Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale
<stevekale@b...> wrote: As for the Zone system,
> it is not really very relevant in today's digital world where one can
> determine mid-grey and clipping points (if any) post capture.

Steve, If one is more a photographer (Vs print maker) one MAY want to
determine as much as possible in the field or studio, rather than
hunched over a computer. 

"Photographer" has something to do with brief instants, whereas "print
maker" has to do with extended processes...they are not one in the
same and do not need to co-exist (there are many fine printers and
many fine photographers who do only one part of this continuum well).

Comprehensive post-capture adjustments for B&W printing from color
files do not require monochrome conversion in any case. 

Zone System skills come in two flavors: 1) geek flavor (quantitative)
2) sensory flavor (visualization). For obvious reasons, some
traditional printmakers cling more to the geek side. Interestingly,
these two flavors/sides correspond to easily measured personality
characteristics and to thoroughly-documented characteristics of each
of our two brain halves.

For pleasure (the point of photography for me) I engage the
artist/visualization side of photography and of my brain as much as
possible, just as most of us always did with film, just as musicians
and athletes always do. Happily the technology makes the geek aspect
relatively simple, just as it is in tradional wet darkroom work. 

To assert that previsualization (that side of Zone System) is "no
longer relevant in today's digital world" is literally to say that one
side of our brain is no longer relevant!

Djon (R2D2? HAL?)


> 
> > From: Djon <westsidemaurice@y...>
> 
> 
> 
> > ...though I won't convert to monochrome to get
> > my B&W... I never convert to monochrome when I'm printing B&W from
> > color (using QTRgui). There seems no reason to convert, since I use a
> > traditional Zone System frame of reference (ie the real world is seen
> > in color when you shoot B&W film...I visualize B&W from real-world
> > color just as I do when I see color on a monitor and print B&W).
> > 
> > Djon