HOW DOES F-STOP PRINTING WORK?
Print tones, such as ‘skin’, ‘dark skin’, and ‘detailed shadows’, are a constant number of exposure stops apart. • Changing the exposure by 0.5 stops with grade #2 paper results in a one tone lighter or darker print. • Burning or dodging by 0.5 stops darkens or lightens an area by one tone. This relationship is linear: • A 1 stop change on grade #2 paper results in a two tone change, a 0.1 stop change results in a fifth of a tone, and so forth; • A one tone change in stops of exposure effects all print tones equally: ‘veiled highlights’ become ‘detailed highlights’, ‘skin’ becomes ‘dark skin’, ‘detailed shadows’ become ‘dark shadows’. The Zone system provides standard names and values for these tones. The direct link between the timer’s display and the tones on the print makes it easy to predict the outcome of a change in print exposure or the effect of a dodge or burn. The timer displays the exposure in stops: a display of 2.0 is one stop greater exposure than 1.0, as a result you alw
