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11/02/2003 Archived Entry: "The Zone System, Ansel Adams, and Other Annoying Things"

When I tell people that I don't like Ansel Adams much, they look at me quizzically. It's not that I hate Yosemite, or trees, or everything that is clean and natural. All that is great. I just find AA's photos bland more often that interesting. And his skills with photographing people were mediocre, bordering on the tacky.

And he invented the Zone System. At least it was him and a few other people. Put it this way, he popularized the Zone System which he had some part in developing. I've frequently complained that the Zone System actually made things confusing for people when it should make things easier. A book I've just read, The Confused Photographer's Guide to Photographic Exposure and the Simplified Zone System by Bahman Farzad cuts through lots of confusion about the Zone System.

Most people don't know what the Zone System is. They shouldn't, even if they are avid photographers. It has to do with choosing the most appropriate exposure and film processing for a given scene. The trouble I have with the Zone System is that it micro-manages the whole process to the point that it gives the photographer the illusion that he or she is getting more control that is really there. Worse, it makes some photographers frightened of quickly getting an exposure "close night" with a few seconds of thought, and instead they stick with subjects allowing minutes of contemplation time. Finally, it's made for off-putting technical sounding terms which are defined differently by different photographers. People say "Zone II" instead of saying slightly detailed shadowed areas.

The fact that the Zone System is not usually applied to color work, when it could be, and should be, has only worked against the mainstream adoption of the process.

Farzad's book is more about basic concepts of exposure in photography than the Zone System. What makes for a proper photographic exposure is generally poorly explained in books, so I'm really pleased to see simple explanations. He also explains how to photograph things which elude typical light meters: the moon, fireworks, back lit stained glass. Many things are very visually arresting, but can't be simply metered. He also explains how to set exposures without a meter.

Thank you Bahman.

And really, aren't lots of Adam's photos boring?

Entries and Images Copywrite M. Stewart