Re: shadow density in zone III

To my way of thinking and working, the "absolute densities" for shadows
(above base +fog) don't really have any significance on their own. It's
how they relate to the curve shape (and, hence, their adjacent
densities) that dictates the desired base+fog density.

Many working in pt/pd have historically overexposed their b/w film in
order to get the shadows off the toe (where the tonal separations are
more subtle) and up on a straighter-line part of the curve. Matte
surface papers seem to need more separation for the shadow variances to
show nicely. And has been noted, if you're going overexpose, you must
make sure you have enough "headroom" to prevent blocking of the
highlight when your curve starts to shoulder and eventually goes
horizontal (or even reverses on some older films).

Now of course, when you enter the digital world, these rules get
changed. If you have shadow detail in your capture or scan, you can
pretty much bend the tonal relationships just the way you want them.
This isn't the time or place to go into bit depth advantages and such
but you sure have a lot more control with digital than when playing with
development changes, intensification and such.

Another $0.02

Dan

Dennis Purdy wrote on 9/29/05, 10:40 AM:

> Considering this is an alt list, has
> anyone figured out what are the best low end densities to print with
> great detail on a platinum print?

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