The zone scale at right has ten steps and is based on Ansel Adam's description of zones in his book The negative. Zone 0(zero) relates to the deepest black print value that photographic printing paper can produce. Zone V corresponds to a middle gray, the tone of a standard-gray test card of 18 percent reflectance. Zone IX relates to the lightest possible print value-pure white of the paper base.
The Zone System allows you to visualizes how the tones in any scene will look in a print and to choose either a realistic interpretation or a departure from reality. Using the Classic way to develop and expose your prints, and understanding the Zone System will help you get improved result in the final print stages.
This is why I use Color film to produce my Black and White Prints. Color film reacts to Black and White enlargement paper better than your average Black and White film. Color film records the colors as they appear, and Black and White film records tones, which are directly related to each tone scale. Color film gives greater details and contrast than black and White film.
I use the Zone System in my final print stages. This is where I can dodge and burn my details. My Photos are printed in Zones III to VII, it allows me to Hand Tint my Black and White Print with vivid or soft colors. The shades of gray intensifies the hue and tint of each color.

* I have hope and faith that one day we will find our purpose. We all have burdens to carry, but God will never place a burden on your back that you can't carry. They are placed their to strengthen our weaknesses and to correct our faults. Those who see their problems as curse or as a form of punishment from God has already fail the test.
* I have a story to tell. I recall my then father passing away from a heart attack when I was 5 years old. I will never forget the good times we had together and the love that he gave me. I will always miss him. My mother gave up and kind of forgot about us, I was the middle child of seven. My older brother was born with cerebral palsy. We had to take care of him and see to it that we kept him clean and fed while my mother worked nights.I was the Man of the house at age seven, which meant that when criminals tried to break in and take what little we had I would always keep my Butcher knife under my pillow to ward them off. I recall the times when they tried to molest my little sister late at night I would wake up and let them know that I might not be a real man and if they come back I would kill them. Most never came back and I thank God for that. I would always pray that God would give me strength to become what I always wanted, a Father. I recall when they repeatedly molested my handicapped brother, I could never catch them in the act, but he would tell me about, it tore me apart. Again I ask God to become my Father and watch over us, I could not take seeing the abuse any longer. Things got better, people started respecting me more and most of the abuse stopped.
* Then when I was 10 my mother started drinking with her men friends and having fun. Again I had to become the man of the house again, God knew how tired, afraid, and lonely I felt, again he gave me strength. I would pray that one day my father would come back to help. I was in denial, He died 4 years prior, I never gave up, I continued to pray the same prayer day in and day out. Then my mother started physically abusing us. My handicapped brother became also a Victim. I will never forget how we got beat for doing nothing, we were left alone to take care of the house hold. Then the same men that drank with my mother started abusing her as well. I would helplessly watch all knowing that they were stronger and bigger than me, nobody cared. I always prayed that life would get better. It only got worse. My father in heaven help me keep the faith. Hebrews 11:3.
*When I turned 18, my mother told me that my father was alive, I laughed and ask her what was our first dogs name. I thought that somebody may have contacted the wrong person by accident, she confirmed. She told me that my father was in Los Angeles, and he wanted to see me. I contacted him and met him for the first time when I was 19. I met him once more when I was 20. I have not seen him since. Its been over 25 years since then. Now I have a son 24, and 2 daughters 12 and 14. I have became again what I always wanted, a Father. I miss him dearly and try to understand why. It would be nice to see him again and let him know that he has three wonderful grand children. I am one of the best Fathers in the world .
* I heard that my Father takes Photos and is darkroom specialist, my son loves graphic art, and I have developed my own 2 Zone Technique to create Black and White Photos the Classic way. I have taken Photos since the age of 8,its been now 37 years later and I have the only true Black and White Photo Art. I am the new Kodak or Adams of Photography. No one does it better. I am applying for a patent on my process and technique. This Technique will change Photo Art as we know it today. I guess the gene pool has an impact on who we are and what we can become. My Father has no idea that I have became what I always wanted. To become a well know Photo Artist and a Good Father and role model for my children. One day he will see that I was never a burden in his life, and that he should have never given up on me.
* I have started a reading Club to help children who can't read by offering free post cards to all school age children. Being able to read help lift my burden and make it easier to bear. I want to see our youth exchange post cards again. I want each youth to send at least one Post card a week to somebody that they love. I never got any mail when I was growing up. I know that if our youth learn how to write and send post cards their love ones and family can have keep sakes and memories that are priceless. Nothing can take the place of the written word or the spoken word. Its love 101, telling some that you care and are their for them. So if you know some one that you have not heard from surprise them with a hand written post cards. It will make their day Smile.
* Never give up, just keep trying and your burdens to bear will make you stronger in ways you will never know. The strengths that you need you will receive through your trails and tribulations.
KEEP THE FAITH, DON'T GIVE UP, JUST KEEP TRYING.

I develop my Black and White Prints the Classic way. I take advantage of the
Print paper or film emulsion by extending or reducing the development time.
I try to reveal unseen details and textures in my Black and white Photo Art.
My Prints are in the zones III through VII, mostly middle grays. I do this to
enhance any of my colors that I choose to use on my prints. For example the color
red place on a middle gray takes on a different mood than your typical red.
The colors become more intense and vivid. This is what makes Hand Tinting so
unique. You can bend or break rules that gives you more latitude in the final
Black and White Photo. I use my "2 zone Technique" to determine where I should
place my colors. I use the rules of third as a guide in creating my Photo Art.
All of my Photos are a work of Art. Never computer aided in any way. My Photos
are original and signed.
Of all the creative controls at a Photographer disposal and most useful
is development time. The longer the developer is allowed to act on the film,
the greater the number of silver bromide crystal converted to metallic silver,
the darker the negative seems to become. The ability of development time to
control contrast and density is due primarily to the way the film emulsion is
constructed. The crystals of silver bromide that will develop into the negative
image lie both on below the surface of the emulsion. As exposure increases,
the number of exposed crystals and their depth in the emulsion increase. When
the develop goes to work, it gets at the surface crystals immediately but
needs extra time to soak into the emulsion and develop the crystal below the
surface. This applies to Photo Print paper as well.
The temperature of the developer also needs to be taken into account. Most
Photographic chemicals and even the wash water take longer to work as their
temperature drops. All solutions work faster at higher temperatures. The
higher the temperature, the shorter the develop time needed. The recommended
temperature is 68 F,(29 C);this temperature combines the most efficient chemical
activity with the least softening of the film emulsion and in addition is a
practical temperature to maintain in the average darkroom. Higher temperatures
may be recommended with very dilute developers.
I develop my Black and White Prints the Classic way. This allows me the freedom
to obtain any type of Print. I print some of my Photos to show more details and
texture ,some are Print to show details in the shadow areas. I try to expose my
shoulder and toe in the middle gray zone V.

The process that creates a picture on a piece of film involves a reaction between light and the sliver bromide crystals spread through the gelatin of the emulsion layer.
A negative is born when millions of exposed silver bromide crystals are converted to Silver metal by the developer.
Silver bromide crystals are light sensitive, they don't respond equally to all wavelenghts of light. Colors are actually different wave-lenghts within the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, these wavelenghts must be factored in when making Black-and-White Photos. Different types of Film responds color differently. Orthochromatic film responds well to shorter wavelenghts, toward the violet to yellow end of the spectrum. Panchromatic Film gives more of a natural appearance. This film records most all colors, red through violet. Infra red Film only records visible colors as well as some longer wavelenghts that are not visible. Its' toward the ultra-violet end of the spectrum. Unless the silver bromide is properly exposed, they will respond variably to shorter wave lenghts, starting at ultra-violet through blue green.

I develop my Black and White Prints the Classic way. I take advantage of the
Print paper or film emulsion by extending or reducing the development time.
I try to reveal unseen details and textures in my Black and white Photo Art.
My Prints are in the zones III through VII, mostly middle grays. I do this to
enhance any of my colors that I choose to use on my prints. For example the color
red place on a middle gray takes on a different mood than your typical red.
The colors become more intense and vivid. This is what makes Hand Tinting so
unique. You can bend or break rules that gives you more latitude in the final
Black and White Photo. I use my "2 zone Technique" to determine where I should
place my colors. I use the rules of third as a guide in creating my Photo Art.
All of my Photos are a work of Art. Never computer aided in any way. My Photos
are original and signed.
Of all the creative controls at a Photographer disposal and most useful
is development time. The longer the developer is allowed to act on the film,
the greater the number of silver bromide crystal converted to metallic silver,
the darker the negative seems to become. The ability of development time to
control contrast and density is due primarily to the way the film emulsion is
constructed. The crystals of silver bromide that will develop into the negative
image lie both on below the surface of the emulsion. As exposure increases,
the number of exposed crystals and their depth in the emulsion increase. When
the develop goes to work, it gets at the surface crystals immediately but
needs extra time to soak into the emulsion and develop the crystal below the
surface. This applies to Photo Print paper as well.
The temperture of the developer also needs to be taken into account. Most
Photographic chemicals and even the wash water take longer to work as their
temperture drops. All solutions work faster at higher tempertures. The
higher the temperture, the shorter the develop time needed. The recommended
temperture is 68 F,(29 C);this temperture combines the most efficient chemical
activity with the least softening of the film emulsion and in addition is a
practical temperture to maintain in the average darkroom. Higher tempertures
may be recommended with very dilute devlopers.
I develop my Black and White Prints the Classic way. This allows me the freedom
to obtain any type of Print. I print some of my Photos to show more details and
texture ,some are Print to show details in the shadow areas. I try to expose my
shoulder and toe in the middle gray zone.

I want to bring Hand Tinting back in the main stream. Since we have our computers and high tech soft ware we fail to realize that computer generated imagery or photos are not the same as in the past. The reason is, that the computer lacks Zone "A" and Zone "B". Its merely a copy. All computer generated photos or prints will oxidize or fade. The sole purpose of making Photographs are to record and document historical events. Archiving Photos that are computer generated defeats this goal. In museums you will only find Black and White Photos, they know that any other type of print won't last long enough to achieve their objective.
When we look back in the early 1800's we see images that were produced that still exist today. What if our Great masters used pixels to record there Art. They would have never dreamed of wasting there time and effort to gain fame by employing methods other than the Classical techniques to create their Art. When history is written, those who have negatives and Hand developed Prints will have works of Arts that will be priceless.
The Great masters such Van Goghs, Picasso's, rembrandts, Cezanne's, Seraut's, El greco,s, Constables, Botticellis, Angelico's and Bounnarroti's would not exist today as we know them if they had used digital assisted soft ware to create their works of Art. I have over 50,000 images and over 90,000 negatives that will be worth more as time passes on. Photo Art has been around in the main stream for quite some time. No one has change or improved on what George Eastman, Joeseph Niepce, Giovanni Battista, Thomas Wedgwood and Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre attempted . The computer can never allow any one the freedom that gives you the ability to capture an image as on sees it. Ansel Adams was the last person to that gave us a new set of rules and technique.
I have develop a "2" Zone that takes his ideas and the other great Photographers of the past and improve how we see and reproduce our Photos.
Don't miss out, if you can have the luck of buying a old Photo of the past, you will own tommorrows Picassos' Van Goghs' or even an Rembrandt.
The only worth while investment in todays Art Market will be a Hand Tinted Photograph. The other Great works of Art merely exchange owners and becomes more expensive in the process.