Beyond the Zone System, 4th Edition

Preface

Photography began as an extended series of technical exercises directed toward finding some way—any way—of capturing views from nature and fixing them permanently on paper. For a few years after the first tentative successes, the subject matter of these experiments was selected mainly for convenience. Although “art” was clearly in the minds of many of these early workers, massive technical problems limited their options and frequently frustrated their efforts. There were many successes, of course, and some of those early masterpieces rival our best efforts today. But they were not produced casually; the old masters were patient craftsmen who knew their materials well and respected them.

It was not until dry plates, flexible films, and ...