articles/Landscape/wherehowwhenandwhy-page3

Landscape Photography: Where, how, when and why - part 3 of 1 2 3 4

by Paul Gallagher Published

I use a Walker Titan XL with a range of Schneider lenses ranging through 150mm, 90mm and a 72mmXL. I have always used Manfrotto tripods and I currently carry a OC55PRO with a 029 head. This tripod is light to carry but heavy enough to support the Walker Titan in a sea breeze with its bellows extended. Although there are quickload film packs available, I still feel comfortable loading dark slides with Ilford Delta 100. The single most important part of my ritual in the field is not the use of camera movements or accurate focusing but how I meter the scene.

When I first began to take monochrome photography seriously I read and digested the Zone System as devised by Ansel Adams. Although, for most people, this seems over the top and largely devised for dedicated wet darkrooms, I feel that some of the basic principles that I still use render my negatives with a longer tonal range and full detail. For this reason I use a Capital SP 1 degree

dedicated spot meter, which I bought many years ago, and still serves me proud. I will add that it is not the most expensive you can buy, but It does exactly what I expect, which is to accurately read reflected light from small parts of the landscape, allowing me to "place the zone" where I want it in my tonal range. Works for me! In simple terms, zone placement is derived from the fact that light meters are designed to average the light in a scene. For this purpose they set the exposure to a mid-range, average 18% grey.

If you then take that meter reading from a tiny part of the scene and adjust the exposure, you can make the result lighter or darker in the final negative. For me this is a way of reproducing or, if I choose, making a representation of the scene by controlling where the highlights and shadows fall in the image. I always rate my film at 64 ISO and so the light meter is set accordingly. This falls in line with the second part of the zone system and film tests I have done but I found the little extra exposure ensures collection of all the detail.

• Landscape Photography: Where, how, when and why page 1
  
• Landscape Photography: Where, how, when and why page 2
  
• Landscape Photography: Where, how, when and why page 3
  
• Landscape Photography: Where, how, when and why page 4
  

There are 37 days to get ready for The Societies of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 17th January 2024