sonsdad,

A few things Michael said have some validity, others don't.

If you wish your images and prints to look like his, then sure, do
EXACTLY what he says. However, if you are looking to have more
control, express your images in a variety of ways, and shoot a variety
of things, I'd reccomend you expand your understanding of photography
further than his limited approach.

Take this:



No. I never use them. They're useless. Make a test ***print*** or two
so you can see the ***whole*** image, and adjust the exposure
accordingly. If your negatives are consistent, there will be little
change in exposure from one print to the next. One may be 6 seconds,
another 7.2, but after a while you'll be able to judge this by eye
anyway.


I agree in part, but, and this is especially if you are just starting
out, or are not familar with the wide variety of materials out there,
test strips can be valuable. I personally rarely do them, BUT I've
been printing professionally for about 28 yrears (33 years total) and
they can give you a lot of information. Don't use just a little piece
of the paper, though, go ahead and use a full sheet. That way you can
make sure your borders are correct, and you see all the areas of the
image that need to be "adjusted".


I am anxious to improve
my Black&White photography.


Practice, practice, practice.

And open your mind to the possibilities of the medium and materials.
They are quite numerous.


I have a Nikon F60. Should I consider buying a
spotmeter,

No. You don't need it. Learn the basic exposures by heart for most
scenes. I did it, and you can too. Use 1 or two films at the most, and
learn them PERFECTLY. I suggest you start with Tri-X Pan and FP4.
DON'T push them. Learn how to expose them properly EVERY time. If it's
too dark, it's too dark! Tough! That''s how life is sometimes. Deal
with it and go on with your life.


It really depends on what you are going to shoot. Outdoors and using
the dreaded Zone System which Michael hates so much, they are
indespensible. Or at least they can make exposing an image easy or
harder. If you plan to do studio work, they can have some benifits.
Street photography, for yearbooks, well, Michael is right there. It
would slow you down considerable and most likely make you lose that
special shot of syrup slowly cascading over a stack of pancakes. With
reportage, you will need to learn some basic "exposure" facts
regarding certain film speeds that will help when shooting off the
cuff. Also, learning to develop for the particular scene you shot is
essential. And BTW, pushing, even pulling, development works, but
there is a trade off on results and must be considered based on your
personal choice and desires for the image.
As for film, Tri-X is the standard for sure, but I'd suggest Agfa 100
over FP-4 for its better tonality and gradation of tones. Better
grain also.


See:

http://zd.csimultimedia.com/

No spot meters were used in the creation of these images. Half of them
were exposed by memory of the correct exposure.

I'm not gonna touch this again.

Alexis
www.alexisneel.com