Digital BW, The Print

I couldn't agree more. Moonrise is a good example of post visualation that most of us experience occasionally. We are so moved by a scene when we make the image that we go to great lengths to print it in a way to re-capture that emotion. Ansel chemicaly treated parts of the neg with Farmers reducer to help with the process. As an aside, Ansel was not the originator of the zone system. That honor belongs to Fred Archer, a fellow teacher. Ansel colaborated with Archer and later went on to refine Archers ideas of exposure and development to achieve a pre-visualised print. Ansels original exposure of the moonrise neg was made based on the correct exposure for a full moon, which he remembered, and not any zone system calculation. With todays digital methods, which Ansel would have embraced with much enthusiasm, that neg would be a piece of cake to print and Ansel would have refined it further. He was never satisfied with the crosses in the grave yard. 

Walt

>Of all of Ansel's images, this is without doubt the worst to use to 
>judge the Zone System by.
>
>Ansel's ideas for the zone system were to visualize what you wanted in 
>the final print, carefully consider what you had to have in the negative 
>to get that, then methodically go about exposing and developing the 
>negative to get the necessary tones on the negative.
>
>Moonrise was the antithesis of how he used the Zone System. Ansel's own 
>account was that Moonrise was a "grab shot." He didn't have time to 
>visualize anything except sliding his vehicle to a stop and running like 
>mad. He couldn't find a light meter, so he guessed. He flipped the film 
>holder to try to make another exposure, but the light was gone.
>
>By all accounts, he hated the negative. It represented everything he was 
>working to correct with the Zone System. That he could get a good print 
>at all from it is amazing. That he could pull his amazing Moonrise 
>prints is nearly miraculous and certainly a testament to his skills.
>
>But of all his images, this is the last one to use to judge the Zone System.
>--
>Bruce Watson
>
>
>Clayton Price wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>> About 4 years ago I saw three original prints of "Moonrise" in a New 
>> York gallery. They were fascinating, and it gave
>> a real insight into how Adam's worked in the darkroom.  The first 
>> print was straight from the negative - as I recall the
>> the sky was almost white, and few of the details related to the 
>> values of the final piece.  The second print was somewhat
>> corrected, but still a long way from what we usually see.  The third 
>> print was  what we've come to expect  --perfect !
>>
>> When I was a student, much longer ago than I want to think about, we 
>> learned and worked with Zone System, in the belief
>> that if one follows it carefully, you could make a straight print 
>> from a negative with minimal dodging and burning.
>>
>> Well, seeing those three prints, 2 of which were in process, the Zone 
>> System bubble burst within me, and I realized
>> Adam's fantastic darkroom skills, just as Weston, and Gene Smith, who 
>> I don't think worked in Zone System - at least
>> not formally!
>>
>> Clayton Price
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