Neutral Density Filter with B&W?

DREW WILEY · Aug 29, 2014

I don't get it !!! ND filters have ZERO to do with reining in overall contrast, and only work if they are in fact grads that hold back only a specified part the image - and might not do anything right with the overlap areas. Otherwise, they just slow down the exposure and risk putting you into recip failure thinking. The overall contrast range will largely remain the same. This is a question of exposure and development. You should be able to handle at least twelve stops of range on this kind of film through development control alone. Darkroom 101.

peter k. · Aug 29, 2014

shutterfinger said:
I started LF photography with a Luna Pro F, added the 7.5/15 ° attachment, bought an Ultra Spot, sold the Luna pro and spot attachment and never looked back.

I had to look up the Ranger 9, nice meter. It has an 18° angle of view. Maybe make a 18° wedge to put next to the sensor so that you get a better idea of the area being read. Its really not amazing what a .5° shift in metering position can do for the reading.

It's got a sight window, on the face side, it has a circle in it. On the back side, when you put your eye up to it, you see a frosted smaller circle, therefore you can aim quite accurately.

Ralph.. Don't really understand what you are specifically referring to when you state ...

you might be photographing on the wrong day if the Zone System cannot help you to manage the contrast.

where located here in the sunny southwest, northern Arizona.. usually shoot Zone 7.

Ate lunch, now time to do 'Darkroom 101', and do the development ... 12 shots.. some @ 400 some @ 200, bracketed, and used yellow and orange filter, on both... incident reading and direct.. but no neutral density as the horizon was broken up.

E. von Hoegh · Aug 30, 2014

DREW WILEY said:
I don't get it !!! ND filters have ZERO to do with reining in overall contrast, and only work if they are in fact grads that hold back only a specified part the image - and might not do anything right with the overlap areas. Otherwise, they just slow down the exposure and risk putting you into recip failure thinking. The overall contrast range will largely remain the same. This is a question of exposure and development. You should be able to handle at least twelve stops of range on this kind of film through development control alone. Darkroom 101.

Drew, it's like bokeh. They all think they know....

Jim Noel · Aug 30, 2014

An old but still very basic rule:
Exposure controls the shadows,development controls the highlights.

Use asofter working developer, OR dilute the developer, OR reduce the time in the developer OR reduce the agitation...............OR some combination of these.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 30, 2014

Easy Method: Overexpose slightly... underdevelop slightly... increase to desired contrast with selenium toner (visual inspection).

Alan Gales · Aug 30, 2014

DREW WILEY said:
Not many people manage to hide their hand when it comes to the "nuclear option" trick of neutral grad filters. You can try. Every time I see an image done that way (generally color) it just plain looks like it was done that way.

Yeah, you have to be careful with them. I found using a polarizer along with the neutral grad seems to help sometimes. For some scenes I found that they just wouldn't work without being obvious.

E. von Hoegh · Aug 30, 2014

Jim Noel said:
An old but still very basic rule:
Exposure controls the shadows,development controls the highlights.

Use asofter working developer, OR dilute the developer, OR reduce the time in the developer OR reduce the agitation...............OR some combination of these.

Yes indeed - the old maxim "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights" of which the zone system is a quantification. Another old maxim is, use one film and one developer - get to know it (them) until you can predict exactly what the negative (and therefore the print) will look like. Get that done, and you can start on the creative stuff.

Neutral Density Filter with B&W?

DREW WILEY

peter k.

E. von Hoegh

Jim Noel

Old-N-Feeble

Alan Gales

E. von Hoegh

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