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Image

“’A’A Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 1996,” by Hugh Milstein. Courtesy of the photographer.

Exposure/Development Control Systems

The Zone System

As I’ve mentioned before, the normal pointer on the calculating dial of a hand-held luminance meter represents middle gray, which we’ll consider to be the midpoint of the normal 7-stop subject luminance range. It’s important to realize that the darker tones of the subject are represented on the meter dial by luminance values that lie “below” the normal pointer, and the lighter subject tones are represented by dial markings “above” the pointer. In other words, every luminance value in the subject corresponds directly ...

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