Shoot in the Style of - Ansel Adams
Brianna Ming
Part 1 - Research
The photographer I chose to research for this project was Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams was a photographer and environmentalist. He was born on February 20, 1902 and he died on April 22, 1984. Ansel was born in San Francisco, California (Turnage, 2023). Adams found an interest in photography when he was quite young. He was inspired by photographers like Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Timothy O’Sullivan, and Frank Jay Haynes who were all nature photographers as well. He even replicated some of their image views of Yosemite Valley, Canyon de Chelly, and Yellowstone (MFA Examines Ansel Adams’ Influence, Legacy, 2018). Ansel Adams was famous for his photographs of landscapes in black and white. Some of his most famous images include Tenaya Creek, Redwoods, and Clearing Winter Storm as seen below.
Part 2 - My Opinion
I selected Ansel Adams because I found his story to be very relatable. He drew inspiration for his photographs from his loe of nature and the environment. He loved how beautiful the natural world was and wanted to play a role in protecting it. I find this relatable because I have always been passionate about protecting the environment. I love being out in nature and seeing the beauty in the world that is untouched by humans. I prefer taking photos of nature over anything else so far. His images and passion intrigued me and made me want to learn more about him.
Adams took many beautiful photos. His style was mainly black and white landscape photography. Most of his photos captured breathtaking scenery of mountains or national parks. His images also all have a high degree of clarity and detail, the whole image appears to be in focus. He was known to begin the photography process by first visualizing the final image in his mind and considering what he wanted to capture, then waiting for the perfect conditions to achieve his vision, and finally working on the images in the darkroom (Szarkowski, 2023). He was a co-developer of the Zone System which was a technique to control exposure and development to get precise tonal ranges in a photo. Adams was also known to use dodging and burning in the darkroom to selectively adjust exposure.
It was difficult to create images that were visually similar to Ansel Adams, however it is very simple to take photos using the same inspiration. I started out by looking at some photos that Adams took to get some ideas. After doing some research on him I thought about where I could go to appreciate the nature that is near me here at the college. So I got up early one morning and went for a walk to a nearby park. I kept the camera out and snapped a few shots on my way there and continued shooting while I was walking through the park. I took photos of anything I thought was interesting or beautiful, this included trees, leaves, ponds, park benches, and pathways. When I looked back at what I shot I found three images that reminded me most of Ansel Adams’ photos. Those three photos are shown below, I named them “Ghosts of Autumn”, “Frosted Cattails”, and “Silent Woods”.
Ghosts of Autumn
“Ghosts of Autumn” is a photo of several trees that have lost their leaves from the change of season and the leaves are shown on the ground beneath them. This photo really captured the change of seasons well and shows the peaceful feeling that I felt walking through this area.
Frosted Cattails
“Frosted Cattails” is a photo of the grasses and other greenery surrounding a small pond that had begun to freeze over. I think this photo invokes a sense of peace as well. The scene looks serene and still. There is a prominent horizontal line in this image, the water line of the pond, which helps to show the calming aspect of the scene.
Silent Woods
“Silent Woods” is another calm, quiet, still image. It captures a walking path with trees surrounding it and some sky peeking through in the background. The tree in the middle is the main focus and is a strong vertical line. It adds a feeling of strength to the image which works nicely with the dark tones to convey a silent forest idea.
My images may not have captured the most breathtaking scenes like some of Ansel Adams’, however; the idea behind them is the same. The idea was to capture the beauty of the natural world. The beauty in things when they are left untouched by humans. Also to attempt to replicate his creative process, including visualizing what I wanted to capture, then photographing, and then editing using techniques such as dodging and burning.
References
MFA Examines Ansel Adams’ Influence, Legacy. (2018, November 27). Antiques And The Arts Weekly. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/mfa-examines-ansel-adams-influence-legacy/
Szarkowski, J. (2023, November 5). Ansel Adams | Biography, Photography, & Facts. Britannica. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ansel-Adams-American-photographer
Turnage, W. (2023, July 5). Ansel Adams Biography - A Photographer & Environmentalist. The Ansel Adams Gallery. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/
