black and white. I worked the highlights, mid tones, and shadows in PS little by little, bringing out edges, light, and textures, making sure I did not go to far and blow out highlights or make elements too black.

Finally, I went back to LR for a few final tweaks, sharpening and the like. I like to work in that order: primary edit on RAW file in LR, detail work in PS, then back to LR for any small global tweaks before the print/web final. However, I always work as as much as possible on that original file because I can keep more quality that way.

I did not do perfectly on this image. For one because I did not fully manage it on the 4×5. My film plate came after this when the light was less ideal. Second, because even though I was on the tripod, this digital file does not feel quite as crystal sharp as I would have liked. Both are things to work on for next time. But at day’s end, I have an image that conveys my vision of this scene, and one that should print nicely.

Gavin

And How it Can Change Your Life in 15 Minutes.

By Gavin Seim (updated 12/10/11).

This may be the most valuable piece I’ve ever written on photography. Because no matter what you photograph, once you see and use Zones you never see the same again and you’re well on your way to mastering light. In the last year, I’ve started working with 4×5 film and digital side by side. I’ve explored deeper exercises in tonal control, “truly” learned to visualize, and implemented key parts of the Zone System that was developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer, both in my film and my digital work, in color and black and white.

The idea of visualizing and using Zones is not promoted heavily today. It seems much of the industry, including many of its educators, arrived at digital and decided that the past 150 years of photographic knowledge were somewhat irrelevant. Or maybe it’s that many photographers never understood Zones to begin with. So what I’m about to show you is not taught much, but understanding it WILL change your photography forever. I’m not kidding; once you grasp this, you’ll never see light the same way again. And I hope you’ll share it with others.

Sunsets Hidden Falls. Yosemite, 2010 - A general look at where I placed the scene elements in relation to the Zones. Each arrow leads to what I see as the zone on the scale.

I’m going to stay simple because these concepts are essentially simple. I have not come up with a new digital based zone system, a stripped down version, or an article full of nerdy equations, white papers, or complex systems. This is not hard, and you can start putting it to use TODAY for film or digital. Since most of us are in the digital world, I’ll focus on that. I’m going to show you how to use the core of the Zone System to make you a vastly better photographer. I’ve also brought along some examples for analyzing the Zones.

To those of you who already know this, kudos. But I challenge you to review and analyze whether you’re really using it, or just buzzing along in digital bliss and fixing things later. Excuse my bluntness, but this is happening to the best of us. We need to get back to basics, visualize, control tone, dynamic range, and image quality.

Originally, the Zone System was a complete approach that included everything from the initial exposure to the final print. Now we don’t use darkrooms much these days, so I’ll focus on the pivot point of the Zone System: the Zones themselves. That said, I would encourage you to study the whole process even if you don’t use film. It will help you gain a better understanding of light and photography. Not only that, but old books like Fred Picker’s Zone VI workshop, deal with it quickly and effectively and can often be had for mere pennies.

1. The Zone Scale.

The Zone Scale lies at the core of the Zone System. It consists of eleven squares that span from clipped black (Zone 0) to clipped white (Zone X). Each square represents a change of one stop. The first part of using Zones starts before you release the shutter. Truly visualizing your image is like nothing else. Once you master it, you see the image you plan to make, including your edits and refinements, in your mind before you ever take the photo. It changes everything about how you photograph and how refined the resulting images become.

Brilliantly simple, the Zone scale allows us to visualize all our light from complete black to complete white in one stop increments.

To begin, look at your scene. What’s outside your window right now? Visualize what zones in which the things around you fall. Then imagine you’re taking a photo. Imagine where the zones would be if the image came out exactly as you wanted. It does not have to be what you “see” but what you “visualize” for the finished image. How do YOU want to make it?

Think about what Zone levels on various objects in this scene would most complement your main subject as well as your supporting cast of elements. Sometimes it helps to begin by trying to visualize a scene in black and white, even if your final image is going to be color. Thinking in terms of only tones can be helpful, especially early on in the process.

2. Placing Those Zones.

OK, now you have a mental image for what your scene looks like. Let’s make it happen. You could choose any element as your basis. But let’s say you looked out your window, and the neighbor’s sports car is across the street. Set aside your annoyance for a moment that he has that sports car because he has a great paying job instead of being a photographer. Let’s say the car is a rich blue. Even though the color is dark, you imagined the car standing out and you placed it in Zone VI (6). Remember that just because something is dark, does not mean it always falls in a low zone. It’s all a question of the light and, more importantly, where you place it on the Zone Scale. And remember that while the Zones are shown as shades of grey, they represent tonal value. Color or black and white, Zones values work the same.

So for now lets meter that car using a spot meter, either spot mode on your camera, or a dedicated unit (I really like the Pentax Digital Spotmeter, as it reads in Exposure Values–very educational–and allows you to set Zones easily). You’re spot metering for the specific area you’re visualizing. Now there are some things to know about meters and we’ll talk more about them later. For now, let’s keep it simple and use that spot meter reading.

Say the meter tells us the blue of the awesome car is 1/200 at ISO100 and f8. Great, now here’s the catch. METERS METER TO MIDDLE GRAY (Zone V). Look at it on the scale above, then let me say it again: METERS READ BASED ON ZONE V. This means that your meter, in particularly a reflective meter like the one in your camera, is not really telling you what the best exposure is (*more on meters below). I know this may be surprising, but in general a meter is simply telling you what exposure will place the metered object at middle gray, Zone V. Not what is actually a good exposure. If you already know this then big props. Most people have no idea.

How can this be? I mean you’ve been working under the assumption that your meter is always right. Well, it probably is, at Zone V. So unless you want your subject middle grey, you need to compensate. We’ll get to that soon. Now if you’re in the default Averaging type mode of  many modern cameras, it’s essentially reading from various parts of the scene and averaging a guess at proper overall exposure. This is a nice tool, but it’s often misguided and takes the control out of our hands. Yes, that’s probably why those lovely faces in your portraits come out too dark. So we’ll stick with spot mode for now.

What all this means is incredibly powerful. The meter is still brilliant. Knowing that it gives you a Zone V reading for the metered section of the scene, all you have to do is decide which Zone an element should fall in, then compensate accordingly. Remember that each Zone is one stop. The reflected meter gives you the exposure at Zone V. Let’s say you want the car at Zone VI (6). All you have to do is expose one stop above what your meter says, and that car will be placed at zone VI. It really is that simple. Let’s say in another scene you metered a dark section of foliage and imagined it at Zone III. Well, all you have to do is spot meter, then drop down 2 stops lower. Violà, you placed it at Zone III.

*Regarding meters (updated 11/15): Meters can vary and you need to know your tools so lets clarify them bit. A spot, or in camera meter looks at your subject and reads based on “reflected light” (just as you and your camera see it). An incident meter (the kind you hold in front of your subject), reads the light being cast on it thru it’s translucent grey sphere.

Incident meters cannot see the reflectiveness of the subject (think snow vs. a dark red curtain). Now the idea is that an incident meter is reading the oncoming light and effectively placing it it’s sphere at Zone V (similar to if you spot metered on a grey card). Because of that, other tones “should” follow accurately (what you see is what you get). That said, it’s not quite that simple. While it should be close, certain tones may not render exactly as expected because while the incident meter has it’s standard (the sphere) to read from, it still can’t “see” the subject being metered.

So while both meters are effectively metering based on Zone V, an incident meter is a bit less specific in my view, because it’s only reading that oncoming light and you still may need to account for the reflectiveness of your subject. Some might argue that because incident ideally gives you what you see, that we don’t need the Zones. I beg to differ. In many non studio or close up situations, incident readings are not possible. Even when they are, what you see is not always what you want. Based on a natural incident reading that car may fall at Zone V, but you might still want to place it up to zone VI to achieve the visualization you want and properly convey your feeling of the scene.

This does not mean you can’t use incident readings in cooperation with the Zone approach. Just understand that incident and reflective read a bit differently. As a general a rule I would say that when you meter with incident, assume it’s reading is close to what you see. You can then compensate the Zones to place elements anywhere desired. If you like it as is that’s fine, but seeing your Zones will still help you plan a better image.

Reflective meters. I prefer the more absolute nature of the reflected reading (generally spot). One, because even if you don’t have a separate meter, your in camera meter will work the same. But more importantly, because a spot meter always gives you a fixed point to start from. It effectively places whatever object you point it at in Zone V. Then you compensate to place that object in whichever Zone you want. The reflected reading is absolute. For people who don’t understand their zones, everything they meter turns grey. But for those of us that use the Zones we’re discussing, it’s amazingly powerful and makes visualizing and seeing light a simple thing. And yes, you can spot flash meter with some meters, though probably not with your in-camera meter.

So whichever meter you use, with natural light or flash, you can apply the Zone techniques with great success. Just understand how your meter reads light. Also bear in mind that meters can vary slightly. For example your meter may not read exactly at the 18% gray reflectance standard that Zone V is based on. We’re not talking much difference, so don’t worry about it too much now, but you want to learn how “your” meter works and as you delve deeper you may want to nail down your calibration.

Morgan's Song, Commissioned Portrait, 2011 - In a portrait, I generally want the subject's face in Zone 6-7. It varies, of course, with skin, highlights, and shadows. I placed her dress (by burning) no lighter than the face to avoid competition, continuing the reducing approach with other elements in the scene. Everything needs to lead in to my subject. Otherwise, it does not belong there.

3. The Other Zones.

OK, great, you say. Now I can place any element in any Zone I want. The problem is that every other element of the scene is also exposed based on that part. Some might be lighter or darker than what I visualize.

Aha! I might say. This is what makes photography an art and a science. We should consider what Zones the low and high values will fall into as well. You’ve planned the exposure you want for your main subject. You just have to carry it through. In the days of film, the Zone System had lots of other relevant pieces based around the Zones. Those pertained to the way you processed the film, dynamic range, how you printed, and more. We just have to think of it terms of the medium being used. For most, that’s digital. Even when I use large format, I scan to digital for my final processing.

So let’s consider this. Our car is placed at Zone VI (6). But because of that, the bright sky might have come up Zone IV (9). That’s almost white. Yet you want a nice rich sky blue around Zone VII (7). You have a visualization. How can you make it happen? Clearly, we have to darken that sky while maintaining our subject. We could do this in camera, placing the sky where we want it with the main exposure, while keeping the subject at it’s chosen Zone using extra light; a reflector, flash etc. This approach is very applicable to portraits and commercial work, though it may not always be the look you want. Another method would be adjusting in post, using a burn (darken) brush, or a gradient to bring down the tonal value of that sky. Even when I use a flash I’ll often burn or dodge to control tones on a very specific level. Either way, since we know exactly what we’re visualizing, we can easily answer questions to make it happen perfectly.

For now lets talk about the burn and dodge approach since it addresses some important issues. We know the car is placed Zone VI. The question is, is the camera capturing the information we need in other areas? Digital is improving, but it still has less range than film did. If the sky is clipping to white in the histogram, we probably need a darker frame. This isn’t a problem; make a separate exposure with the sky in the Zone you want. Back in the digital darkroom, you could blend those. Maybe with HDR software and tone mapping, or more likely just with a simple layer blend in PS, mix the rich sky into the scene while retaining our subject at its given Zone.

Still, maybe the camera has enough light range in one file. If you look at your histogram, and the highlights (right side) are not clipping, then you may have what you need. The same goes for the darks. Visualize your darkest areas. Is the image capturing enough information to place them where you want, using gradients, brushes, burning, dodging in post processing? These are questions I can’t answer, but it simple once you have a plan. You might even compensate your exposure a little to the right or left of what the meter says, making a file that has a completely non clipped histogram. Just remember your subject is the VIP. In my experience the less you have to adjust main subject exposure later, the more your light and image quality will sing.  Plan where those Zones should be placed. Meter, then expose as you see fit and go to work on the finished product. Burn, dodge, blend layers, control tonal values and make your visualization happen. Not so unlike Ansel did in his darkroom.

• For more ideas on controlling the tonal values, and finishing your zones after the image is captured, read my extended article: 3 Core Elements of Controlling Tonal Value.

4. Lets Recap.

1. Look at your scene and see in terms of Zones. What light do you have?

2. Analyze your subject. What zone do you want it placed in? There are no limits.

3. Consider other  elements. What zone should they be to best complement the subject?

4. Meter your subject and determine what it’s exposure would be at Zone V. It’s also good to meter other areas in the scene to better understand how might range you’re dealing with.

5. Adjust. The meter gave you Zone V (5). Now adjust your exposure compensation (EV) up or down to put the metered subject in the zone you chose. Remember that each step on the Zone Scale is simply one stop, or EV

6. Consider if the camera can capture enough range to place all objects in the zones you visualized. If not, take extra frames as needed. Note that this is one reason why cameras average by default. Sometimes by adjusting the exposure to a happy medium you can get everything you need. Just keep your main Zone in mind. Everything has a cost, and the closer your subject is to dead on, the better. Just do your adjustments with a plan, knowing how it will affect your image.

7. Capture your frame according to what you found by metering and visualizing. Wait, did we actually plan before making our image?Yikes! that’s new. Seriously though, don’t be afraid to make a few test exposures along the way. But don’t trust what’s on the LCD. Use your metering and histogram to determine if you’re getting what you’re visualizing.

8. Develop that image that was perfectly exposed according to your visualization. Edit, apply corrections, presets, burn, dodge, tone mapping, blend layers, and whatever you need to make it match what you visualized.

9. There really is no nine. You’ve done it. Now go make that really amazing print.

The Whispering Brook, WA, 2011 - I followed my visualization nearly exactly on this. Knowing what I wanted in the image before I ever captured it, I kept the busy elements very simple by controlling exposure and keeping the values low throughout. The water still maintains strong contrast however, even though there is no white clipping. This is due to how dark other elements in the scene are placed.

This is from the uncorrected RAW. I did pretty well placing the tonal values using my exposure. But the final above was much more than a desaturation. I came in using presets, channels, burn, dodge, etc., and finished the image to what I had seen in my mind before I released the shutter. I knew what I wanted, and that's what I got. I admit I'm not always this well organized, but when I truly visualize, not just my capture, but how it will look when it's finished, my work seems to take on a new quality.

5. Wrapping Up.

OK, this is simple, but it was a lot of stuff. If you’re feeling confused, read it again, because once you really start to grasp it, it will come quickly. If you think you understand but don’t see the value, read it again because you have not really grasped how powerful it is. If you think you use this instinctively and you already knew it, even though you don’t really, read it again. This is the single most valuable, yet simple, bit of photographic knowledge I have learned in my nearly 15 years of photography.

I know I’m being a bit snarky there, but it’s only because some people (often the so-called experts) turn their nose up at this as if they already knew it and it’s no longer relevant. If you really know and truly use every step already, than huge props to you, because you are among the few. But if you think it’s no big deal, it’s time get back to basics. Because this is no less relevant than it has ever been. In fact, it may be more so.

That’s all for now. This can go deeper so I encourage you to look into these concepts further, but for now just start exposing in Zones. Before long, you will never see light, or make photos, the same way again. I know, sometimes you’ll be on the move, and you won’t have time to spot meter and plan every frame. That’s why today’s automated tools can be really useful. But if you slow down (check out The 111  Photo Project) and end the mindset of letting gear think for you and put visualization, Zones, and tonal control into practice at every chance, it will start affecting all your images, even the ones you have to do lightning quickly.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this. Please +Like, share, and tell the world as you learn how powerful this can be. Remember, it will take a little time and practice. I suggest you demand of yourself to start seeing in Zones, visualizing and planning your images. It will work. I plan to keep refining this as I improve my own skills and find to better ways explain this often neglected piece of our craft that has changed the way I make images. I’ll also be discussing it during my tours and workshops.

Now go. Apply this. Because it works so dang well, it’s almost unbelievable. Good luck!

Gav

• For a bit broader view that looks at using these ideas in collaboration with good scene planning, processing and more, read my extended article: 5 Essential Keys of Perfect Photographs.
• Also peek at the Zone System wiki entry for more general info like descriptions of each Zone.
• Read books. Like Ansel Adams, The Negative for in depth Zone system studios.
• I also did nearly a whole podcast in light and Zones on Pro Photo Show.
• Discus beyond comments. Visit the forum thread for this article.

Andrew at Mission Bridge. Commissioned portrait, 2011 - I was using 4x5 film here. I focus heavily on of space in my portraits, but to show that environment I need to control it. The subject has to stay strong. I kept the elements darker, though few were black. And kept my subject dominant up around Zone IV.

This was on 4x5, and it came out as planned. But you see how the final development I did in LR/PS completed my visualization; by editing the supporting cast tones to where I wanted them and working with details, I kept the subject primary in this open scene. I finished the final above as a 40 inch print on canvas for the client.