Ansel Adams books for digital

[nemesis256]

I've been looking at Ansel Adams books and wondering how useful it might be for digital photography. I'm especially interested in the camera, the negative, the print, and Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs. The print seems to be the least useful for digital, but I'm not sure about the other two "the" books. The Examples book is the one I have the most interest in. Opinions?

[ravncat]

You`re right.
The print seems to be the least useful, but in reality, the print is just "the least directly applicable"

They are all still very relevant, although alot of the talk and technique has to be "interpreted for digital". I think they are a wonderful series and will be of benefit for digital photographers.

Everything that is there about film, and sensitometry is still useful for thinking about digital - one just has to imagine a positive instead of negative process. There is data in the books that would be not useful at all (development times and formulae, as well as some of the chemical processing information) But there`s definitely still alot left to be learned from all three.

[Elmo]

First I am a great follower of AA. I feel his books are great and I refer to them often,but I started in the film era and understand that process. With that said I think his books might prove confusing to those relatively new to photography, especially digital only photographers.

After one has a good grasp on digital and can understand what is applicable and what is not they are excellent. When you can understand how to do digitally what was done with film, you will find them indispensable.

[LeeR]

I don't see how any photographer can be truly proficient without some knowledge of the principles of the Zone System and that is the foundation for the Ansel Adams books. Some people may call it by another name, but the principles are essential to creating great images. What's more; Adams passion for his craft can be found on every page and that passion has fueled more than a few careers.

[Elmo]

Originally Posted by LeeR

I don't see how any photographer can be truly proficient without some knowledge of the principles of the Zone System and that is the foundation for the Ansel Adams books. .

I agree on that but implementing the Zone System is daunting in learning to compress the wide tonal range into a very narrow dynamic range of digital devices. For me just putting skin tones in zone 6 and letting the rest go wherever, just don't do it for me.

[LeeR]

Look at the work of the great masters of portrait photography like Philippe Halsman, Alfred Eisenstadt, W. Eugene Smith, Lord Snowdon and Francesco Scavullo. Yes, for the most part they are putting skin tones in Zone 6. However, they are masters of manipulating the lighting to contorl contrast, to place the background tonality, and to accentuate or conceal certain attributes of their subject. Those are all functions of the Zone System.
Can you get a pretty good color portrait without knowing the Zone System? Absolutely, because most of the values are going to be near the middle of the scale where color plays a major role. Your local Olan Mills does it every day. But that's also the difference between a $100 portrait and a $1,000 one. The guys getting the big bucks are using the entire scale to create drama and pathos in their images.

[Elmo]

Originally Posted by LeeR

Yes, for the most part they are putting skin tones in Zone 6. However, they are masters of manipulating the lighting to contorl contrast, to place the background tonality, and to accentuate or conceal certain attributes of their subject. Those are all functions of the Zone System.

At this point I will disagree part of your premise. The zone System requires proper metering of many areas in the scene and determining the range of lighting available and then an appropriate exposure and film development time is determined to capture desired part of that range. The effect is to adjust the film's dynamic range to suit the dynamic range of the scene. So far as I know the dynamic range of a digital camera cannot be adjusted.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by LeeR

I don't see how any photographer can be truly proficient without some knowledge of the principles of the Zone System and that is the foundation for the Ansel Adams books. Some people may call it by another name, but the principles are essential to creating great images. What's more; Adams passion for his craft can be found on every page and that passion has fueled more than a few careers.

I was taught the Zone System by the Master himself at his house in Carmel, over a few bottle of wine, cheese and crackers one weekend. What a delightful experience.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by Elmo

At this point I will disagree part of your premise. The zone System requires proper metering of many areas in the scene and determining the range of lighting available and then an appropriate exposure and film development time is determined to capture desired part of that range. The effect is to adjust the film's dynamic range to suit the dynamic range of the scene. So far as I know the dynamic range of a digital camera cannot be adjusted.

You can adjust in post processing................in curves and contrast control.

[Elmo]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

You can adjust in post processing................in curves and contrast control.

Maybe we met, I worked as one of his assistants in the early 60's.

Yes curves etc can held but they will fail to recover detail in the blown and blocked areas (the areas beyond the dynamic range of the digital sensor).