Zone System for E6 Film

Peter Norquist has a nice site for Color Film Zone System photography. But, it doesn't get into film development. I am about to embark on trying to figure this out for myself (with the help of Ansel Adams book "Polaroid Land Photography").

Has anyone out there worked with development changes (I use Velvia and E100S) to control contrast in E6 films? Are there any sources of official information regarding this subject?

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Thanks,

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Joe

Questions about color/transparency zone system adaptation have been

asked on photo.net.

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For Zone System and Color Transparencies:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0000ao

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Zone System and Scala B&W Transparencies:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000YDY

I recently bought Christopher Burkett's book Initmations of Paradise,

a collection of his 8x10 color nature photos. In his technical

discussion, he says that he controls constrast during printing, not

during development. He does this with a complicated masking

technique. He makes a b&w contact negative that is then sandwiched

with the color positive (i.e., used as a mask) in the enlarger when

the color print is made. The b&w negative mask is made in such a way

that, for instance, only yellow areas of the image register on the b&w

negative. So, when the color transparency and b&w mask are

sandwiched, the contrast of the yellow portion of the image is

altered.

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I don't know all the exact details, but it's complicated. Christopher

Burkett says he spent 15 years perfecting the process. He says any

given image is usually printed with about 5 or so different masks. He

claims to spend 2 months a year exposing film, and 10 months a year in

the darkroom perfecting the prints.

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I'll bet you're wondering about the quality of the print using this

masking technique. I had the opportunity to see some of his prints at

a gallery in Carmel, CA, and I can honestly say they were the most

beautiful prints I have ever seen (including Ansel Adams originals).

If you haven't seen one of his prints in a gallery, be sure to do so

as soon as possible. His 30x40 prints have more detail than you can

beleive. They seem to have an inner glow, almost as if lit from

behind. It sounds very labor intensive, but his methodology is the

way to go if you're looking for the best possible quality. Forget

learning color technique from Ansel Adams, he was a b&w master, yes,

but not a color master. Color was too complicated for him. (I might

receive a few flames for this, but I think it's true.)

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See www.christopherburkett.com for more info.

Although I've shot VERY little slide film in large format, I've shot

lots and lots of 35mm. I always use a modified zone system, where I

meter and expose for Zone VII or VIII. Then I develop for the shadow

areas (note that this is the opposite of the "standard" procedure for

black and white), usually Zone II or Zone III. When developing, I

usually modify both the first and color developer times when using

Kodak's E-6 development kit. They say that a +2 to +5 minute

increase in development time or +8 to +12 degree F increase in

temperature is worth a 1 to 2 stop expansion, while a -2 to -3 minute

decrease in time or a -6 to -13 degree drop in temperature is worth a

1 to 2 stop contraction. If you are going to overdevelop, you better

underexpose to avoid seriously sacrificing color saturation and

contrast. I've found Velvia to be sensitive from a color standpoint

the way that Tech Pan film is sensitive from a contrast standpoint.

Joel it doesn't even deserve a response quite frankly, you should

read up on your Ansel.

A simple, though maybe not meeting the most critical standards, is to

pull process slide film with one stop, i.e. five minutes in Kodak E-6

first dev. The exposure latitude increases about two stops compared

with normal development. If you expose for zone V, zone III and VIII

will be positioned rather accurate within their range. This works

well with ektachrome 64. I suppose velvia will need a little more of

pull, maybe 4,5 min. to achieve the same result.

pre-exposure can help also, see adams-the negative or is that the

polaroid book? one or the other.