http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog daily 0.75 2025-07-06 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2025/4/29/a-case-for-graph-literacy-properly-comparing-sdr-and-hdr-waveforms monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/25ed1de6-3f6d-443d-aeec-4ed46e5598d4/HDR+and+SDR+side+by+side.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The HDR waveform is on the left, the SDR waveform is on the right. This is how the two are displayed in the ASC video. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4cfb6aaf-b2e6-4c3d-820d-b7ca13b67e56/HDR+and+SDR+scaled.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The SDR graph on the right has been compressed so that its maximum and minimum code values match 100 and 0 cd·m^-2 from the HDR scale on the far left. However, this is still not an appropriate comparison because the SDR y-axis scale is still linear and not logarithmic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/5affd499-550a-44db-9621-4536104ae452/HDR+Waveform+with+labels.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The HDR waveform. Notice that the labeled identification in the video conflicts with the readings on the y-axis. The window is at 225 cd·m^-2 whereas the wall is at 2 cd·m^-2. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4ebcf7ef-7b78-4258-8663-2a703bbf489f/HDR+waveform+marked+in+stops.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The scale of luminance in this waveform is displayed using a logarithmic scale - specifically a base-10 log scale. On the left I marked changes in luminance by a factor of two, a ‘stop’, from 1,000 cd·m^-2 to 1 cd·m^-2. Notice that the steps are not equal, a base-2 log scale would make every ‘stop’ an equal step on the graph. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/5e987696-c5bb-412b-b338-df3ef3a08865/Grayscale+reference.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out With a monitor calibrated so that the maximum code value produces 100 cd·m^-2, I adjusted the code values in Photoshop until my monitor meter read 15 cd·m^-2. This luminance is close to middle gray! Out of curiosity I set the normalized code value to 0.15 and read the luminance from the screen. Notice that even a high quality monitor will never be truly black, in my case it read 0.2 cd·m^-2 with a code value of 0. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/9c0257c1-b328-42f9-9f5e-873e298d4849/SDR+waveform+with+labels.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The SDR waveform. Rather than using the obsolete unit IRE, I identified the numbers in 10-bit code values (CV_10-bit) and normalized code values (CV_N). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/f94d1dca-1b74-46c1-ab34-46f02c5c3c55/Normalized+CV+Formula.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The formula for normalized code values (CV_N). Simply divide the measured code value (CV_M) by the total bit-depth (CV_Bit-depth). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/42cd6cf8-bf6f-43ca-97ee-a51aea5f9c0c/HDR+and+SDR+scaled+log.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out Now, the SDR waveform has been (by dint of force) stretched to a base-10 log scale. Notice how similar the two outputs actually are except for the location of the window luminance, which is 1.4 stops brighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c3e7e7c3-578b-4e30-bd77-f50714d1d7e3/Difference+in+stops+formula.jpg Writings - A Case for Graph Literacy: Properly Comparing SDR and HDR Waveforms - Make it stand out The difference in stops can be calculated by taking the log of two different luminance values divided by log(2). L_1 is the higher luminance and L_2 the lower luminance. This formula is extremely useful - so memorize it! http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2025/4/20/roygbiv-is-now-roygobiv-the-ontological-status-of-olo-a-novel-color monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/747decd8-2c9c-4195-a939-ef662c71a632/Grue+2.jpg Writings - “How do you Grue?!” - The Ontological Status of the novel color 'Olo' - Make it stand out My copy of D. Stalker’s (ed.) Grue: The New Riddle of Induction. I cannot confirm nor deny the occurrence or non-occurrence of my blurting “Hello! How do you grue?!?” when I saw this on the shelf at the Strand bookstore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/e794e45a-8b84-4ef4-be8d-53d59232fe04/Berlin+Kay.png Writings - “How do you Grue?!” - The Ontological Status of the novel color 'Olo' - Make it stand out The temporal-evolutionary ordering of color terms as proposed by Berlin & Kay (1969/1999, p. 4, §1). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/a10f12c0-144f-4b0b-aaf2-290649550bcf/3_9+Cone+Sensitivity.jpg Writings - “How do you Grue?!” - The Ontological Status of the novel color 'Olo' - Make it stand out The spectral sensitivity of the three cone types in the human eye. Notice the broad overlap between M and L cones compared to the relative isolation of the S cone. Good luck trying to locate wavelengths where only a single cone is active! The parsing of the visible spectrum by the three cones is very different than the choice of color filters used in the photographic arts, which default to equitable divisions of the spectrum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/8cd84c83-ee05-4674-bdc5-2b4e73ac43a3/Maxwell+Triangle+for+Website.jpg Writings - “How do you Grue?!” - The Ontological Status of the novel color 'Olo' - Make it stand out Left) Four color mixtures matched and plotted using J.C. Maxwell’s methods. Since Maxwell’s triangle is a chromaticity diagram (graphing hue and saturation only), the addition of black to the central color can be ignored. However, notice that the addition of white is necessary to desaturate the yellow paper being matched - it is an ‘out-of-gamut’ color. However, the degree of desaturation can be inverted to find its location outside the triangle. The determination of ‘olo’ outside of the normal human gamut follows the same principle. Right) An industrious student attempting to find an achromatic mixture of RGB color papers. Obviously, the rolling shutter of a cellphone does little justice to the superposed mixture of colors on the wheel. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2022/2/23/reports-of-zone-systems-death-are-greatly-exaggerated monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/0291385b-6386-4528-b75a-93d048212b05/Hierarchy.jpg Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 3.1 - Sensitometry is the foundation for understanding the behavior of photographic materials - especially in regards to tone reproduction. This science is largely stable and changes little over time. Zone System operates as an intermediary, allowing us to apply sensitometric principles to the photographic medium using our visual system as the conduit. Finally, above these are the ever changing photographic materials and tools of the art and craft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/dad6fa10-b2e8-44b2-830d-1646c41389f9/Photo+Sensitometry+Backcover.jpg Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 4.3 - The marketing department certainly got involved with writing the back cover information for the book Photographic Sensitometry. These are true statements, but a more nuanced view is depicted inside the text. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/ac2a1ad9-08a9-4bc3-92ac-24dcdb115f19/Tri-X+400+and+320.jpg Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 4.4 - On the left the curves for Tri-X 35mm and 120 are overlaid. Notice that they are identical because both use the same emulsion formula. On the right is the curve for Tri-X sheet film, which is a different emulsion formula. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/32110c0a-0fe6-4869-8568-d32c3910aa83/Meter+Exposure+Calculations.jpg Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 3.2 - A visual explanation of how illuminance (in footcandles) and luminance (in candelas per feet squared) are transformed into camera settings. The ISO made the thoughtful recommendation to equate incident readings to reflective readings from a graycard. I chose these numbers from the 100:100:2.8 rule in cinematography - that 100 footcandles, at 100 ISO is correctly exposed at f/2.8. (Assuming 24fps and a 180 degree shutter!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4d8c8ba9-3345-420e-a9c8-d45147fccdec/ISO+6+curve.png Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 4.1 - ISO 6:1993 - Determining film speed for black and white negative film. Film speed is calculated from point Hm. Where m is located on the curve is the location of the lowest amount of shadow detail from a subject. This point coincides with Zone II in the Zone System. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/aaf04fd3-56a2-4c4a-bfdc-147937f0c31d/Latitude+Diagrams.jpg Writings - Reports of Zone System's Death are Greatly Exaggerated - Make it stand out Diagram 4.2 - This illustration is from Basic Photographic Materials and Processes, 1st Edition. Graph A shows the conventional method of placing subject tonality near the lower part of the curve. This provides excellent tonal rendering with little grain. Graph B is another possibility, but would make grain more pronounced. Graph C shows a third possibility splitting the difference. Notice that film has upper and lower limits. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2021/7/7/how-zone-system-works-zone-system-calibration monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4f50baa2-5367-4675-86ed-a832ccae66c5/EFS2+APX400+copy.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 4.2 - The underexposed graycards is these prints are indistinguishable from black. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/3917d9de-4eec-43b9-8c3e-b017c7de2f0f/APX400+14_5minutes-Recovered+copy.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 5.3 - The scene from my second roll of film developed at 14:30 minutes. Notice the slightly lower contrast and the retention of highlight details in the aluminum foil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/f247669c-69bf-4dc1-8a4c-f46a7bf811ef/Comparison+of+DT.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 5.5 - Here is a line-up of the critical area of the scene at the three development times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/14446f6e-11bd-4f29-b880-61bb956a9cfd/EFS+Negatives.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 2.1 - Many apologies for just a cellphone photo, but you can still understand the example well enough! The graycards photographed on this roll started at two stops underexposed down and proceeded to four stops underexposed in half-stop increments. Notice my deliberate exposure with a lens cap on and this frame noted on the sleeve. The yellow stain of PMK Pyro developer is very apparent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/9b75cdee-f4fb-4863-8f15-b46eb8ce9017/APX400+12_75minutes+copy.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 5.4 - The third roll of film developed for 12:45 minutes. Judging from the actual scene I felt this to be the best representation of tonality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/6463d96d-e2e3-41a0-965e-714cf56560ce/EFS+APX400+copy.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 4.1 - I printed across two frames because it is a more efficient use of materials, and provides a black reference in the unexposed section between. The underexposed graycards in the print on the left light enough to be considered Zone II. However, the print on the right shows underexposed graycards just above black, on Zone 0. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/0f79e6e9-fcf8-4bc2-9bb9-d42f0cf90d6f/APX400+16min+Negatives.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 5.1 - The reason for over and underexposing the scene in half stop increments was to ensure a printable negative if for some reason my EFS was off. This way I could select a different exposure level to print and recalibrate my EFS. I printed the overexposed graycards in a manner similar to the EFS test. However, this time I wanted to see if Zone IX was a slightly lower tone than the white of the paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/860f3a68-721a-4a38-9b95-9fa9db5f7942/Teapot+scene.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 1.0 - The scene above is composed of teaware that contain areas that spotmeter as whole stop differences. It also includes some standard charts; a graycard, the Kodak Q-14, and the X-Rite Colorchecker. Below is the key indicating which areas of the teaware are in each Zone. I particularly like the porcelain dish in Zone IX because it contains a relief that will not render correctly unless your system is optimized. I have only used this scene in current times testing digital cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/637acc1c-3ef9-464f-a98a-2b51293fb9c5/SPT+APX400+copy.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 3.1 - A scan of the SPT test strip is a pale imitation of the real thing. I hope on your monitor that you can see the slight difference between 12 and 18 seconds. I could not distinguish changes in tonality from 18 seconds onward. This strip established my Standard Printing Time as 18 seconds for APX 400 printed to Oriental Seagull GFII in Ansco 130 developer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/0f4f3918-8071-47b2-a564-80a4a175cf46/APX400+16minutes.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: Zone System Calibration - Make it stand out Image 5.2 - The first print of my ‘scene’ at EI 125 and a Development Time of 16 minutes. Notice that I scanned this print with a graycard covering the top. I think this helps the reader make their own judgment with a reference in the same screen. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2020/3/20/how-zone-system-works-a-conceptual-and-technical-sketch-part-ii monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/2a9142b2-355d-4041-8c12-c9b6180f5f0c/Metering+Thermilvden+Low+Con.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 5.4 - In this situation the subject’s white fur is only metering two stops above middle gray and the black fur is only two stops under. The cat looks low in contrast and we want to place the white fur back into Zone VIII and the black fur into Zone II. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584490278463-T3RF5O76136ULK350EBP/Tone+Reproduction+Final.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II The previous article addressed the beginning and end of this chain. This article focuses on Processing, the middle block. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4967475a-bc98-4192-b017-3f1ae657d0cb/Gamma+of+2_2.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 6.1 - On the left is a gamma of 2.2, the conventional gamma for sRGB and Rec709. The x-axis are 8-bit code values and the y-axis is the luminance of the monitor if calibrated properly. On the right is the same data, but with a logarithmic y-axis scale. Each step on this scale is a whole stop change in luminance. Notice the emergence of the S-shaped curve as well as the steepness of the curve. Notice that currently the sRGB and Rec709 standard only displays around 8 stops of dynamic range. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1585184005138-MMTW0JGFOLKIIHEQPS3T/Analog+Transfertif.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II Diagram 4.2 - Follow this graphic from Input in the lower left clockwise through to the Output. One can understand for film / print materials how the light from the scene is recorded as density on the developed negative. Then, light is transmitted through the negative to expose and develop a print. Provided a system is well calibrated by Zone System techniques the photographer can have excellent control over how the tones from the scene are rendered in the final print. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c46cd22d-f146-4e71-a83e-ac3bffaea026/Digital+Curves+in+Photoshop.png Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 6.3 - Here is a screenshot from adjustments to the same image in a photo editing software. While the curve tool is inspired by the sensitometry characteristic curve, it doesn’t actually map the tonal rendering of the image. Instead, it just provides a straight line tool for further adjustment to whatever data is there. Here I applied a ‘medium contrast’ curve and then proceeded to nudge the midtones higher. If this image was analog I would have developed the negative for the same desired contrast. Next, I would have dodged up midtone areas in the image. So in the computer you are using the curve or wheel tools as both your ‘developing’ and ‘dodging & burning.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1585148399794-5T2C34STY64WTP7S2WQV/Sensitometry+graphs.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II Diagram 4.1 - At top is a generic sensitometry diagram labeled with key terms. Both analog and digital share the same x-axis scale. However, the y-axis is different since film records the image as density, and digital records in terms of code values. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/d41e74f4-f614-4357-96bd-d586b7259ea8/Pull+Development+Cat.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 5.3 - This is the transfer quadrant for a scene that is too contrasty. The cat’s white fur which we want in Zone VIII is in Zone IX and the black fur which should be in Zone II is in Zone I. Pull Processing (sometimes called Contraction Development) of the film places all the tones back into their proper location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1628556776534-YDCYRUWZIJ1PIZXOYT68/Chain+and+Backward.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 4.0 - We learn photography as a process from scene to print. However, the science of sensitometry looks backwards through each link in the chain in order to understand tonal rendering at each subsequent step in the process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/6186accf-4d0b-45f3-9d51-e1ce7102b5f2/Metering+Thermilvden+Contrasty.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 5.2 - These are possible spot metered values for a high contrast object. Notice that the white and black fur that we want rendered with detail are four stops over and four stops underexposed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1585312730281-684HHT09LXDICY8F4RKZ/TriX+Tmax+Curves.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II Diagram 5.1 - The sensitometry curves from Tri-X in T-max developer. Notice that as the development time increases the curves become increasingly steeper. From Kodak Technical Publication F-4017, February 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/55b71715-6a62-4e0c-813b-c41ac3213d63/Digital+Quadrant.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 6.2 - Notice that this is very similar to the analog tone transfer diagram but with a few alterations. The image is captured in a file format that is then corrected in a computer. For this example I selected a RAW capture that has its metadata and a curve applied in the computer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/dc7f4d70-ac89-453e-b90f-6fdb838f2544/Push+Development+Cat.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 5.5 - This is the transfer quadrant for a scene that is low contrast. The cat’s white fur which we want in Zone VIII is in Zone VII and the black fur which should be in Zone II is in Zone III. Push Processing (sometimes called Expansion Development) the film places all the tones back into their proper location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/f3afd43e-84cf-428c-b97e-19e3a31215a1/Speed+Point+Illustration.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch part II - Make it stand out Diagram 5.6 - This is idealized to illustrate basic concepts. For a real world diagram just look at 5.1 above with the different development curves for Tri-X. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2019/7/8/how-zone-system-works-a-conceptual-and-technical-sketch-part-i monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584541872890-9H04T37WIJG8AQXTENOY/Barrier05.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584490582839-NEQP31O4SOKG2VJQL7SZ/My+Subject.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 2.1 - My father, who first taught me film photography and darkroom printing, loves black and white cats as an example of a difficult photographic object to render tonally. I doubt our photographer friend above would really take this photo as an expression of his artistic creativity, especially since it includes a graycard and a Zone System visualization strip. Nonetheless, these technical items needed to be in the photo for important data later in the article. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584541508789-5CA0VDMYLW0JZS3O7A6J/Barrier+02.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1585146420273-VB0ZJBEHZRGXWETYR1UD/Previsualization.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584715553833-R0TFCO46HIMYEZOB4HIW/Absolute+Sketch.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.1 - You have probably experienced how straining on the eyes it is to look at bright computer screens in indoor settings as well as how blinding snow is in sunlight. Imagine a monitor so powerful as to output the intensity of the sun into your house! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584715867926-R9B6HCS7OIF2VPUEG3TU/Relative+Sketch.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.2 - Despite the limited range of photographic materials, they still contain enough range to satisfy our visual system. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584634428645-9KIK4AQBYMO5CQETNDMA/DR+from+The+Negative.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.4 - From Ansel Adam’s The Negative. Notice the tendency to ignore Zones 0 and X since they are beyond the tonal values of interest to us. The Dynamic Range covers 9 stops and the range of objects with texture (or detail as I like to say) is 7 stops. (Adams 1981, 52) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584633120371-FABBVZK9IA0PAMWNY2T3/Absolute+to+Relative+Cat.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.3 - When taking the photo of the cat I took luminance readings (candelas/meters squared) with my light meter. I rounded the numbers slightly, but nonetheless one can see how the white fur is 8 times greater than the graycard (a difference of 3 stops), and the black fur is 8 times darker than the graycard. After adjusting the image in Photoshop by eye I metered the luminance values emitted from my computer screen. Once again, you can see that the white fur and black fur are 8 times, or 3 stops, above and below the graycard respectively. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584715233374-H908C6Q4QLV2MARE0SVE/Scene+Luminance+Range.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.5 - From a study by Jones and Condit investigating the luminance ratio of 126 photographs taken outdoors (James 1977, 549). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584541716477-P5GEJGJS5L4P5LBYEH9T/Barrier+3+and+4.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584542016786-5S8ID1TTM413YCLUAC9R/image-asset.jpeg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584490888008-BBB538Z6RFNN1D0HW8OQ/Hi+Con+Lo+Con+Cat.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 2.2 - I make a point with my students that taking a photograph merely means pushing the shutter button and just merely throwing on a pre-built Instagram filter or leaving “auto” modes on. On the other hand, making an image means previsualizing an image, engaging your visual memory, and critical assessments of the image quality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584633827910-2V7XZSIFJYNFVC9AL7GU/DR+and+Scene+Scale.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 3.6 - The scene we observe with our eyes is only about 9 to 10 stops and 7 to 8 of those stops carry detail of the objects. A camera sensor may as much as a 16 stop Dynamic Range. We can choose where to expose our scene within the limits of the sensor, but obviously if we stray beyond these limits than information is lost. Also, choosing to place our scene close to either end of the sensor’s DR has impacts on image quality whether in terms of increased noise, or lost tonal detail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584490278463-T3RF5O76136ULK350EBP/Tone+Reproduction+Final.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I Diagram 2.0 - Although illustrated for analog photography these three steps are equally applicable to digital with Processing done in a computer and the Final Image seen on a computer monitor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1584541365908-GZNUGUYV3M84X32FI0AC/Barrier+01.jpg Writings - How Zone System Works: A Conceptual and Technical Sketch Part I http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2019/1/20/exposure-concepts-for-cinematography monthly 0.5 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548018720144-I0RMPMFEA9Q2CXDGMBAV/ISO+Scale.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography Numbers at top are whole stops and lower numbers in green ink are one-third stops https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548019401092-Y4134UXSVXQOUCB9X870/Shutter+Angle.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548016393521-P043W1O4KRC5DS5F48O3/Log+Curve.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography A simple log curve. Consider the x-axis as quantity of light (footcandles, for instance) and the y-axis as the response by the human visual system. You can see how in low light situations there is a dramatic response to light, but as the light intensity increases our system clamps down on the signal so as not to be overwhelmed by information. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548018267158-56ZLHMM0394C83CC8V8G/Inverse+Square+Law.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548017993491-WPXJ92AEFSNEKXEI1OYY/image-asset.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548017044514-D2YIVAZPA0J57AMGXBAS/Log+Exp+Linear.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1548018565793-7SMU8YK6H9JYM09HLIEB/Fstop+scale.png Writings - Exposure Concepts for Cinematography Numbers at top are whole stops, middle numbers in blue ink are half stops, and lower numbers in green are one-third stops http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2018/1/21/tea-developed-black-and-white-film-part-i monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516584859408-JGQO1MSALF6JW9MHS5ZT/21st+January+2018.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516572213996-KGYSJ819Y3GV3QBP0U18/Tea+Negatives+1st+attempt.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) The first tea developed negatives shown on a light table. Notice the unusual orange-brown color of the base + fog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516570540297-AJIQ73CO5SYEU65Z1JA4/Print+in+the+Sun.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) A strip of the negatives flashed in direct sunlight. Once again you can see just the ghost image of the faces. This shows how much blue light was absorbed by the negatives and therefore never reached the print. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516571629539-4M032SJ994O5SUCDD7TB/Successful+Print.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) Finally, an image. Tea developed negative printed to color paper through a commercial machine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516584908006-5U8W2HA1Q9QAOFPGGK6G/Sketch.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516571882110-PXDSCVZL6OLCTVP4OB9T/Seagull+Spectral+Senstivity.png Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) Oriental Seagull Graded Paper spectral sensitivity graph. You can see how it is only sensitive to blues and some blue-greens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1516570396613-4YHFV6Y0R6NIF8O9LXVL/Print+Time.jpg Writings - Tea Developed Black & White Film (Part I) Step print to determine the standard printing time for the tea negatives. You can see the slightest image of a face in the lighter portions of the print. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2017/8/23/death-of-the-zone-system-part-vi monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503514798235-20E99C83QWDSOA7NBYUS/Jenkins+Rant.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) An example from photo.net of advice from someone who has already made up their mind and is unwilling to change it. His characterization of ZS and sensitometry makes me suspicious that he understands either. To claim sensitometry is important but ZS is not is like saying that all we need is Bernoulli's Principle, but not the joystick to fly the plane. The analogy to unsharp masking is irrelevant because this is the rhetorical trick of the strawman argument. The sign off to his post is more about his ego than an awareness that he is submitting advice to a community. I take this post as a warning that I must recognize the fact my ideas will have to change with evidence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503516598104-Q8CNI9NTZ901OKPSWI6C/Peaceful+Distance.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503939180152-QYS7QDAB4C0O8O2X715J/Fuji+500T+analysis+with+shift.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) The over and underexposure range is perfectly balanced if one overexposes the film by 2/3 to 1 stop. Originally I found this out through extensive testing of this film in one of my classes in 2010 when we all agreed that visually the film looked best overexposed a stop and printed to look normal. Only a year later I looked at this chart and realized our special discovery was actually just correctly rating the film at 250 ISO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503943833029-Y2DAMOTLR82LLAPHE6ZL/01+Analog.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) N.B. - This analog workflow chart is a first draft. I'm not entirely happy with it and will be showing it to colleagues for feedback. Nonetheless, I think it does show the simplicity of the system and also what I believe to be its biggest failing which is the drop in MTF from step to step. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503940001009-W4CRC8NE3FN1IP67IDL2/Arri+vs+Red+DR.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) (Left) Arri's chart to demonstrate how exposure latitude changes with EI adjustments. (Right) Red's first diagram of something similar three years later. Notice how much more intuitive to read and informative the Arri chart is in comparison to the Red chart which lacks any helpful information for use in the field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503944605522-R8YPQD2ZOHN8YMF211GF/01+Digital.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) Digital workflow is so convoluted and sprawling I really struggled to create this sketch. Any feedback is welcome. What I do find important to observe is how each output from the camera requires very different technical settings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1503938926863-F3LVL1BYLVBTNACDOVNB/Fuji+500T+analysis.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part VI) From Fuji Technical Publication KB-501E. I have put in marks for the minimum and maximum useful densities for printing to Kodak Vision Color Print 2383. Take a look at where these coordinates intersect the x-axis, which Fuji usefully marked out in camera stops. According to this diagram the film has more overexposure room than underexposure. Actually, any sensitometry expert would realize that Fuji is claiming a higher EI for their film then its actual ISO. (Yes, they can do this because only ISO testing and quantification is regulated whereas EI is just a published recommendation.) http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2017/8/12/death-of-the-zone-system-part-v monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502718940773-UIDOUKTTFQ60Q1VVZH8V/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) Here is a nice visual representation of the expansion and contraction of Zones that helps with visualization. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502570605861-C2EQUOJ19QLT9UGEM1L8/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) Using the limits of 2383 we can see where these intersect the sensitometric curve of 5219 under normal development (I'm using only the magenta-forming layer of the film). These limits can then provide useful information about the luminance range of a scene and therefore ZS info. Notice that this film holds exactly a subject luminance range of 7 2/3 of a stop (the 200:1 ratio from my previous posts!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502645472817-496G00X9QF3Q0ROX6FIZ/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) Kodak 5219 pulled one stop. Notice how the exposure range the negative transfer to the print is 9 stops. This data was extracted from a sensitometry test performed on 5219 during Fall 2015 semester of my Science of Cinematography class. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502645493030-X9K3Z6BBNV85ZMVU8Z2N/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502718836641-JJISTA3BBEAM3MSZD7AC/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502718770912-RYODRW9591SMCAS4V4NZ/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502643211392-B89XGK9J8GO98TO5YSON/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502568279453-6PS86JTYB2Y56B4E5KL3/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) Same chart but showing how the exposure range of the stock is very narrow - log 1.2 or 4 stops - when looking at the x-axis. However, this is spread out into quite a wide range of rich tones under projection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502638515212-0QTY1LZ4QQKXY4J73C8Y/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) From Lorenz, Zakia and White's famous New Zone System Manual (1976, 11). Notice the delightful statement at the bottom that ties together the photographic system and the mind of the photographer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502643641738-IUZD3AH40QE9B7BJYZ4P/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502718960939-A14WBFGKW9H76BOYWACW/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) The EI values were also calculated during 5219 stock tests during the Fall 2015 semester of Science of Cinematography. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502648255801-QB3X0DT40OMFZO7058AB/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502568128486-MXU05D4EFS8MB63X9TD5/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) Kodak Vision Color Print Film 2383 - A very steeply curved stock with a very high density in order to provide an image that extends outside the dynamic range of the adapted eye in the movie theater such that there is a rich black, brilliant white and rich midtone range. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502656312126-7EU6RG3GBJWNSHWZGR5I/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502648544003-EQZTCEZ17AKYWT15GSL2/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502570403881-O0KA9PWRTF0QHGRK1AUW/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part V) The magenta-forming layer of Kodak Vision3 5219 with normal development. I have moved the data from the Technical Publication to a graph with the same size axes as the print stock curve used above. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2017/8/7/death-of-the-zone-system-part-iv monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502115707985-BYIASY1119GJQ213B8TG/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part IV) From Optical Radiation Measurements Volume 5: Visual Measurements (Bartleson and Grum 1984, 252). For those unaccustomed to Log Luminance scales the farthest right curves (photopic adaptation and bright surround) for each transfer function has the following range in stops: Cones - 10 stops, Bipolar Cells - 6 1/2 stops, Ganglion Cells - 6 1/2 stops. I am currently looking for the original test data to make sure there is no information in the shoulder of the curve as per my recommendation in the previous post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502115561987-192KG0UUQGAH583UEBWB/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part IV) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502115668241-C1V2FI692GEU78B3IU1W/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part IV) The scene curve on the right shows the eye adapted to a daylight with an average log luminance of 10,000 candelas/meters squared and how the visual system has a dynamic range of 7 1/2 stops at this light level. (Log Luminance of 3.5 - 1.25 = 2.25/0.3 = 7.5 stops) The curve of the print on the left is extremely similar in order to emulate these conditions. Discussions about the curve of the transparency will be addressed in a future post since the characteristics of our eyes in dark surround circumstances can change based on levels of adaptation. I must admit, there is some nuance here and I would like to further explore the level of adaptation of the eye for a monitor versus theatrical projection to further refine my claims. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1502115604582-XAWQ8ZWCFMUTVQTVB9C7/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part IV) Note the 8 stop dynamic range from Zones I to Zones IX. An important point I should make is that the surrounding text upon inattentive reading can make it appear that the dynamic range or textural range depicted is for the negative. What he is discussing is exposures that give the appearance of this dynamic range or textural range. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2017/7/24/death-of-the-zone-system-part-iii monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501119201729-61RK91Z84DD378696KYW/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) From Kodak Tech Pub F-4017. Marks in pencil are inserted by me using methods I learned in Beyond the Zone System by Phil Davis. I should point out that this method of finding a film's DR is incorrect because the shoulder of the curve has not been provided in its entirety by Kodak. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501249413947-HARRMUB70B93VD8ZZPYE/25th+of+June+2017+Header.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501246791307-Q2OQWPBM1UF6OXBGC24F/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) The Zone System scale. If you want a quick rundown of ZS and the visual definitions of these Zones I recommend looking at Norman Koren's site here. Some photographers dispute having 0 and X since they seem largely irrelevant but in Part IV I can explain the importance for leaving them on any ZS scale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501118354523-U35QKY8V8E868TVRP0K4/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) From M.J. Langford's Advanced Photography 1974, page 169 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501119750381-ZZTH0ZEOFI91L9RH4WE2/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) Using a french curve to extend the shoulder of a curve is a practice recommended in Phil Davis' excellent book Beyond the Zone System. The best method of finding the curve of the shoulder would be to perform one's own sensitometry test and create a new chart with a densitometer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1501120096496-I7YVP0XEG6ZJN3T207B2/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part III) From Kodak Tech Pub H-1-5219t. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2016/10/26/death-of-the-zone-system-part-ii monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477493247665-WG2KBZWTYPTM758V5FX1/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) The more I look at this mental recreation of my dodging and burning map the more I think this looks too simple. It was very hard to print and required a large number of dodges and burns to extract the subtle gradations that are in the final print. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477507026995-NP2A35QAUWBFC8PXSVX3/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) Photographed on a Mamiya C33 with a 135mm lens at f/8. The exposure was 15 minutes with APX 100 in PMK pyro. Printed on Grade II FB Oriental Seagull. I never realized the similarity between this and the previous photo until I started writing this entry. This negative is much easier to print. The only difficulty is in burning down the wall on the left that is receding behind the column. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477508358733-1LJQP8PUQGNOQEALXV56/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) Densitometer with enlarged step tablets on Seagull GF-II, and contact printed step tablets on Efke 25. This was my system before the discontinuation of both of these products. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477492971569-DVI1E90N8JXH0GEEFAU4/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) Scan from original print. I took this photo some time back in the late 1990s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477508473099-34VWHECRB9EQSCFOEZ7B/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) My sensitometry charts for my paper and film. You can see my propensity for doing things by hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477506817341-83M9INCKUOLPOZBVSDR9/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) Practical Zone System tests to establish standard printing times (print strips are in the folder at the top) and effective film speeds of APX 100 & 400. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477508870364-8KVW3XGEF9XQXWWXO8BH/Taroko+Gorge.jpg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) 8x10 contact print on Seagull GF-II. The print is beautiful at the standard printing time and my only adjustment is dodging the foreground rock up by a few seconds. Shot with the Wisner Technical Field through a 12" Bausch & Lomb Protar (uncoated!) onto Efke 25. Exposure time was probably 2 seconds at f/32. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1477508654982-JZBM4WK1KTEXONKEHDUB/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System (Part II) A page from my notebook I would carry in the field. You can see that depending on the contrast ratio of the scene I would use different developers. You can also see how inherently contrasty Efke 25 is (I could never really pull it in development) versus Efke 100 which was hard to push develop but easy to pull. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2016/9/24/death-of-the-zone-system monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1474727292254-SFZW953H79DRIJLYSN6D/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1475939448564-70CBR0JQ0VFWM3YCWREX/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System From the Royal Photographic Societies' "A Memorial Volume Containing an Account of the The Photographic Researches of Ferdinand Hurter and Vero C. Driffield." Printed in 1920, scanned from microfiche, and corrected using the curves tool in Photoshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1475940308865-QAJGCW468N1D711M1B7R/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Death of the Zone System http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2016/1/29/gio-scope-and-the-zone-system monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454090173411-2W156T8CRWW8KJ87VUOP/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454087097121-U8BZ6ZB8U3MRJRX91A1Q/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454085977894-I4GDSZPAMWVDOG40B6W7/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454089974679-HBYIRWE1ZHM353UYG72A/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System Data produced applying a simple Zone System test designed to the Red Epic. Side note: despite setting exposure through a light meter the image came back 2/3 stop underexposed and I lifted the curve appropriately. I have found this is pretty consistent with most digital cameras due to the way the manufacturer maps their curves but also that when the scene is lit with a tungsten light there is exposure loss from the reduced spectrum of the source. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454091124155-Q2MZ7HB0S97LZPCCRG82/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System Since my exposures are in the middle of these Zones I have a 1/2 stop range in exposure above and below them. I should say the limits of my scene are 3 1/2 stops above and below normal exposure and this gives us the full 7 stop SBR. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1454086833248-RB4KPBLNWU4QU9UAPN7Y/image-asset.png Writings - Gio Scope and the Zone System http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2016/1/10/where-is-the-math-in-cinematography monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452450281329-KUIXX2B56V78NEESSR0G/image-asset.jpeg Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... From pages 15 and 40 of Digital Cinematography by David Stump, ASC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452486671082-YXRNV6NY439UW4D52HCN/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... From Photographic Optics by Arthur Cox; Expanded Edition, 1971. These equations await your intelligence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452522371985-DSGCG7G4FM0YYEMTXUHX/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452487507777-JX6YKY8OK7RZ7VIXY0BF/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... From The Ins and Outs of Focus by Harold Merklinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452484532705-BP37SW8XDQ6Z6WHB39I3/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452460301119-0BMUOF5WZ00J1NLJ3ZPE/Drawing+of+Scales.jpg Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... The graphic method of a cinematographer practicing his scales. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452483634204-T6U1T08I16JNTY9ZM3MO/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... A quick sketch. The angles are not exactly accurate, but close enough to prove the point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1452461337157-QZMKTS0QUXYP3V37X3ND/image-asset.png Writings - Where is the math in cinematography... http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2016/1/2/looking-back monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1451782433611-36YGDVQG6E2DXG0EGTTH/image-asset.png Writings - Looking Back... http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2011/4/11/finding-a-structure.html monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/2011/3/31/welcome.html monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/category/Zone+System monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/category/%C3%9Cberblog monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/category/Mathematics monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Depth+of+Field monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Gio+Scope monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Zone+System monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Red+Camera monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Exposure monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Math monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Field+of+View monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/blog/tag/Photometry monthly 0.5 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/education daily 0.75 2025-07-14 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/about daily 0.75 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1451694979311-GKOYOJT3HY1029HE4M9V/image-asset.jpeg About Photograph by Michael Simmonds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1451694979311-GKOYOJT3HY1029HE4M9V/image-asset.jpeg About Photograph by Michael Simmonds http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/science-in-cinematography daily 1.0 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/77bdddc9-995f-4a2b-a5bc-b969edaaac15/Splitting+Magenta+into+red+and+blue+copy.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/8166dd06-0d13-47fb-8346-58b737b53d33/Goethe+Spectrum+copy.jpg The Science in Cinematography http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/j-bronowskis-neckties daily 0.75 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/75114503-5abd-4cc2-bebf-6616e998980c/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+3.55.43+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out From the opening scene on the beach while discussing the grunion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/bb9528d0-435f-4cb9-9dcc-6c5c468755c8/Screenshot+2023-08-21+at+11.46.04+AM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out In the Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, explaining how blood types are a clue to the identifying different waves of migration into the New World. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/415bfcd7-bfa0-45cf-8b6c-040dd0e0665d/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.49.10+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Close up of necktie while describing hand tools made by austrolopithecus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4bf097f1-3040-431a-acb8-891205175bf5/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.28.20+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out The agricultural way of life established a new level for the ascent of man. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c1068a63-290a-4f1e-8c48-7a841dc6f400/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.19.19+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out “The plow is the first application of the lever…” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/bf9fb33f-3f61-47a5-a60b-dc406c647ce2/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.14.03+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Discussing early hominids in the valley of the river Omo, near Ethiopa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/b6102ccb-5a12-4748-8548-b67dc1a8c618/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+8.40.45+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Drawing a distinction between humankind’s biological evolution and cultural evolution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/e4c37c66-c094-47d1-b5fb-ba612dbe14d1/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.03.27+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out “Jericho is older than agriculture…” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1aaaf71c-aa6b-4591-8dc6-b8de050951c9/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.45.08+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Describing hand tools made by austrolopithecus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c1048aec-2eab-4d79-b4aa-c317ed462434/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+5.09.00+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Explaining the human imagination in the Altamira cave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/bf9fb33f-3f61-47a5-a60b-dc406c647ce2/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.14.03+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Discussing early hominids in the valley of the river Omo, near Ethiopa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4bf097f1-3040-431a-acb8-891205175bf5/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.28.20+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out The agricultural way of life established a new level for the ascent of man. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1aaaf71c-aa6b-4591-8dc6-b8de050951c9/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.45.08+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Describing hand tools made by austrolopithecus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/e4c37c66-c094-47d1-b5fb-ba612dbe14d1/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.03.27+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out “Jericho is older than agriculture…” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/bb9528d0-435f-4cb9-9dcc-6c5c468755c8/Screenshot+2023-08-21+at+11.46.04+AM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out In the Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, explaining how blood types are a clue to the identifying different waves of migration into the New World. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c1048aec-2eab-4d79-b4aa-c317ed462434/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+5.09.00+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Explaining the human imagination in the Altamira cave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/415bfcd7-bfa0-45cf-8b6c-040dd0e0665d/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+4.49.10+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Close up of necktie while describing hand tools made by austrolopithecus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c1068a63-290a-4f1e-8c48-7a841dc6f400/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+9.19.19+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out “The plow is the first application of the lever…” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/75114503-5abd-4cc2-bebf-6616e998980c/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+3.55.43+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out From the opening scene on the beach while discussing the grunion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/b6102ccb-5a12-4748-8548-b67dc1a8c618/Screenshot+2023-08-20+at+8.40.45+PM.png J. Bronowski's Neckties - Make it stand out Drawing a distinction between humankind’s biological evolution and cultural evolution. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/cinematography daily 0.75 2025-07-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/3c5ab579-012d-455f-b5f5-3c86bc4b3fe9/I+Can+See+You.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/057a3c1e-b364-44a0-82ef-63c0cd38441f/Deadwax+Poster.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/072a5a71-98ec-4e51-99b3-70c87dad0b4f/Beneath+Poster.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/0224ba1f-c5fd-4cfe-a9e5-ab064cbaee04/Watch+Poster.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/77b1eb8b-8868-4bdf-9ebd-15fb182ae4b3/Viewer+Still.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/119ebf7d-3500-4cdb-a716-4125f4cfabda/Viewer+Poster.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c7ea4dfa-020d-4cb1-a399-2fbaa2889d7c/MOT+Poster.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/1609d6ff-c1b4-4173-baa5-22927ad9d275/As+the+Call+Poster.jpg http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/photography daily 0.75 2025-07-05 http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/photography/tractatus-tfmrx monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/78f36bb4-f32a-41b1-8ac6-9bdd5ca501d7/00+Title.jpg Photography - Tractatus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/6174bdb0-f705-4768-a336-07cf15dfa8eb/1_0+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 1.0 The world is all that is the case. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/ed19a436-a95d-4d2a-a669-9a89ac0e6ffc/2_0131+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 2.0131 A spatial object must be surrounded by an infinite space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/ff2a1f8e-5624-42a6-97dc-169eafc2f18c/2_0141+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 2.0141 The possibility of an object being part of an elementary fact is its form. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/d544d573-fd34-4338-836a-e853666a1d11/2_131+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 2.131 The picture's elements stand, in the picture, for the objects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/671add7b-a782-4011-9326-4a0fb84e24af/2_0271+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 2.0271 The object is what is fixed, what persists; the configuration of objects is what changes, what varies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/a3ef783f-9439-42f2-b366-49b284786332/2_225+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 2.225 There is no such picture that is true a priori. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/29bb9f0a-a31f-415d-a9a1-c504f20f5f6d/3_34+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 3.34 A sentence has essential and accidental features. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/98c6f119-dec8-4fab-bf17-b196e4f0b953/3_411+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 3.3411 Both in geometry and logic, a place is a possibility: something can exist in it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/34679f76-00fa-47d6-bc14-6c05bbd8e43c/4_03+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 4.03 ...A sentence asserts something only insofar as it is a picture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/5e75522f-eb8c-4a9e-ad4b-7b0cbe85b341/5_634+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 5.634 Everything we see could be other than it is. Everything we describe could be other than it is. There is no arrangement of things a priori. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/244934c0-fb37-49e6-bf02-a1e69f995bea/5_632+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 5.632 The subject does not belong to the world but is the boundary of the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/f42f2021-51ac-4eec-a329-99d0c933eb5c/6_54+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 6.54 My sentences are illuminating in the following way: to understand me you must recognize my sentences - once you have climber out through them, on them, over them - as senseless. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/ad142699-b7aa-4550-826d-cb6a5ecd9aae/7_0+Tractatus.jpg Photography - Tractatus 7.0 Of what we cannot speak we must be silent. http://www.gordonarkenberg.com/photography/astrophotography monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/d4ac1910-2e5a-4261-9312-a65b2cc67a09/Venus+Transit.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Venus Transit, 8th of June, 2004. (Nikon F3T, 1000mm Celestron telescope + Solar Filter, Agfachrome RSXII50) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/c14c8703-c969-46d0-b777-94d1f0abd3c4/Cloud%26Moon.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Full moon and clouds over NYC. (Nikon F3T, 135mm lens. Agfachrome RSXII50) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/37ba03d5-cc73-4577-ae43-153eea3ad55f/Cloud%26Moon2.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Full Moon and clouds over NYC. (Nikon F3T, 135mm lens. Agfachrome RSXII50) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/e0fb398a-8cc9-48af-adef-30f27a387b65/Lunar+Eclipse+over+NYC.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Lunar Eclipse - 3rd of March, 2007. (Leica M3, 90mm Elmarit-M, Kodachrome 64) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/00208bb3-7970-40b6-ad33-96b66478bd1d/Morning+Star.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Venus as a morning star over East Village. (Nikon F3T, 20mm, Afgachrome RSXII50) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/ce58e4f2-a56d-45fd-9fe2-155459c663e6/Venus+%26+Mercury+over+Brooklyn.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Venus and Mercury over Brooklyn. (Leica M3, 90mm Elmarit-M, Kodachrome 64) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/8ecf9b92-27f3-4cec-9f14-fc769b880d21/NYC+Moonset.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Moonset over NYC. (Nikon F3T, 135mm, Agfachrome RSXII50) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/153828d8-f4a6-4d9c-9e6f-877a889d79a7/Lunar+Eclipse.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Lunar Eclipse, 8th of November, 2003. (Nikon F2, 35mm, Agfachrome RSXII50. Multiple exposure photograph.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5685727a25981d3d911d95ad/4aea56c4-11da-4b56-8068-d47932697ded/Venus+Transit+in+Clouds.jpg Photography - Astrophotography Venus Transit, 8th of June, 2004. 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