Actual zone system

[Michael R]

If you’re not sure, make more exposures. Sometimes things are tricky, so do what you have to do to get the shot. Nobody gives you extra points for not bracketing etc.

[bmikiten]

I recently saw a series of his Hasselblad contact sheets and was amazed at how much bracketing went on - often a stop or more for a single scene.

[bmikiten]

If you’re not sure, make more exposures. Sometimes things are tricky, so do what you have to do to get the shot. Nobody gives you extra points for not bracketing etc.

I used to tell my "fine art" photography students the same thing. I suggested that if they were doing a commercial shot that they'd bracket all the time to ensure getting paid.

[Drew Wiley]

Not everyone shoots in a studio. Doubling the number of film holders on a hundred mile trek is simply out of the question. And film changing tents aren't all that realistic either during a blizzard. Wish Quickload and Readyload sleeves hadn't gone extinct.

[Alan Klein]

If you’re not sure, make more exposures. Sometimes things are tricky, so do what you have to do to get the shot. Nobody gives you extra points for not bracketing etc.

I agree. This isn't a test. We're not in school and getting graded. You want to come home with the shot after spending a whole day running around often not taking anything or only one or two scenes. I often shoot during magic hour with slide film which doesn't take much to be off, a 1/2 stop. It's often hard to calculate the best exposure in that kind of lighting. Bracketing can save the day. I always bracket when I'm shooting landscapes with my Mamiya RB67 medium format. I can knock off the extra two stope in seconds hopefully before lighting conditions change. An additional benefit, is sometimes, underexposing slide film saturates the colors and gives a totally different perspective than nailing the exposure. Now that I shoot 4x5, I admit not to bracketing most of the time but will when the lighting is hard to determine.

[paulbarden]

Not everyone shoots in a studio. Doubling the number of film holders on a hundred mile trek is simply out of the question. And film changing tents aren't all that realistic either during a blizzard. Wish Quickload and Readyload sleeves hadn't gone extinct.

I'm surprised you're still out making hundred mile photo treks at your age. And in blizzards, to boot!

[Drew Wiley]

I'm not, Paul. My last one of those was the month I turned 70. Not a terrible blizzard by any means, but 3 days stuck in the tent due to snow, with little breaks for photographing the splendor, before the remaining 40 miles back out. At least we'd gotten below timberline when the storm hit. I was chasing the light up high and timed the storm well. The next year everything changed - terrible forest fires came several years in a row, plus the Covid mess, and interrupted my momentum. Now I have to scale down my expectations and lighten my load quite a bit. It's either 6x9 roll film backs or an outright 6X9 RF camera. Of course, I still shoot even 8X10 on day hikes. If I do end up taking a longer trek this coming summer or autumn, I'll try to enlist the help of younger backpackers too, who can help with some of the load. I guess that is OK to ask, approaching 75.

[Alan Klein]

I'm not, Paul. My last one of those was the month I turned 70. Not a terrible blizzard by any means, but 3 days stuck in the tent due to snow, with little breaks for photographing the splendor, before the remaining 40 miles back out. At least we'd gotten below timberline when the storm hit. I was chasing the light up high and timed the storm well. The next year everything changed - terrible forest fires came several years in a row, plus the Covid mess, and interrupted my momentum. Now I have to scale down my expectations and lighten my load quite a bit. It's either 6x9 roll film backs or an outright 6X9 RF camera. Of course, I still shoot even 8X10 on day hikes. If I do end up taking a longer trek this coming summer or autumn, I'll try to enlist the help of younger backpackers too, who can help with some of the load. I guess that is OK to ask, approaching 75.

Get a mule!

[Drew Wiley]

I'm my own mule. A real mule would be too smart to get suckered into it. Actually, I only briefly worked with stock animals, during the customary mountain kid rite of passage working for a pack station the summer I was 16. Too limiting where you can go. Mules don't climb.

[Alan Klein]

I'm my own mule. A real mule would be too smart to get suckered into it. Actually, I only briefly worked with stock animals, during the customary mountain kid rite of passage working for a pack station the summer I was 16. Too limiting where you can go. Mules don't climb.

They're smarter than us.