A Digital Zone System?

The two tenets of Ansel Adams' zone system are previsualization and control of the process. Some rather simple
testing is used to predict the results of process and rigid adherence to technique is key to making the results of the
process consistent. Combined, they allow an Adams zone system practitioner to previsualize a result that may be far
different than what the eye sees.

Adams was a master of manipulation. The WOW!!! factor in Adams Yellowstone images is the fact they reveal far
more shadow detail than could be seen if viewed in person. Our pupils constrict in high contrast lighting just like a
camera in Tv mode to get the highlights exposed correctly. That limits our ability to see the detail in the deep shadows.
Adams prints reveal more detail than even his eye could take in at the same time in person. That's real hidden genius
in Adams' work. Even more amazing was his ability to create a simple systematic blueprint which explains how
anyone can do it.

First understand how Adams' pre-visualization system really works

The Zone System invented and popularized by Ansel Adams in the 1940s is today widely misunderstood and
misapplied. Many think a "zone" is a one stop difference in brightness in the original scene, as measured with a one-
degree reflection exposure meter. In the context of pre-visualization of a scene the term "zone" in Adams' system
refers to one of ten arbitrary divisions of tonal values on a print. In my copy of The Negative this is what he writes
about the decision to divide the tones of a print into 10 zones... "A gray scale with 10 steps seems most convenient.
With solid black and pure white on the extremes , there are 8 discrete shades of gray in between -- not too many to
visualize, and yet enough to symbolize various values in the subject. " It's also important to keep in mind what Adams
said of Zone V... "The term "middle gray" as I use it is more an emotional value than a quantitatively physical value."
The same is true of the other "zones" or print values.

Another reason Adams likely used ten zones, not 5, 12, or 256 is because and average flat-sunlit outdoor scene has
about a 10-stop range of illumination. The #2 grade paper he based the entire process around was manufactured
with a tonal range and response curve which complemented a negative exposed to an average scene and developed
so its shadow-to-highlight range fit the paper. "Expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights" is the universal
axiom of B&W photography. Those are the exact words my Dad said to me when I first picked up a camera and dusted
off his old enlarger and I read the same thing in books published by Kodak.

The #2 grade paper was only five grades from #0 to #4 which were available. The common practice and the only
practical way to use a roll film camera was to expose for the highlights then develop the roll of negatives for whatever
time it took to reproduce an "average" outdoor scene correctly on #2 paper, then if a scene had a longer or shorter
illumination range the paper grade which was the best match was selected for printing. When the illumination range
in photo was "average" the print on #2 paper would look great, with rich shadows and detailed highlights. If the scene
had lighting which had more contrast that average (i.e., greater range of f/stops) the brightest highlight detail would be
lost, just as with digital, when the negative was printed on #2 paper for good dark shadow detail. The print exposure
could be increased to get detail in the highlights of the print, but the added exposure would obliterate the detail in the
shadows of the negative. Sound a bit familar? It should. It's the same Ying-Yang dilemma we face when scene
illumination exceeds the range of our digital camera sensor.

Chimping isn't a new thing, it just came out of the dark closet: Because negative development was constant
changes in scene range resulted it changes in the highlight density on the negative requiring the use of a matching
paper contrast to produce a print with accurate highlight and shadow detail. A scene with high contrast sunny day
might be printed on # 1 or #0, but the next frame on the roll taken on an overcast day would require #3 or #4. It could
be quite confusing and getting a decent print was largely a trail and error process of making a test print on #2 paper
with the shadows exposed correctly, seeing how the highlights looked, then adjusting the paper grade accordingly, It
was the darkroom equivalent of "chimping" a digital camera LCD to get the exposure right.

Adams standardized his printing on the #2 paper for all prints and then tailored the development of each negative to fit
it. The greater the range of contrast in the illumination of the original scene, the less the time negative was developed.
The net result was a negative which had the same density range -- the one which fit the #2 grade paper perfectly --
regardless of the range of illumination in the scene. Keeping the negatives consistent made the print making process
much easier. Since Adams made hundreds of prints from each negative over a span of many years keeping things
simple in the printmaking was no doubt a huge time saver and what may have given him the idea to do it that way (just
a guess). To know how much development was needed it was necessary to precisely measure range of illumination in
the scene and know from prior testing how much negative development time was needed fit 7, 8, 9. 10, 11, or 12 stop
ranges of illumination on the #2 paper.
All Adams did is shuffle the variables and constants in the conventional darkroom process of his day, making the #2
print paper the constant instead of the negative development time, and making the development time the variable
instead of the paper. Because there were only 5 grades of paper but development time could be varied at will Adams
method more precise control. His biggest innovation was the systematic determination of the development time
needed for various ranges of illumination. Brilliantly simple, yes? Thousands of photographers who bought his books
thought so. The only catch with his method is the need to use sheet film or a camera with switchable roll film
cassettes because each scene range must be developed for a different time.

Now it gets confusing

Consider a scene containing a solid black card, a textured black sweater, an 18% gray card, a textured white towel, a
smooth white card and a chome bumper with a specular (i.e. mirror-like) reflection. First photograph it on a sunny day
and then later on an overcast day. A sunny day may have a brightness range of 12 - 13 f-stops between a white towel
in the sun and a black sweater sitting in the shadows of a recessed doorway. On an overcast day those same objects
may only have a range of 7-8 f-stops because diffuse light reaches all parts of the scene more evenly. Even on a
sunny day a scene will have different brightness ranges depending on the angle of the sun; a shorter range in flat
light, longer when the light strikes at an angle and creates shadows. But the scene has 10 Adams' zones on both the
sunny and overcast day. Why? Because the zones in Adams' system are tonal values on the print, not in the
scene!

In the Adams' zone system the B&W negative film is exposed for shadow detail, so the zone system practitioner would
expose the sunny and overcast scene exactly the same way; based on the meter reading from the black sweater
selected to be the darkest area with detail in the final print. The spot meter reading on the sweater would display an f-
stop value which would render the black sweater as middle gray, but from prior testing the photographer would know
to reduce the indicated exposure by a certain number of f-stops to render the black sweater correctly on the negative
and print. There are a number of ways to perform the compensation of metering mid-point to shadow but the simplest
is to adjust the ISO speed of the meter so the f-stop value indicated by the meter is the one which when used on the
lens renders the shadow detail on negative with a density .1 units above the film base density. For example the film
might be rated at ISO 100, but a value of ISO 25 used on the meter.

Next the zone system practitioner would find the brightest textured highlight in the scene and meter it to determine the
luminance range in f/stops. Since a 10-stop "average" range is the norm in Adams system the photographer is
concerned with finding how much if any the scene deviates from that norm. If the sunny scene measured 12 stops, the
film holder would be marked "-2" to indicate the development time of the negative needed to be reduced enough to
change the highlight density range of the negative by the equivalent of 2-stops. An overcast scene measuring 8 f/
stops would be marked for "+2" development; a longer than normal development time resulting in a "two-stop" greater
build-up of density on the negative.

How B&W negative film works: To put the above paragraph into any meaningful context one needs to understand
how B&W film responds to exposure and development. During exposure silver halide crystals absorb light and
altered. The more light hitting an area of the negative, the greater the number of crystals which are altered and able to
be chemically changed to metallic silver by the developing agent. After development a "fixer" solution dissolves away
all the undeveloped silver halides leaving only the exposed and developed areas, now converted to metalic silver.
During development the shadow areas develop completely very quickly because so few silver halide crystals are
exposed, but the developer acts progressively on the highlights converting progressively more silver halides to
metallic silver, increasing the density in the highlight areas of the negative in proportion to the development time. The
longer the development the greater the highlight densities become while the shadow densities change only slightly.

Regardless of whether the range of scene luminance is 8-,9-,10-,11-, or 12-f/stops the goal of the Adams' zone system
practitioner when developing the negative is always the same; to match the density range of the negative to the fixed
range of the #2 paper (approx. 10-stops). By shooting scenes with those ranges and trying different development
times until the one which fits the #2 paper is found, the zone practitioner develops a list of negative development times
for each range. For example if the development time for a "normal" 10-stop scene is 7 minutes, then a 9-stop scene
luminance range might need 8 minutes and a 11-stop range 6 minutes. Once those times for a particular film and
developer combination are determined with testing they would remain the same as long as that combination was used
by the photographer.

So in the example above, sunny vs overhead day, an Adams' zone system practitioner using B&W film would have
exposed both scenes the same way based on the textured shadow value, but developed the negative from the sunny
day less than normal, and the one for the overcast day more than normal. The two negatives would wind up both
having an indentical density ranges which would in turn produce nearly identical prints on the #2 print paper, with the
same rendering of solid black card , a textured black sweater, a gray card, a white towel and a chome bumper. Please
note that photo shot on the overcast day would not look like it was shot on a overcast day because the photographer
when measuring its range and choosing the development made the artistic decision to render the scene it not as the
eye saw it or the camera recorded in the flat overcast light it but as the photographer pre-visualized it in his mind's
eye.

Pre-visualization, as Adams defined it, is the ability to manipulate what the eye sees and the camera records into a
print reproduction which conveys what the what the artist felt when looking at the scene. The zone system artisan, by
controlling the recording medium, can choose to record an overcast scene accurately in the technical sense of
reproducing what the eye sees and the camera records or apply artistic vision and make an overcast day appear as if
sun lit as illustrated above.

Hopefully by now it is clearly understood the ten "zones" in the Adams' zone system refer to target tonal values in the
print, not f/stops measured in the scene, and a -2 stop adjustment refers not to a 2-stop difference in scene illumination
but rather as reference to the reduction in negative development time needed to compress a 12-stop range of scene
luminance to fit the fixed range of the #2 grade printing paper.

The source of the confusion: Confusion regarding zones and f/stops isn't a new thing. It stems mainly from the fact
that Adams divided the tonal values on a print into ten zones, an "average" sunlit scene measure 10-stops, and the
development time needed to reproduce a 10-stop luminance range #2 grade print paper is the benchmark the "plus"
and "minus" scene corrections are measured from. Digital photographers who have not personally experienced the
B&W negative development and printing process or actually read Adam's books may never grasp the fact that the
manipulation of the negative is the key factor, and "minus 2" refers to negative development time not a 2-stop shift in
exposure.

Adams also complicated what is simply a variation the technical process exposure and development with a bunch of
artistic mumbo-jumbo about shifting zones relative to zone V. For a guy who hated incident metering and averaging
of reflected exposure he sure was enamored with the mid-point. Some accused him of bullying Kodak into make 18%
gray the standard for its cards when 12% is actually a more accurate value.

The B&W development and printing process offers very little independent control of the mid-tone values. There is
some compression of tonality on the tone and shoulders of the film and paper response curves which can be used to
manipulate tonal separation within the extreme shadows and highlights, but the mid-tones fall on the straight line
portion of the response curve and pretty much go where the development for the highlights take them. I first realized
this when became an expert at shooting halftones, a process which can manipulate the mid-tone independently from
the end points like the middle slider in Photoshop Levels.

The blame for the confusion falls squarely on Adams and his editors. I don't think Adams himself saw the big picture of
how the system really operated at the time he wrote the books and as a result some of his terminology is confusing. I
bought my "new revised (1964) edition" copies of Adams basic photo series books in 1970 while in college. In the
forward of "The Negative" the reader is told to substitute "luminance" for "brightness", "Density Value V" instead of
"Zone V" and "Print Value V" instead of "Zone V print value".

Want to learn Adams' system? Buy Adams' books and read them: Since first putting this article on line I was told
that later editions of his books revised some of the terminology and concepts and added an 11th zone to the tone
scale (O-X). Adams was both artist and meticulous and precise technician, and I owe much of my understanding of
photographic fundamentals and my appreciation of process control to him and his Basic Photo Series books. His
books are are still in print and quite reasonably priced at Walmart.com. I paid $4.76 for my copy of The Negative in
1970 and it still only costs about $15.

Variations abound: Nearly any systematic methodology for exposure and development will work in a way similar to
Adams' but only one can truly be called "The Zone System". There are dozens of interpretations and variations on
Adams zone system around. I created one myself because I couldn't afford a 4 x 5 sheet film camera and enlarger and
had to settle first for 35mm and later 645 medium format. Because negative development is tailored to the luminance
range of each scene I was forced shoot an entire roll of film to capture each scene. To make the process simpler and
cheaper on my 35mm equipment I simply shifted the constant and variables. Instead of a single #2 grade print paper
with variable negative development time I used a single consistent "normal" development time and variable contrast
paper. I used a color enlarger head and painstakingly plotted the range of scene ranges which could be rendered
with various yellow and magenta filtration. Once I knew the filtration needed to reproduce the various ranges of scene
luminance I'd pre-visualize, spot meter highlight and shadow detail to determine range and expose for shadow detail
as in Adams system, but instead of altering development time per the scene range I'd always develop the same and
then alter the enlarger filter pack to match the range of the variable contrast paper to the luminance range. Different
means to the same end; pre-visualization, control and predictability.

How Digital Differs From Adams' B&W Film System

Adams based his system around the constant of the #2 grade printing paper. In his book The Print he teaches the
importance of exposing and developing the print consistently so the clearest area of the negative creates the darkest
black tone possible with the minimum amount of exposure. Consistent print making technique is critical to the overall
success of the entire process because it allows the response curves of negative and print to align properly and
produce a predictable linear response to exposure and development.

In today's realm of digital image capture the method of output varies greatly. There is no "standard print" to base a
digital zone system upon, nor any intermediate step like the negative which can be used to compress an extreme
range of scene luminance. The new "constant" is the dynamic range of the sensor. I use "constant" in quotes
because the range of scene luminance a camera can record with detail is only truly constant for a particular make and
model of camera.

In a perfect world a digital sensor would be able to capture any range of luminance a photographer is likely to
encounter. Digital camera dynamic ranges have gradually increased to the point were they exceed or match reversal
and color negative films, but it will likely be some time before they will match range of a B&W negative, at least with a
single exposure. The fact a digital camera can reproduce an certain f-stop range on a backlit transmission gray scale,
while useful for comparison of one camera's capabilities to another, does not provide any truly useful information to
the photographer. What is more meaningful to the photographer is how many stops of DETAIL in a scene can actually
be seen on a monitor or print the camera produces as a result of real world shooting.

Test like Adams did: A more useful evaluation of a camera's range is done the same way Adams' calibrated his
system; systematic testing: First get a 1-degree spot meter like a Sekonic L-558. Without a spot meter its simply not
practical to use Adams' pre-visualization approach with digital. Pre-visualization requires precise measurement of
small tonal areas in a scene to determine its range. Next find an outdoor scene with at least a 10-stop range of
reflectance from specular highlights or a piece of photo paper to deep dark shadows. Put a familiar face in your test
shots because accurate skin tones are as important as highlight and shadow detail and an 18% gray card just for the
heck of it.

Throw in the towel: A white terry towel is ideal as a standard reference for the vital textured highlight which is Zone 8
in the version of Adams system I learned... "Whites with textures and delicate values (not blank whites). Snow in
shade. Highlights on Caucasian skin." Digital image capture has little tolerance for overexposure. If a smooth white
card is used as a visual reference for exposure there will be no visual clue how much it is overexposed. However by
examining the texture of the towel in a digital image is quite easy to see when overexposure threatens to ability to
capture subtle highlight detail. That's why I recommend, "throwing in the towel" to get a digital exposure right.
Bunching up the towel a bit so it has some gradation of near-white tones will make the evaluation of the textured
highlight easier. Get that right and everything else will fall into place to the extent the camera sensor can record the
shadow detail. So from this point on the towel or a similar textured highlight in the scene will be used as the
measurement point for exposure.

Moving the metering reference point: Since it is the highlight detail which is the benchmark for correct digital
exposure it makes little sense to meter based on a 18% gray value. But since meters are calibrated to display
exposure based on the assumption a scene is the average of light and dark it is necessary to translate the meter
reading from the middle of the range to textured highlights. It's erroneous to think the meter reads Zone 5 and its
simply a matter reading the towel and adding 3 stops to get the reading for correctly reproducing the towel as Zone 8
on the print. If you still think that you still don't get it. ZONES ARE NOT F- STOPS!!! It will be far less confusing if you
forget you ever heard of the zone system and instead think in terms of brightest and darkest tone with detail: DS and
DH

In digital pre-visualization system the white towel becomes the benchmark DH and exposure in all subsequent test
shots. Determining the camera exposure based on a spot reading of textured highlight require altering the ISO setting
of the meter as follows:

1) Meter an 18% gray card with the spot meter

2) Meter the white towel
3) Adjust meter ISO until the towel reads the same f-stop as the gray card.

It's the same exposure either way, simply a more practical reference point for making the reading with a spot meter.
The ISO shift simply eliminates the need for mental gymnastics when taking readings off the white towel.

If you don't have a gray card just spot meter the towel, shoot a set of bracketed shots with your camera, then adjust the
ISO of the meter (not the camera) until the meter reads the same f/stop and shutter speed as the file containing the
best rendering of the towel on your monitor and a print of the file. If your meter has two ISO buttons (e.g. Sekonic) use
ISO 1 for normal readings and adjust ISO 2 the white towel for reflected spot readings. DO NOT CHANGE THE ISO
SPEED OF THE CAMERA

Note for neophytes: One should always use M mode on the camera when using a
hand-held spot meter. Also since your camera uses 1/3 stop increments for shutter
speeds and aperture settings its simpler if you set your meter to read the same way.

Fine tuning the meter compensation: In your outdoor scene with a large range of tones from specular highlights to
deep dark voids and familiar face have the person hold the towel next to their face. Take a spot reading off the towel
and then shoot a bracketed series of exposures in M mode above and below that reading in 1/3 stop increments. The
series of bracketed test shots should be opened in Photoshop with the workflow normally used and displayed on a
calibrated monitor. The files should be examined visually to identify the file in which the detail of the towel and skin
tone are reproduced most accurately.

The meter reading and the actual exposure producing the best file may differ. If that is the case adjust the ISO until a
meter reading on the towel matches the exposure settings used to produce a nominally expose file. When that is done
the meter will be calibrated to the camera and can be used with confidence that the readings off the towel will produce
a well exposed file. Once the file with the best nominal exposure is determined based on the appearance of the towel
on the PC monitor it is possible to go back to the camera, look at both the histogram and the LCD playback for that
same file and visualize what a correctly exposed image should look like on both.

Determining the dynamic range of the camera - the real life version: In practical terms the useful dynamic range of
the camera is what can actually be seen by the viewer. A test shot of a transmission gray scale in a camera review
may show a 10 stop range, but only 7 may be discerned on a monitor screen and 6 on a print. Remember it is texture
and detail not solid black and white which is the key to judging dynamic range. Once the meter is calibrated accurately
to the towel target as described above it will be possible to determine the dynamic range of the camera in terms of the
detail visible in the shadows on the monitor and printers. It will likely vary somewhat from device-to-device.

Using the spot meter scan the scene and write down the readings of each different tonal area. The simplest way to do
this is shoot and print a photo of the scene on plain bond paper in advance so the readings can be marked on the print
where they are taken. Once the spot metered "map" is completed shoot a photo using the meter reading from the
towel. If you did the meter compensation test correctly the exposure should be spot on.

Determine the range you can actually see: Once the file with optimal exposure is determined it should be displayed
and printed with the normal workflow. Looking at the shadows and finding the darkest area where detail is still visible,
then referring back to the exposure reading notes will reveal the useful range in f/stop. The evaluation should be
done separately on the monitor and each printer used as the range of detail visible will vary from device-to-device. If
one device shows a shorter range than others use the shortest one for you baseline. It not a contest for who has the
biggest one....

Look at the image on the screen or prints and check that the detail in the white towel is reproduced correctly. Next
identify the darkest tone in the photo which has visible detail. Refer back to the map of readings and compute the
difference in stops between it and the towel. Once the true range the camera can reproduce on screen and prints is
known it is possible to pre-visualize the appearance of tone and detail in luminance values when taking the meer
readings.

Pre-visualization of the Digital Image

Overcoming the limitations of the sensor: If one wants to take the trouble to hand meter a scene with a spot meter
and carry a tripod it is possible to overcome the limitations of the fixed dynamic range of a digital camera by taking two
or more bracket exposures of the same static scene on a tripod and then blending them together in Photoshop.
Determining the true dynamic range of the camera for both screen and print as described above is the first necessary
step in the process. If one knows that the camera they are using can faithfully reproduce 6 f/stops between the white
towel target (textured white - Print Value 8 highlight) and the point where the darkest detail is preserved (textured
black - Print Value 1) then by taking a spot reading of the textured white it is possible to determine by scanning the
shadows with the meter where the shadow detail will be lost in a single exposure. It is also possible to determine
quantitatively how many f/stops below the shadow detail threshold in the scene each darker tone is.

For example, a photographer who knows from testing his camera has a 7 stop visible range from textured white to
textured black meters a still life scene and finds that a black sweater sitting in a shadow has a reading 10 stops lower
than a white sweater in the direct sunlight; not an atypical natural light scenario. Cognizant of the 3 stop deficit in
needed dynamic range he puts the camera on a tripod and makes two shots. The first one is identical to what he'd
normally shoot, exposed based on a spot reading of the white sweater. From testing and careful calibration he knows
the exposure will but the white sweater just below the point where detail would be lost, while ensuring the maximum
amount of light reaches the sensor. Then knowing that the detail he wants in the black sweater lies 3 stops beyond
what the first exposure could record he slows the shutter by the equivalent of 3 stops and makes a second exposure. It
blows out the highlights, but has the desired shadow detail in the black sweater. No trial, no error.

Both images are opened in Photoshop and the second shadow exposure is copied and pasted into a layer above the
normal exposure in the first file. Alignment is checked and corrected if necessary (why this needs to be done on a
tripod) then a black mask is then added to the upper shadow layer. A black mask in Photoshop hides the layer it is
applied to. The photographer then selects the eraser tool, makes it as soft as possible and a size that is easy to
control, sets the flow to about 10% and erases in the edit window over the black sweater which is totally devoid of
detail in the first shot. As the mask on the shadow exposure layer is erased its detail is revealed on top of the normal
exposure. After the detail is added to the degree desired the layers are flattened.

For a subject like a landscape with a straight demarkation between highlight and shadow detail it is possible to use a
gradient mask instead of opening selectively with the eraser. The utility of the mask vs simply erasing the shadow
layer is that the mask can be added or subtracted to with a black brush and eraser, respectively. Thus its possible to
apply an overall gradient to lighten the foreground of a landscape with a "normal" sky layer, then go back and adjust
the mask at the border were sky meets land with the eraser and brush tools.

Faking it with RAW

When a single RAW exposure is made it is possible to pull some additional detail out of the darkest shadows via
curves adjustments in the RAW editor. The same DP&B technique described above can be used by first saving a
copy of the file adjusted for optimal highlight detail, then opening up the shadows and saving a second shadow detail
copy.

Photoshop can do things that Adams' Zone B&W system can't

Altering development time of a B&W negative allows it to print a wide range of scene luminance ranges on the fixed
range of a #2 paper. When the highlight density is of the negative altered all the tones in the middle come along for the
ride. There is no way to alter the contrast in the middle of the tone scale. Photoshop has tonal manipulation magic
which B&W lacks, the ability to alter the contrast in the middle of the tonal range independently of the black and white
end points via LEVELS and CURVES.

Why is mid-tone adjustment significant in digital photography?

The inherent nature of the capture process often results in a digital image which appears to have less contrast than
when the scene was viewed by eye. Because the dynamic range of a given camera is fixed it is not possible to
expand the overall range of the capture (i.e. add more shadow detail to the captured image) but by shifting the tonal
value of the midtones closer to either the highlights or shadows it is possible to create more or less apparent contrast
and with it an illusion of more detail. For example if one takes a flat looking image, opens it in levels and does nothing
more than nudge the middle sider towards the right side (highlight end) of the tonal scale the image will appear to
have more contrast and detail. There is no actual increase in resolution, but eye is fooling into thinking there is
because our brains equate darker shadow transitions with dimension and detail.

Other manipulation tools in Photoshop

One of the more challenging aspects of mastering Photoshop is the fact that the same desired result can be
accomplished several different ways. One of the more powerful tonal manipulation tools is the ability to duplicate an
image and then apply a function to the duplicate layer which will proportionally lighten or darken the image. Duping
the background layer of a file and then changing the mode of the dupe layer from "normal" to "screen" will lighten the
image progressively making each tonal value in the original twice as bright. "Hard light" and "Soft Light" modes will
alter the contrast.

Duping the background layer of a file and then changing the mode of the dupe layer from "normal" to "multiply" will
darken the image progressively making each tonal value in the original twice as dark. Adding a mask to the dupe
layer allows the screen or multiply effect to be added selectively to only parts of an image, such as darkening the
edges of a low-key background with a masked multiply layer to add emphasis to the brighter center, or making the eye
sockets of the face in the center a bit brighter and more attention grabbing via a masked screen layer. This precision
tonal editing is analogous to the dodge and burn techniques Adams and others used when making their prints. There
are also dodge and burn tools in Photoshop but they work by simply adding or subtracting a black component form the
edited area which works fine on a B&W image but results in dull gray skin tone on a color photo.
 A complete description of the level modification modes and masking techniques can be found in the Photoshop help
files, which also contain a wealth of valuable information on color management and other reproduction factors.

Chuck Gardner
cgardner@nova,org

revised 9/3/2006