Image from NY Times article.I alluded in an earlier post to how much I love Ansel Adams - what photographer doesn't, really? But the historian in me also loves to read about his life, his style, and some of the stories his friends and family tell about him. I think this kind of social and biographical history is incredibly interesting and also influences how I look at his images.
There are numerous books and a wealth of articles on Adams on the web - one of my favorites is this New York Times travel article. The article details how, as a young man, Adams took his first trip to Yosemite and stood on a rock to take a picture of Half Dome, then promptly stumbled and fell! On his way down, he accidentally pressed the shuttle-release, creating an "upside down" image that remained one of his favorites.
I have heard stories about how he would hike for miles into Yosemite, spend an hour or two setting up a shot, and then take just one picture and hike back out, so confident in the pre-digital era that he had captured the image as it was in his mind. I'm not sure if this story is true - it may be more of a tall tale. But I did read that one of his first famous pictures from Yosemite, titled "Monolith" and taken of Half Dome, was taken as he neared the apex of his hike. At this point, he only had two plates left and so could only capture two images and he nailed it on the second one. Perhaps this is where the other story I heard comes from.
Ansel Adams inspires me for two main reasons, besides the sheer beauty of his images: one, he was able to pre-visualize his photographs. Again, without the immediate feedback of a digital camera LCD screen, he had to frame, adjust, and shoot all the while knowing what it would look like in his head. As a recent convert from film, I still see the beauty in black and white film photography, which I did for so long, because it takes dedication and helps build your intuition as a photorapher.
Second, he knew his equipment instinctively. He used one of the tiniest aperture openings available to create the best depth of field for his landscape work and experimented with filters, including a red filter to create his dramatic "Monolith" photograph. In fact, he founded a club for like-minded photographers called F/64, named after a tiny aperture opening. I can't imagine lugging around all that heavy equipment - I mean, I complain about having to carry two or three lenses and a flash!
If you haven't had a chance to really peruse some of his work, I encourage you to browse through a book or take the opportunity to go to a museum that has some of his prints - you will be amazed!
There are numerous books and a wealth of articles on Adams on the web - one of my favorites is this New York Times travel article. The article details how, as a young man, Adams took his first trip to Yosemite and stood on a rock to take a picture of Half Dome, then promptly stumbled and fell! On his way down, he accidentally pressed the shuttle-release, creating an "upside down" image that remained one of his favorites.
I have heard stories about how he would hike for miles into Yosemite, spend an hour or two setting up a shot, and then take just one picture and hike back out, so confident in the pre-digital era that he had captured the image as it was in his mind. I'm not sure if this story is true - it may be more of a tall tale. But I did read that one of his first famous pictures from Yosemite, titled "Monolith" and taken of Half Dome, was taken as he neared the apex of his hike. At this point, he only had two plates left and so could only capture two images and he nailed it on the second one. Perhaps this is where the other story I heard comes from.
Ansel Adams inspires me for two main reasons, besides the sheer beauty of his images: one, he was able to pre-visualize his photographs. Again, without the immediate feedback of a digital camera LCD screen, he had to frame, adjust, and shoot all the while knowing what it would look like in his head. As a recent convert from film, I still see the beauty in black and white film photography, which I did for so long, because it takes dedication and helps build your intuition as a photorapher.
Second, he knew his equipment instinctively. He used one of the tiniest aperture openings available to create the best depth of field for his landscape work and experimented with filters, including a red filter to create his dramatic "Monolith" photograph. In fact, he founded a club for like-minded photographers called F/64, named after a tiny aperture opening. I can't imagine lugging around all that heavy equipment - I mean, I complain about having to carry two or three lenses and a flash!
If you haven't had a chance to really peruse some of his work, I encourage you to browse through a book or take the opportunity to go to a museum that has some of his prints - you will be amazed!
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