Masterclass

THE ZONE SYSTEM

T

he Zone System was devised by the photographers
AnselAdams andFredArcher in1939–40 toenable
photographersandprintmakerstomakebetterjudgements
whenproducingtonallyrichblackandwhiteprintsfrom
film negatives. Thesystem wasone that understood the
tonalvaluesofanimageand howtomanipulatethemin
suchawayastoobtainthegreatestdetailandinformation
from the negative.

Arrangedinelevenseparatesectors,thesystemissimilarin
concepttothehistogramfoundintoday’sdigitalcameras,
andisstillverymuchrelevantintheageofdigitalimaging.
The eleven equal sectors were arranged as follows:

0 Pure black.

I Near black, tonality but no texture.

II Textured black areas.

III Average dark materials showing adequate textures.

IV Dark foliage, dark stone, shadows.

V Middle grey, clear north sky, dark skin, average
weathered wood.

VI Average white skin, light stone.

VII Very light skin.

VIII Lightest tone with texture.