Description

Zone System: Mastering Light and Exposure

This course will make you a better photographer. A much better photographer. How you ask? First a little history.

The Zone System was originally developed back in the 1940’s by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer as a way to take control over the whole image making process. It ensured predictable results from metering and exposure to developing and printing. The Zone System was a method for gaining complete control over the image making process.

Fast forward out of the darkroom into the digital era and one might find this sophisticated system out of place. Unnecessary. While the practices regarding chemicals are no longer needed for the digital darkroom, the basis of metering and exposure are still incredibly relevant to the modern photographer.

These days, the average photographer brackets every shot to come up the perfect exposure, or shoots and looks at the histogram and then reshoots, but these methods are incredibly inefficient. The Zone System can teach you how to get correct exposures every time. In any situation.

This is not the only benefit however. Through the study of exposure, you’ll become a master of light-the essential ingredient to every great photograph. You’ll come to recognize the right light for every situation, alter compositions, adjust exposure, and even begin to previsualize how the final image will look up on the web or hanging on your wall. Learning the Zone System is a way to fully understand your camera and how it reacts to light.

The Zone System will make you better photographer. A much better photographer.

Chapters include:

1. Introduction
2. How the Camera’s Light Meter Works
3. The Indicated Exposure Meter
4. Placing Tones on the Scale
5. Brighter and Darker Colors
6. Portraits and Skin Tones
7. Evaluating Tones
8. Other Exposure Options
9. Quick Metering