The Practical Zone System for Film and Digital Photography: Classic Tool, Universal Applications

This sixth edition of The Practical Zone System by Chris Johnson updates the classic manual on Ansel Adams's landmark technique for the digital age. For photographers working digitally or with film, in color or black and white, in the studio or on the go, this simple visual language helps to control contrast and, through a process called Previsualization, provides photographers with the power of free creative expression.

This new edition discusses recent advances in technology and potentials for their use in zone photography, including HDR, smartphone cameras that shoot in raw format and smartphone light meters. Johnson demonstrates how the Zone System is a universal visual and conceptual language that dramatically simplifies the problem of creating and rendering complex lighting setups.

Chris Johnson is a Professor of Photography at California College of the Arts. He is a photographic and video artist, curator and writer; his work has been exhibited in numerous gallery and museum shows. He is the creator of the Question Bridge video project and Co-Director with Hank Willis Thomas of Question Bridge: Black Males. This project won the 2015 ICP Infinity Award; was published as a book by Aperture, and the video installation has been inducted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.