Digital BW, The Print

Hi Mark-

A very interesting discussion.

Here¹s another aspect of this problem:  If you scan with a good drum scanner
and software, you can actually ³straighten out² the shoulder and toe,
getting almost as good info from them as from the midtones. I frequently
find information in the deep shadows and highlights, (that I wasn¹t even
aware of when I took the picture) that adds greatly to the overall image.
It¹s one of the great advantages of a printing digitally from film!


Regards,

Bill Morse
Digital Eye Editions
450 Harrison Ave. Studio 227
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 429-3298

http://digitaleyeeditions.com
 

on 6/7/05 12:30 PM, Mark Rabiner wrote:

>> > And I'm  
>> > surprised: his method of exposing for the highlights just isn't how
>> > b&w photography works, as far as I know.  His rationale is to, in
>> > musical terms, fix it in the mix.  The whole concept of exposing for
>> > the shadows and developing for the highlights is really a weakest-
>> > link thing: the shadows have the least light reflecting from them,
>> > therefore make sure that you have adequate exposure to record.  Then
>> > keep the highlights in line with development.  To expose for the
>> > highs and let the shadows fall where they may doesn't make sense to
>> > me.  Of course, he's right that one size does not fit all when
>> > dealing with roll film; the zone system works best one sheet at a
>> > time.  Ironically, his advice might work out better today, with
>> > scanning.  Scanners far prefer thin negs to dense ones.
>> > 
> The reason why exposing for your highlights with black and white as you
> would would transparencies makes sense is not all that obvious in theory and
> when I first heard about it I figured it was too way off based to be
> believed.
> I sure work that way now.
> It works out very logically in practice.
> 
> The way film works is not the way YOU work it turns out.
> The way film works is shadows are determined by exposure and highlights by
> development.
> Which would make you assume that that¹s the way you work.
> But it ain't necessarily so.
> 
> And if you check Ansel's ³Examples² book you¹ll see in effect he¹s doing a
> lot of starting out with the highlights.
> 
> In practice if you start out reading your important shadows and then expose
> for them placing your highlights with development you can run into trouble a
> good deal of the time.
> Unless you are shooting 8x10 with lots of water baths and Pyro I don¹t know.
> But not with roll film and even 4x5 to normal humans.
> Part of the reason is what defines the look of most images is the highlight
> separation. The highlight ³glow².
> If you¹ve overexposed your highlights placing them into the higher shoulder
> of your curve then developing less doing a N-1 or N-2 is not going to help
> any. It¹s still in THAT PART OF THE CURVE. And with less development you¹re
> getting even LESS separation in those areas.
> It¹s not as if graded papers are a new thing. Or Multigrade papers a thing
> of the future.
> 
> Your eye goes right to the highlights when looking at most images.
> If your important stuff is in the shadows you eye might have to move away
> from the non important high tones to get there anyway.
> 
> It turns out that the lesser of two evils in putting together an image....
> Loosing some shadow separation or having crushed highlight detail....
> 
> Loosing some shadow separation is seldom going to ruin an image.
> But having crushed highlights ALMOST ALWAYS WILL.
> 
> That¹s why starting out with your highlights is not as dumb as it sounds.
> 
> Putting them exactly where they should be.
> THEN checking out what you¹re loosing in the low end.
> And thinking about can you live with it or not.
> ....If you have the time because in the end there isn't any option.
> If you do brackets with more exposure you¹re never going to get prints with
> that ³glow² that you need with those ³overexposed² negs.
> And that ³glow² comes from well placed highlights.
> Not highlights which are well ³fallen².
> 
> It¹s where theory and practice collide.
> 
> Mark Rabiner
> Photography
> Portland Oregon
> http://rabinergroup.com/
> 
> 
> 
> 
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