T H E Z O N E S Y S T E M :
This system was developed by the American
landscape photographer, Ansel Adams. In order to optimise the exposure of his negatives, he tried to calculate the precise
shade of grey that he wanted to allocate to each part of his black and white images.
You should recognise that your camera’s internal light meter will try to reduce all your photographs
to a neutral colour (Zone V). For this reason if you actually want a lighter or darker
image, you will need to depart from the exposure set by your camera's meter.
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Almost black -no discernable texture
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First hint of texture in shadow
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Typical shadow - e.g. dark foliage, buildings
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MID-TONE, Average mid-grey
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TEXTURED HIGHLIGHTS, pale skin, brightly lit concrete
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Last hint of texture, bright white
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Solid white - acceptable for highlights only
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NOTES:
1. Your
in-camera
light meter will assume that everything is on zone V (18% grey) and it will try to reduce the photograph to this.
2. Very light scenes (snow, beach sand etc.) will need to be over-exposed. Open the aperture or use a slower shutter speed than that suggested by your meter.
3. Very dark scenes (night scenes, dark rocks etc.) will need to be under-exposed. Close the aperture or use a faster shutter speed than that suggested by your meter.
TIPS:
Some photographers meter from a neutral Kodak grey card (or occasionally their hand) in order to ensure
that the exposure meter is not fooled by very bright or very dark areas in a scene.
Bright skies often lead to problems because they are so much brighter than the land, and neither will record
properly. A neutral graduated filter can be used to darken the sky, and so make sure that the exposure of both land
and sky is within the range that a camera's sensor can cope with.
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