Zone System: A Little History Lesson The purpose of the Zone System is to determine a framework or more systematic approach for determining exposure and development (in film) that can be replicated and also that represents the scene as the photographer visualized.

Leica camera

The zone-system of Ansel Adams divides the photo into eleven zones; nine shades of gray, together with pure black and pure white. Adams, who photographed in black in white negative film made sure to expose for the darkest parts of his scenery. This way he prevented to have pure black in the photo.

The Zone System was developed by Ansel Adams with Fred Archer way back in 1940. It is a system to map the various tonal regions or luminance of objects in any given scene to enable the photographer to reach the optimal exposure during the capture of the image, and the developing and printing of the negative.

Photography

There are two main reasons, according to an expert source, why Adams preferred black and white. The first was that he felt color could be distracting, and could therefore divert an artist’s attention from the achievement of his full potential when taking a photograph.

How much are original Ansel Adams photographs worth? Ansel Adams photographs can be worth a lot of money for original prints or portfolios. For major photographs, the auction price has occasionally exceeded $600,000, while other original prints can often be had for a few thousand dollars.

Ansel Adams rose to prominence as a photographer of the American West, particularly Yosemite National Park, using his work to promote conservation of wilderness areas. His iconic black-and-white images helped to establish photography among the fine arts.

Ansel Adams was best known for his ultra-sharp landscapes, which he achieved through the use of a 4×5 view camera….Shoot Like Ansel Adams With 35mm D-SLRs.

With about 4 times the surface of the 35mm film format, the medium format can be enlarged significantly without losing quality. Artists often use the medium format size for large prints because it has less apparent grain and finer details. Also, it has better tonality (smoother gradations).