From: Shannon Stoney (shannonstoney@earthlink.net)
Date: 07/18/01-05:12:08 PM Z
Joe wrote:
I think you'll discover that many Pt/Pd printers using the
> zone system may actually be considering what's going on in zones I, II, X,
> XI, and XII while silver printers may only be looking at zones III and VII or
> thereabouts for their important subject details.
That's what I was wondering about really. What might have been appropriate
for silver printing is limiting when it comes to processes that can handle
more in the highlight range. And, in fact, this is what Dick wrote back to
me. I also sent that question to him directly.
I posted this question because I was printing some negatives today where it
was clear that I exposed and developed them badly (partly because I got
some of the N-1 and N+1 negatives mixed up!), and I think those bad
negatives reflected my confusion, when I was shooting them last fall, over
whether I was looking at what I formerly thought was a normal SBR.
> Although I've don't recall reading this anywhere in regard to zone system
> testing, the *very first thing* I would do (before even exposing any film
> test) is take a Stouffer 21-step density wedge and run a test to determine
> the printing range of the paper you will be using. See how many steps (and
> thus the density range) the paper will handle and then begin film testing
> with the aim of fitting your "normal" scene onto the "normal" paper. Won't
> do you any good if your tested-by-the-book perfect zone IX has a net density
> of 1.25 but the paper shows white occurs at a net density of 1.50 (your
> prints will look gray and flat).
I am just beginning this summer to understand the importance of this (helped
along by reading Judy's article on "Sense and Sensitometry" in one of the
early issues of Post FActory.) Usually in my negatives the opposite thing
has been happening: what I thought would be a textured highlight ran off
the scale that the (in this case) cyanotype emulsion could reproduce, so it
showed up as white.
--shannon
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