Who is Ansel Adams?
Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 10th 1902, He was one of the most important landscape photographers of the 20th century. known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64 in 1932, an association of photographers advocating “pure” photography which favoured sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph…even creating a Zonal System to ensure that all tonal values are represented in the images. He is also one of the most loved photographers in the history of the United States, the popularity of his work has only increased since his death in 1984. Ansel was given his first camera in 1916 at the age of 14 and proved to be a talented photographer. Throughout the 1920s he worked as the custodian of the sierra club’s lodge in Yosemite National park, he created impressive landscape photographs. But is was only in 1930 that Adam decided to devote his life to photography.
Ansel Adams Photography
Ansel Adams’s photography style its sharp focus, exceptional detail, and dramatic use of light and shadow. He wanted to capture the grandeur and beauty of the natural world, emphasising the importance of preserving these pristine landscapes.
- Adams Primarily used large format cameras, such as the 8×10 inch view camera, which allowed him to capture the amount of detail he wanted .
- Beside photographer Fred Archer, Adams created the Zone system, which was a method of achieving precise control over exposure and development in order to refine image quality.
- Adams believed in the importance of pre- visualizing the final image before taking a photograph, adjusting things such as composition, lighting, and exposure to create a the outcome he wanted.
- With his photography , Adams shared a greater appreciation for the natural world and to promote importance of preserving our environment.
The zone system
Ansel Adams created the Zone system with Fred Archer around 1940, which teaches how to achieve the optimal exposure on the prints. His method was based on exposing the film in such a manner as to capture the darkest areas of the scene to avoid complete underexposed blacks. Then in the dark room, he proceeded to time the development so the highlights wouldn’t turn to complete white.
Image analysis
This image captures the Moon rising over a small Mexican town. In this image the top part over the moon is very dark and about 25% of this image is pure dark grey however it works really well, In the centre of the image there is The mood which even being one of the smallest things in this image its one of the most important so important that the tittle is Moonrise over Hernandez. The clouds are still very bright which makes me think that this image wasn’t taken at night but instead in late afternoon. The interesting thing about this image is the details that it has, every detail of the Moon can be seen clearly as well as the windows on the houses, churchyard cross, every chimney. Ansel Adams used his 8″x10″ camera. Driving back to Santa Fe, New Mexico on Oct. 31, 1941, after what had been a disappointing day for picture-taking, photographer Ansel Adams stopped his car and yelled to his colleagues to bring him his tripod, exposure meter and other photographic equipment so that he could take what would become one of the most famous images in fine art photography, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.