Image Management

There is nothing worse than beginning to print only to discover that the tripod was placed in the wrong position or that the camera was aimed improperly. This has NOTHING to do with technique. It has to do with VISION. The negative MUST include everything that will be needed for the final print.

Discussed by Ansel Adams in The Camera (either edition), the most useful photographic tool I have is a small card with a hole in it. I have one each with a square hole, a "Minox" hole, and one with a 35mm or 6x9 hole.

Another AA contribution, an indispensable tool for locating tonal relationships and mergers, is the Kodak Wratten gelatin filter No. 90, The 50mm x 50mm size is CAT 149 4871.

Combining the two makes a simple and effective tool for evaluating scenes in B&W photography. Commercial versions, from Zone VI Studios, are available from Calumet Photographic. Use "zone vi viewing filter" as Product Keywords in the product search.

Four days with Stuart Scofield's Mono Basin Photographics workshop last year in Death Valley, and a recent week in the White Mountains of Californian with Stuart and Jenny Newton, have completely rearranged my approach to

 

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