The practical zone system for film and digital photography: Classic tool, universal applications

Abstract

In this fifth edition of The Practical Zone System, Chris Johnson updates his classic manual on Ansel Adams's landmark technique for the digital age. Whether you are a beginning, large-format, or professional photographer, whether you work with digital or film, and whether you shoot in black and white or color, the simple visual language called Previsualization will help you to control contrast in order to create beautiful photographs. Entirely new to this edition is a chapter applying Zone System concepts to studio photography. Using Bill Brant's "Nude, Campden Hill London, 1949, May" (cover image) as an inspiration, Johnson demonstrates how the Zone System, traditionally considered to be a methodology limited to the uses of films and developers, is actually a universal visual and conceptual language that dramatically simplifies the problem of creating and rendering complex studio lighting setups.