Determining Basic Exposure

In the group of films about Fred Picker one can learn in a step by step fashion, how to get the best possible print from a simple negative. In the previous films, we learnt how to make a correct test strip, which is in fact, the third step in printing a black and white photograph. The films show how to make a test strip with a paper grade No. 2 and another with a paper grade No. 3.

In this film, Fred Picker explores where the high value is correctly exposed in each test strip. It means that he determines the correct combination of aperture lens and exposure time for getting appropriate high lights in each paper. He then makes a straight print in both papers with its correspondent appropriate exposure to compare them. The comparison reveals the best grade paper that brings out the effect he visualized when he shot the picture.

Picker was involved in the manufacture of 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 large format field cameras.. He taught a highly successful photography class known as "The Zone VI Workshop," and authored a book by the same name. The book is now recognized as the golden standard of photographic instruction. He had an uncanny sense for photography. His passion for the subject rendered him opinionated and often times controversial. His contribution to the area of large format and black and white photography is unsurpassed.