# Exposure technique Kratochvil style?



## ryunin (Nov 2, 2011)

Could anyone suggest what kind of exposure technique Antonin Kratochvil, one of my favorite photographers, uses to achieve those contrasty photographs? If that is possible to say based on some pictures at his website? 

Here is the link Antonin Kratochvil


to his pictures of George Clooney, I think it may be a bit overexposed / based on metering in the shadows. I don't think details in shadows are lost, just almost invisible. I usually try to expose like this, but as people sometimes criticise me that I don't try to be precise enough, using quality light meters and working with different methods of developing, but I wonder how precise I should be to achieve similar results in tonality that Kratochvil achieves. When I loot at my prints, I think they are the same style, but maybe I am not aware of some secret exposure or developing techniques Kratochvil employs.


----------



## Mike_E (Nov 3, 2011)

It looks like he's putting his highlights in zone 7 to me.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 3, 2011)

I reckon you are joking. I don't think a war photographer has enough time to deal with the zone system as his life is in danger and could be shot dead any minute. But I think even a war photographer has tio have a kind of technique how to shoot quickly and achieve wonderful shots that Kratochvil achieves. I saw an interview with Kratochvil whre he says recently he has begun to use digital and that he has no time to deal with RAW and as the life is in danger, ti is better to shoot jpeg and not check the pictures all the time, rather make sure you survive.


----------



## dots (Nov 3, 2011)

Is he printing in a war zone too?


----------



## ryunin (Nov 4, 2011)

I think he doesn't develop his films or make prints but somebody does it for him. But as even that is not quick enough for him or the magazines he works for, he had to switch to digital and shooting jpeg without any complicated post process. So maybe it was his approach even when he shot film - maybe he would just point the camera at something dark using the available built-in meter, and set the exposure for the rest of the shooting session.    

But is my question stupid? Because I don't know if everyone who knows how to photograph uses the zone system, or did Cartier Bresson use the zone system when hopping around the streets of paris? But I think all good photographers have some kind of exposure technique, be it something simple or complicated. So I am just asking if it seems like this guy may have some kind of exposure metering technique. But if there's no chance to find out based on the web pictures, then I give up and will try to contact the guy himself.


----------



## dots (Nov 4, 2011)

One problem i having is i've tried that link 3 times in 3 days and it either takes ages to load or i get a blank page.Wish i could see what these photos look like. Do you have another link to a different page ?


----------



## Helen B (Nov 4, 2011)

You don't have to use the Zone System to use ZS terminology. It's a very convenient shorthand sometimes.

One way of achieving similar contrasty, deep graphic shadow effects is to underexpose (not overexpose) and overdevelop. It's not so much about being 'precise', but about understanding how film responds to exposure and development.


----------



## dots (Nov 4, 2011)

Asking does he print also in a war zone was _tongue in cheek response_. Zone system can be an approach to look of the print, as well as exposure. A quick google of HCB street photos doesn't suggest to me HCB was _cavalier_ about blowing highlight to expose for a primary picture element. His style seems to me more inclusive to balance-out across the whole scene.

And he didn't make his own prints.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 4, 2011)

dots said:


> One problem i having is i've tried that link 3 times in 3 days and it either takes ages to load or i get a blank page.Wish i could see what these photos look like. Do you have another link to a different page ?



just try www  antoninkratochvil    com

then go to stories

george clooney

done


----------



## dots (Nov 4, 2011)

antoninkratochvil.com
i go there (i just tried it again) and the url resolves, the page completes loading... but it's blank.  ??? Sorry but i think i have a problem with my google chrome browser. I got a warning from a website to enable javascript and javascriptis enabled,, so...

i will try with IE


----------



## ryunin (Nov 4, 2011)

Helen B said:


> You don't have to use the Zone System to use ZS terminology. It's a very convenient shorthand sometimes.
> 
> One way of achieving similar contrasty, deep graphic shadow effects is to underexpose (not overexpose) and overdevelop. It's not so much about being 'precise', but about understanding how film responds to exposure and development.



so you are talking about pushing, basically, right? I have that experience / pushing to me means making sure it is contrasty enough and losing a bit of detail, more grain

i am afraid to expose neutrally to get the realistic image as that may mean not contrasty enough a t  the end when I print

which is frustrating / so I like to push things when I want to make sure I get enought contrast in the end, does it make sense?


----------



## ryunin (Nov 4, 2011)

dots said:


> antoninkratochvil.com
> i go there (i just tried it again) and the url resolves, the page completes loadings... but it's blank.  ???



that's strange something must be wrong with your browser

it is a regular web page


----------



## dots (Nov 4, 2011)

No luck. I just tried with IE and the website hasn't even begun to load after 30 seconds.  Is there video or heavy flash? My ISP has restricted my mobile bandwidth for video..maybe that is it?


----------



## Kerbouchard (Nov 4, 2011)

dots said:


> No luck. I just tried with IE and the website hasn't even begun to load after 30 seconds.  Is there video or heavy flash? My ISP has restricted my mobile bandwidth for video..maybe that is it?



The website is poorly designed.  It loads to a blank page with options on the left.  It makes you think something is loading but it isn't.  The page actually loads quite fast.

In any case, the text on the left are links.  You have to click on those to see any type of pictures.  

As far as the pictures, all I saw was some noisy shots with blocked up blacks and blown highlights.  If that's all the OP wants to do, shoot at a high ISO, expose so the highlights are just over exposed or just prior to it, and raise the blacks until you have the contrast you want.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 4, 2011)

Kerbouchard said:


> dots said:
> 
> 
> > No luck. I just tried with IE and the website hasn't even begun to load after 30 seconds.  Is there video or heavy flash? My ISP has restricted my mobile bandwidth for video..maybe that is it?
> ...



hmmm, that's what I have tried to do several times and it seemed I got similar results / so it doesn't seem to be some kind of sophisticatd secret technique  / anywya you said "Noisy" do you think the Clooney shot were not even made using film cameras? I know Kratochvil used to use Nikons with 28 mm,    but recently switched to digital


----------



## Kerbouchard (Nov 4, 2011)

ryunin said:


> hmmm, that's what I have tried to do several times and it seemed I got similar results / so it doesn't seem to be some kind of sophisticatd secret technique  / anywya you said "Noisy" do you think the Clooney shot were not even made using film cameras? I know Kratochvil used to use Nikons with 28 mm,    but recently switched to digital



For my use of the word 'noise', if that shot was done in film, I suppose 'grainy' would have been the appropriate word.  It could be that he is using a high ISO film or the lab is pushing the rolls resulting in the contrast and the grain.

Honestly, I only looked at a few of the shots on his portfolio, but none of them looked 'sophisticated' to me.  I doubt what you are trying to emulate is any sophisticated secret technique.  More likely just a good lab processing his shots to get usable photos off of whatever he is turning in.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 5, 2011)

Kerbouchard said:


> ryunin said:
> 
> 
> > hmmm, that's what I have tried to do several times and it seemed I got similar results / so it doesn't seem to be some kind of sophisticatd secret technique  / anywya you said "Noisy" do you think the Clooney shot were not even made using film cameras? I know Kratochvil used to use Nikons with 28 mm,    but recently switched to digital
> ...



Based on some documentaries and interviews I saw, it seems Kratochvil has some very solid technical background and through his career gradually simplifying everything up to the hard bone basis (my expression I guess). He ended up shooting digital, jpg, directly in BW mode without any post processing. It resembles the career of Matisse who started with academic drawing and sophisticated painting skills and ended his career with just a few simple shapes, three or four colors.


----------



## Kerbouchard (Nov 5, 2011)

ryunin said:


> Kerbouchard said:
> 
> 
> > ryunin said:
> ...



Personally, I don't believe in things like that.  When an 'established artist' starts to regress, my opinion is it's most likely because somebody who used to do a lot of the work for them is no longer in the picture.  In this case, the transition from film to digital is a perfect example.  He used to have a lab full of techs who would correct his images.  Moving to digital might be exposing a flaw rather than showing an artist simplifying things.

Like I said, I don't know the guy from Adam.  It may be like you said, that he is just simplifying his work or whatever.  Personally, I'm not a fan of whatever it is that he is doing.  Just my .02.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 7, 2011)

Hmm, I think it happens to lots of pros these days who used to shoot film and circumstances made them switch to digital / like Salgado, so now Salgado is looking to make best use of digital plugin simulating film and grain to achieve the style of photographs he got when he shot film.Kratochvil is a pro working for different publishers so they just make the guys do things digitally. Of course, for collectors, the classical prints will be the only option, usually and I hope Kratochvil or Sagrado will still shoot and print film to make us film lovers happy.


----------



## joealcantar (Nov 7, 2011)

Looked at a few shots and was not really impressed.  Noisy and unfocused.
-
Shoot well, Joe


----------



## e.rose (Nov 7, 2011)

ryunin said:


> dots said:
> 
> 
> > One problem i having is i've tried that link 3 times in 3 days and it either takes ages to load or i get a blank page.Wish i could see what these photos look like. Do you have another link to a different page ?
> ...



If I were to base my opinion just off of the shot of Clooney... (seeing as how that's literally the only one I've looked at thus far... I'll get to the rest in a minute...) I'd say I'm not a fan of this photographer.

Clooney looks like a floating head on a solid sea of black.

Maybe there's appeal for that somewhere, but it doesn't really speak to *me* personally.


----------



## ryunin (Nov 13, 2011)

interesting how successful he was :

*Antonin Kratochvil* (born 1947) is a Czech-born American photojournalist. He is a founding member of the VII Photo Agency. He received his BFA in Photography from Gerrit Rietveld Academie which is located in Amsterdam, Holland. Kratochvil has photographed a wide variety of subjects, including Mongolia's street children for the Museum of Natural History and the war in Iraq for Fortune Magazine.He has one son Wayne Anthony Cooper Kratochvil who also is a photographer.​[h=2]Awards and Grants[/h]He has received numerous grants and awards for his photography, most recently the 2005 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Photojournalism and the 2005 Golden Light Award for Best Documentary Book.​[h=3]1990s[/h]

1991 Infinity Award: Photojournalist of the Year
1994 Leica Medal of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Photography
1994 Dorothy Lange Prize
1994 Ernst Haas Working Grant
1995 Hasselblad Foundation Grant for Photography
1995 Ernst Haas Award
1997 Gold Medal for Photography from Society of Publishing Designers
1997 First Prize, World Press Photo Portrait Series, Amsterdam.
1997 (Eissie) Alfred Eisenstadt Award for 3Eyewitness Essay2 Life Magazine.
[h=4]2000s[/h]

2000 Gold ARC Award for Best Annual Report, NGO Category, for Rockefeller Foundation 1999 Annual Report.
2003 First Prize World Press Photo Amsterdam (2 awards same year)
Medal from the City of Prague for Photography
2005 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Photojournalism
2005 Golden Light Award for Best Documentary Book for the book Vanishing


----------



## Kerbouchard (Nov 13, 2011)

And recently a photo sold for 4.3 million dollars that most of us would have hit the delete button or never taken in the first place because there would have been more interesting angles. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photographic-discussions/262514-sometimes-its-surprising.html

Successful photography at that level has a lot more to do with marketing and 'who you know' than it has to do with technical or artistic proficiency.

Just because someone is successful doesn't make them a good photographer...it means they have convinced people who have a lot of money or who give awards that they are special.  Some even make a ton of money convincing people they are special because of their mediocrity.  

We are living in an Ellsworth Toohey world...


----------



## ryunin (Nov 13, 2011)

Kerbouchard said:


> And recently a photo sold for 4.3 million dollars that most of us would have hit the delete button or never taken in the first place because there would have been more interesting angles. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photographic-discussions/262514-sometimes-its-surprising.html
> 
> Successful photography at that level has a lot more to do with marketing and 'who you know' than it has to do with technical or artistic proficiency.
> 
> ...



Hmm, this guy is successful based on his war and poverty regions photographs to which he added atmosphere, rather than just shooting whatever horrible was going on around him. Plus he was inspired by Italian neorealist cinema, which is no argument at all, I know. But that explains why he likes deep or "blocked" patches of black in his photographs. 

Anyway, it is impossible to argue about this as it is more about how we feel about the world and what we recognize intuitively. There isn't much logic to it. The OP was trying to find out whether some kind of special technique is necessary, now it seems it is just making sure there is enough contrast and printing like that.


----------

