Adams illustrates this in an encounter with a quotidian photographer at Point Lobos stating that, after the Zone System is learned in detail, it becomes a way of thinking and of applying technical principles while visualizing a potential photograph.It has a basic simple mantra, however: Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights. While many take the view that a ‘good’ photograph (technically) has deep blacks and bright whites, ‘it ain’t necessarily so’. Adams quotes an observation from his photographic assistant, John Sexton, slightly paraphrased as, 'many students believe that when they have a good black and a good white, then they have a good print. Actually, at that point, they are only ready to "begin" to print the negative'.The point, of course, is that such a technically good photograph may not convey the mood or spirit of a scene that fine art photographers seek in their work. Very early in his career, McSavaney determined to master the 'craft of photography' in order to adequately express his vision of what his mental photograph should represent. Applying and sometimes extending Ansel's teachings in making an "expressive print", Ray honed and matured his artistic seeing and technical skills in two especially striking Los Angeles locations. One was the abandoned Uniroyal Tire Factory alongside a then busy highway, now a much busier Los Angeles freeway;  the other a major construction project in the city center, known as Bunker Hill, Los Angeles Redevelopment. In working on those unusually contrasty scenes, McSavaney soon discovered that his photographic skills were grossly inadequate. He was challenged by the technical pitfalls presented by scenes with extreme luminance ranges. Adams had discussed in detail just such pitfalls in his book on the Camera. With all that in mind in preparation for those difficult projects, McSavaney thoroughly experimented with several of Adams’ techniques for developing film exposed under extreme tonal ranges and lighting conditions. Two of McSavaney's early photography series were what he termed "The Tire Factory" and "The Bunker Hill Project". In each of these subjects he was faced with ranges of brightness, tonalities, and contrasts that he had not previously encountered. The design motif of the Uniroyal Tire Factory would have done credit to a Cecil B. DeMille Hollywood epic. With almost a third of a mile façade alongside a busy highway, crenellated and turreted like King Sargon's palace, it mirrored the flapper era national infatuation with exotic foreign and architectural motifs.