Intro
I chose Ansel Adams because I find his work to be inspirational, for being able to take such incredible pictures during a time where cameras weren’t very advanced is a feat not many have the opportunity to say they did. His landscapes really stood out to me, for they were very detailed, and were set up very nicely. I always had Ansel Adams as my choice, for I never felt the need to change. His style of photography always enticed me to further study the ways of photography, and is one of my inspirations for wanting to become one myself.
Contemporaries
One contemporary of Ansel Adams was Edward Weston, who took photographs of landscapes just like Adams did. He was very similar, however, didn’t use the amount of contrast as Adams, and his landscapes weren’t as epic as his as well, although they still look pretty great. There was also Mario Giacomelli, who produced landscapes with incredibly high contrast ratios by using different colored films in front of his camera. The contrast is much higher than Adams, and the settings aren’t as marvelous, but he still manages to capture his style of photography. Both of these photographers were masters of their craft, and I feel like they both captured Adams’ style perfectly.
“I tried to keep both arts alive, but the camera won. I found that while the camera does not express the soul, perhaps a photograph can!”
-Ansel Adams
Lighting and Camera Settings
Throughout Adams’ career, many cameras were used to capture the critical moments he encountered during his expeditions. One of these cameras used was an Eastman Kodak Brownie #1, which was used during the beginning of his career. I could not find a picture of the #1 model, however, I did manage to fine the #2 model, which carried over many of its previous generation’s features. Regarding his aperture, I believe that Adams used a higher aperture, perhaps at around the range of 22- 25. I say this because his landscape photos focused on a large area of land, with the whole picture being focused at one time, which is shown in my gif exemplifying the spectrum of apertures.
Emulations
Over the past month or so, I have collected a good amount of emulations that I feel are worthy of showing. The top five photos are the best of what I’ve taken so far, and I feel a sense of accomplishment looking back at them. They may not be as epic as Adams’ photos were, but I believe that with enough effort and time, I could become as skilled as him someday. This project has been a great experience, and has influenced me into becoming a photographer in the future. I don’t know if I’ll be a professional, or become a legend or anything like that, but what I do know is that the skills I have acquired through this class will help me in the future if I ever want to try my hand at it. Overall, this project has been a wonderful experience; I learned many different tricks for taking photos, I learned about the different camera settings and modes, and I learned how to manually focus a camera using the lens by hand, in order to take pictures that may not be acquired with auto-focus. If I could, I would take this class all over again, except I’d probably want a classroom computer if I did.
” To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things”
-Ansel Adams
Spencer's Corner 