Shoot In The Style Of: Ansel Adams
Who Ansel Adams Is And Why I Chose Him
I chose Ansel Adams as my photographer, because I rarely do any landscape works. I wanted to use this assignment as an opportunity to focus on a different aspect of photography, and I decided Adams would be a great inspiration for it. In my photos, I prefer to have a subject (or multiple) be the focus of the image with background settings/objects enhancing it, so this would be a definite change of pace. Ansel Adams photographed in black and white, and took photos of national parks and other protected areas in America. He captured these areas as how they looked, instead of heavily altering them or romanticizing them. His images are known for their deep contrast and sharpness, as well as very defined and moody sky. He uses leading lines quite a bit from rivers and such, along with occasional rule of thirds. The images I shot have been edited to black and white, and made more contrasted. My white points didn’t reach as white for my photos, and I was very careful to limit how dark the shadows were getting. I enhanced the sky for all the photos, making the clouds much more pronounced than their original, and unfortunately the backgrounds are a bit less clear than the foreground. I did not use the same subject matter as Adams, because I didn’t have the resources at the time to photograph, but I instead used roads and power lines to act as my “rivers” or, in other words, leading lines.
First Image
My first image has deep inspiration from The Tetons and Snake River. I shot it at a more side view so the power lines would act as the leading lines towards the buildings in the rear. It’s sort of similar to Adams as his river also leads the eye to the mountains in the rear.
Second Image
My second photo took inspiration from Transmission Lines in Mojave Desert. I had briefly seen this photo online, and got a chance to get a power line photo quite like it. I’m pretty proud of this photo as I like the overall composition. I also had to edit this photo the most to bring out the clouds.
Third Image
My third photo took inspiration from Mount Williamson. It was actually an indirect inspiration as my photo reminds me of this one. My photo has a pole right down the middle with buildings in the background, which reminds me of the rock directly in the middle of Adams and the mountains in the background. This one has the best clouds that didn’t need as much editing as the rest.
Ending Words
Overall, I’m pretty happy with my final images. I wish I had my aperture higher, as well as my shutter speed and that I took my photos on cloudier days. Regardless, I enjoyed learning about Ansel Adams, and replicating his style with the tools, experience, and subject matter I had on hand. I hope to replicate other photographer’s styles in the future during my free time.
Useful References
Turnage, William. 2022. “Ansel Adams, Photographer - a Biography.” The Ansel Adams Gallery. The Ansel Adams Gallery. September 29, 2022. https://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/.
“MFA Examines Ansel Adams’ Influence, Legacy - Antiques and the Arts WeeklyAntiques and the Arts Weekly.” 2018. November 27, 2018. https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/mfa-examines-ansel-adams-influence-legacy/.
Nando Harmsen. 2019. “How to Use the Ansel Adams Zone System in the Digital World.” Fstoppers. October 16, 2019. https://fstoppers.com/education/how-use-ansel-adams-zone-system-digital-world-417047.
