3

Image

“Bisbee, AZ,” by Rolf Engwall. Courtesy of the photographer.

How to Read and Interpret Characteristic Curves

At this point you may be beginning to feel that sensitometry is going to be a deadly exercise in number shuffling and graph construction. I can’t deny it; you’ll have to come to terms with numbers and graphs, but they’re not as dull and abstruse as they may appear. Characteristic curves are, in fact, symbols that relate directly to picture quality. As you progress through this book, you’ll gradually learn to read these curves and exploit the wealth of information that they contain.

Line graphs are used almost exclusively in photography ...

Get Beyond the Zone System, 4th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.