Zone chart descriptions

I'm putting together a Zone chart that I'll carry in my equipment bag that shows the gradations with some quick descriptions of common objects or scenes that often fall in those zones. Example: Zone VI is caucasian skin tone, light stone, etc. The more I shoot and practice the Zone, the better I'll get, and this "list" will grow with my experience.

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Anybody care to share some of their "favorite" Zone subjects? I know its subjective, but I'd love to hear from you folks that have been doing this for years...

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Thanks in advance - Bill

Bill,

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Go out and get a

copy of "The Zone System Manual" by, Minor White, Richard Zakia et

al. and follow their instructions for making a "zone ruler"

(basically small pieces of photo paper exposed and developed to zones

I througn IX.) I carried one with me when I was learning, and it

really helped. I still make them when calibrating new

films/developers. You can pull it out of your bag and compare it

directly with the subject, and, it's matched to your

film/paper/developer combination. Hope this helps, ;^D)

Doremus -

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Thanks for the Minor White/zone patch idea. I'd also like to add to my

list of "what falls in that zone" descriptions - do you have any

standard objects that seem to always be a particular zone? Ansel says

that a clear north sky usually falls on zone V, Fred Picker says very

bright concrete is usually zone 8, etc.

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thanks for helping!

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Bill

A slice of good, rich chocolate cake (not the icing) is usually Zone

3. Although it depends on whether your wife or your mother made it.

Bill, it is hard to answer that question because zone system shouldn't

be about set standards or lists of subject placements (although it

can easily become that), rather, it should be about how you react to a

given scene. This creative control allows you to get different

renderings of the same subject. zone placement is whatever you want

it to be.

Bill,

The reason I recommended the Zone Ruler idea is that, many times,

there are no "standard" placements for subject values in the zone

system. Sure, if you want some kind of strictly "realistic"

representation, you can invent some zone placements for specific

things (skin in zone VI, textured snow or white water, zone VII,

etc.) but, if, like me, you are after an expressive print, then it is

better to be able to see how a certain value "feels" in the final

print before you expose. And, until you are able to carry those zone

placements and feelings around in your head with you, the zone ruler

is a great way to get an idea, especially when you are interested in

the amount of tonal space between two very close or distant values. I

hope you don't mind my begging out of giving you what you asked for,

but I simply don't work that way. The suggestions Ansel Adams, Minor

White and others give in their books are more than adequate to get

started and get a feeling for what a zone looks and feels like, and

how much detail and texture you get in the outside zones. After that,

let your imagination and creativity direct you. The same blue sky

lends itself to many different expressive placements, especially with

the use of filters, and maybe that zone VI skin would have a much

greater effect in zone VI, or perhaps that zone III shadow needs the

luminance of zone VI, or... You get the idea.

Regards

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;^D)

I think one of my least favorite is Zone VII. When I started using

the Zone system, I tried to develop to a VII, but didn't have much

luck. I prefer to develop to a Zone VIII, which to me is the

beginning of texture in the highlights, versus full texture in the

highlights. This is also the way I print, pivoting on the values that

provide the beginning of texture in the highlights.

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My favorite is probably Zone III to Zone II, since it's these areas

that provide the foundation or base in most prints. This is true not

only technically, since it establishes the exposure, but aesthetically

as well. The darker areas that still have texture are like the bass

fiddles in an Orchestra. You feel them more than you hear them.

Go to <a href="http://www.ai.sri.com/~luong/photography/lf/."> A Large

Format Photography Web Page.</a>

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Look at Luca Paradisi's Zone System Wheel. I think it will fill in

some of your answers.

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I'm new at this, too, and I realize that the zone system is about

visualizing your final image and placing zones where you want them,

but if you're starting out, or just learning to use your spot meter,

then it's helpful to have some guidelines like you're asking for to

get you in the exposure ball park, or allow you to get a quick picture

when you don't have a lot of time to contemplate zones.