Digital BW, The Print

on 9/10/2003 11:34 AM, DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com at
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> Message: 6
> Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 15:01:13 -0000
> From: "darrelleifert" <darrelleifert@...>
> Subject: Re: Can digital photography mimic the Zone system?
> 
> Hi Loring --
> 
> Hmmm, I think what I *really* meant to ask was whether a digital
> camera can mimic the ability of film to "compress" a high-contrast
> scene so that both shadow and highlight detail are evident in the
> final print.  If both shadow and highlight detail are beyond the
> dynamic range of the film, development time can be cut short in
> order to allow both to appear in the final print.  Photoshop can re-
> map the highlights, but what if the original digital exposure "blew
> out" the highlights because the photographer exposed for shadow
> detail?  Or conversely, what if the image is correctly exposed for
> highlight detail but significant shadow detail is blacked out?

Set your digital camera to save your photos in RAW mode. This will retain
all the information captured by the chip and adjust your "development" in
software when converting from the RAW format.

I don't know that this will equal shooting B&W film for exposure latitude,
but it should easily record more of the scene than slide film provided that
your camera is up to the task.
 
-Bruce

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