Ansels The Negative

[Mark Sawyer]

But could a million monkeys photographing with a million 8x10 view cameras for a million years replicate the portfolios of Ansel Adams?

I think we're working on it...

[jnantz]

Koko was pretty good, didn't use a meter.

[willwilson]

Well, Michael, scene contrast compression ala Zone mantra minus development DOES work, and does vindicate the methodology, but unfortunately, not in a manner either you or I seem to like esthetically. I'd rather choose a particular film to suitably fit the actual range rather than stomp the intermediate tonality flat using heavy-handed minus development. We've discussed this often before, so no sense belaboring it again. But it is one of the aspects which I find unappealing about classic Zonie dogma.

Then there's alway supplemental masking, a versatile tool indeed if you want to keep your cake, contrast-wise, and eat it too.

Mark and John - that's what all this new Artificial Intelligence imaging technology is for - creating way more monkeys way faster.

Drew and Michael, I agree. I think a more nuanced description of compressing the scene is needed. This approach, overexposure and under development with a high contrast scene, can result in a negative with a more balanced distribution of tonal information across the dynamic range of the scene, compared to a normally exposed and developed piece of film. However, it is worth noting that the total amount of "information" isn't necessarily more; perhaps it's more accurately described as more "usefully distributed" information. If the highlights blocked up you may have less info, but usually you just get a neg that is to high contrast to print without employing other techniques like you mentioned.

At this point we are at the experiment stage of things, just gotta do what works for you. This is one of the reasons I love photography.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I started with Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography (the first one), way back in '92. That led to Adams' The Negative, then, The Print. I also got The Camera shortly after. The Negative is well thumbed through, with lots of dog-eared corners. I learnt a hell of a lot from that book. The Print was very helpful. Barely looked at The Camera. The Ansel Adams Guide mentioned earlier, is an excellent book for a beginner.