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Hi Judy,
you wrote:
> > But the system is also very flawed. As I understand (or fail to
> > understand) it, what's lighter in the negative is darker in the print and
> > vice versa, so you get to stop and calculate if a zone IX, for instance is
> > a dark or a light. And by the time you get that straight, the sun has set.
One of the real problems of the Zone System is that some people have taken
it to being an end in itself. But if a person isn't going to enslave themselves to
the process, it is a really valuable tool. And once learned, it is actually
quite easy, lending iself to all photo processes.
As you so correctly point out, the major benefit of the process is to alter
the contrast by development changes. There is also the ability to expand the
contrast range within a limited area by placing the exposure for that area
within the characteristic curves more contrasty(or less) area.
By looking at the scene, and determining that the contrast range requires
modifications in the development stage so you get the negative that prints like
you want, and you *are* using the Zone system!