   
"One of the easiest-to-understand books on exposure and the Zone
System that we've ever seen"
Outdoor
photographer Magazine
If you do not want to read the book titled "the confused photographer's
guide to photographic exposure and the simplified zone system ISBN: 0966081714"
simply read the following:
The on-camera or
off-camera spotmeters (spot meter) are the most powerful exposure tool in the world.
However, before you can use them you must have a basic understanding of the Zone System of
light measurement. Read the following page and decide for yourself if you understand the
concept. If you do
understand everything on the following page, and you can apply the
technique described, then that is all you need (well almost!)
If, however, you even
have the slightest doubt about this technique, or if you are still the least bit confused, the
confused photographer's guide to photographic exposure and the simplified (non technical)
zone system is for you.
I believe this is the simplest, easiest, best illustrated, and most practical book about
the photographic exposure, the simplified zone system (non-technical), incident metering
and off-camera spotmetering in the world. To see more of the book and what you will be
learning, please browse:
http://www.simplifiedzonesystem.com
or send an e-mail to
Cheat sheet: The
entire book condensed onto one page (well almost!). To see what is exactly covered,
please see the Appendix at
the Simplified Zone System book
(Based
on Farzad's 5-stop Film / Digital zone system ©1987-2005)
Put a roll of
100 ISO slide film in your Pentax ZX-5N camera and choose an outdoor subject. Activate the
spotmetering option on your camera and set your camera’s mode to manual and to the
shutter sped to 1/125 sec. To avoid confusion, in this book we will increase and decrease
the exposure by opening-up and closing-down the aperture. The shutter speed will remain
fixed.
Observe your
subject and break it down into its simple subject (single tone) components. Choose a
Reference Tone. A Reference Tone is usually chosen from the most important part of the
subject. Once you have selected the Reference Tone, point your spotmeter at this tone and
find its normal exposure. If your subject does not have a distinct single tone and you are
using slide film, pick out a tone that is medium gray or brighter. If you are using a
negative film, pick out a tone that is medium gray or darker.
Let’s
assume the "normal exposure" indicated by your camera for this Reference Tone is
125@f-8 (i.e., 1/125 sec. at an aperture setting of 8).
As you may know, the spotmeter’s "normal
exposure" from any simple (single toned) surface will always provide the photographer
with an 18% gray image tone.
The image tone that your normal exposure
provides is independent of the original tone of your subject.
In spotmetering, converting the "normal exposure" to the "correct
exposure" is what a photographer must do. In other words, the "normal
exposure" readings of the spotmeter must be interpreted by the photographer to
determine the subject’s"correct exposure." The principle behind this
simplified technique is that if one tone of a complex subject is exposed correctly, the
rest of the tones follow and will also be correctly exposed .
Now decide which one of the following tones would most closely matches your Reference
Tone: Black, Dark Gray, Medium Gray, Light Gray or White. With this simplified technique
you must choose one of these five tones. Once you have decided which one of these five
tones best matches your Reference Tone, then adjust your camera settings accordingly:
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