Digital BW, The Print

Letting them "fall where they may" is a tad over-simplified. The zones "fall 
where they may" only to the extent that light hits they negative in a pre-
determined way. But part of the technique of A.A. and the Zone System is in 
controlling how many zones will actually be recorded, and where those zones 
will be rendered on the negative AND in the print. For instance, through 
contracted development, one can cause light that may have fallen on, say, 
Zone XI during exposure to be rendered at zone VIII on the negative. Or, 
conversely, by expanding development, one may force Zone VI onto Zone IX. 
Obviously, in either case, zones adjacent to the targeted zone will "fall" 
somewhere based on how development is handled, but one must remeber that 
the negative contains a LATENT image until processed. As the photographer, 
we have control over where those zones will "fall".

Also, I think we can consider Zone V as a sort of "hinge" point, if you will: zones 
higher will be affected primarily by development, and zones lower will be 
affected primarily by exposure. I say "primarily" as there is(obviously) 
interaction between exposure and development, and zones below V will be 
affected by development.

At any rate, one may not desire to print across the full range of tones available. 
I know it is commonly stated that a good print will exhibit a Dmax black and a 
paper base white (and I could see why someone might believe that), but I 
honestly don't believe A.A. ever said or wrote that; at least I can't recall ever 
coming across that in his writings, only the writings of others. I could be wrong, 
but please direct me to chapter and verse if I am :)

Oh, BTW, allow me to introduce myself to the group: My name is Guy Staley, 
and I live in Seattle, WA. I have been lurking for a couple weeks now as I am 
FINALLY diving in to digital printing after waiting around for several years for 
the technology to mature, and become affordable. I'll honestly miss my wet 
darkroom(it's not gone yet, but I can see it's demise looming on the horizon), 
but am enthralled by the creative potential of working digitally. I have just 
purchased an Epson 4870 and PS2200 and am about to mount the large 
learning curve that lies before me. I plan on starting with the MIS UT7 inks 
using Mr. Roark's work flow. In fact, I'm waiting for UPS as I write!!!

I feel privileged to have stumbled upon such a great and knowledgable group 
of like-minded folks, and look forward to interacting with you all over the 
months to come!

Sincerely,
-Guy


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale <
stevekale@b...> wrote:
> Did Ansel really do this?  Or did he set mid grey and let the rest fall
> where they may?  
> 
> (Take for example the image that is on the cover of "The Negative".)
> 
> 
> > From: Paul Roark <paul.roark@v...>
> 
> clip
> > If you want to fully utilize the dynamic range of the medium (and I do and
> > so did A. Adams), prints should have some pure black (0 on the 0-255, 8-
bit
> > digital scale, but also referred to as 100% in terms of the ink load) and
> > very little pure paper white (255 on the 8-bit scale, and 0% ink).
> > 
> > Paul
> > www.PaulRoark.com