Studying the masters of photography is among the best ways to learn photography. Ansel Adams was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Here, I look into his work, his perspective on photography and the lessons and takeaways from his photographic ventures.
Studying the masters of photography is among the best ways to learn photography techniques, approaches, theories, and perspectives. The same way reading great literature makes you a better writer or analyzing great filmmaking makes you a better filmmaker, studying great photographers makes you a better photographer. Here, I look into Ansel Adams.
For more biographical information, there are plenty of sources to explore on the worldwide web. I will give a brief overview of his professional life, but then I will pivot to the lessons and takeaways I’ve grasped from his photographic ventures and successes.
Let’s go.
Overview of Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. First balancing his love for photography with love for piano, he decided to dedicate his professional life to photography in the late 1920s.
Straight Photography
Photography had been around for decades but never regarded as an art in and of itself. As a result, photographers used soft focusing techniques and diffused light ambiances to emulate the style of paintings – a proper art form. This style of photography became known as pictorialism.
Adams, along with a few other photographers, rejected this photographic movement. To rebel, they created the “Group f/64” – a reference to aperture f/64, which produces a great depth of field and crisp details – embracing pure or straight photography. In contrast to pictorialism, straight photography uses sharp focus, heightened tonal range and contrast, and precise, intentional exposure techniques to produce an ultra-realistic portrayal.
In response, fellow photographers and art critics ruthlessly criticized this direction. Nevertheless, Adams stayed true to the photographic style. By the end of the 1930s, Adams became famous for his moody black and white landscapes of the American West, mainly the Yosemite Valley area, where he spent his youth in awe of his surroundings.
Ansel Adams, the Conservationist
In the second half of his life, Adams spent much of his time reinterpreting his photographs, working on improving social opinion on photography as an art form, and fighting to preserve and protect the uninhabited American west that remained. In fact, many of his published also aim to raise awareness for the conservation of the wilderness.
Later, Ansel Adams died of cardiovascular disease at the age of 82, dreaming of the future in store for photography, accurately predicting the medium’s electronic takeover.
Alright, let’s look at a few ideas we can take away from this master of photography.
Choose Simplicity
Every single one of Ansel Adam’s photographs has a conceptually simple subject. Instead, Adams would hyperfocus on the tonal balance and exposure of the image. I’ve done a whole post on the Exposure Triangle if you’re interested in learning more about it.
Patiently, Adams would wait days for the most appropriate weather and lighting in the area. Furthermore, he would spend hours upon hours in the darkroom perfecting the print to convey the same feeling he had when he took the shot. In fact, one could argue that he would photograph the subject’s environmental condition rather than the subject itself.
As a result, he demonstrated an intimate understanding and appreciation for how the lighting conditions affect any given area. The work of Ansel Adams depended on it.
Put into Practice:
Great photographs can come from simple subjects taken to perfection.
Exposure, depth of field and patience are a few of the tools photographers can use to bring your creative vision to life.
Indeed, even the most uncomplicated frame can become the most visually exciting photo with the appropriate attention to detail.
Master Exposure
Furthermore, Adams was a master printer. Known for his black and white, stunningly detailed yet straightforward landscape photos, Ansel Adams perfected the art of exposure on the camera and in the darkroom. With little else to captivate the viewers, exposure and tonal contrast was everything.
OUR LIVES AT TIMES SEEM A STUDY IN CONTRAST… LOVE & HATE, BIRTH & DEATH, RIGHT & WRONG… EVERYTHING SEEN IN ABSOLUTES OF BLACK & WHITE. TOO OFTEN WE ARE NOT AWARE THAT IT IS THE SHADES OF GREY THAT ADD DEPTH & MEANING TO THE STARKNESS OF THOSE EXTREMES.
– ansel adams
This tonal variance was, by far, Ansel Adam’s most distinguishing tool used to communicate feeling through his photographs.
He understood composition and vantage points. More importantly, he understood his camera, the technical settings and the post-processing required to capture how he felt as he looked at his subject.
Put into Practice:
In reality, this understanding takes time and a lot of trial and error. The more photos you take, the better you will be at achieving your desired exposure with all different settings.
What happens when I decrease the shutter speed? What if I increase the aperture? How about if I drop the aperture but focus on something in the distance rather than in the foreground? When I expose for the sky, can I still bring out the land in post-production?
I am continually learning and experimenting with these settings.
Sadly, there is an adverse side effect on the modern world of digital photography. Digital cameras are now capable of a great deal more than the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. No matter what, these remain the fundamentals on which great photography is built. Ansel Adams showed us that. Master exposure to master photography.
Visualize the Result
Too often, photographers will get caught up taking the shot before considering how they want it to look and feel. Ansel Adams pre-visualizes his photos, reducing his perspective to a two-dimensional photograph.
IN MY MIND’S EYE, I VISUALIZE HOW A PARTICULAR… SIGHT AND FEELING WILL APPEAR ON A PRINT. IF IT EXCITES ME, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE IT WILL MAKE A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH. IT IS AN INTUITIVE SENSE, AN ABILITY THAT COMES FROM A LOT OF PRACTICE.
– ansel adams
A lot of practice is right.
It takes thousands of shots and years of application to acquire the photographic intuition involved in choosing the right everything for the right shot. Knowing which lens, which settings, where to stand, at what angle, when to click the shutter, and how to post-process is difficult enough.
Unfortunately, translating what you see in real life into an even better photograph is a language that not everyone speaks.
Learning the language means learning how to see. The way a musician hears the world differently, a photographer sees the world through different eyes.
First, try looking at your surroundings through a photographer’s eyes, then express how it makes you feel through the photograph. Incredible.
The more photos you take, the more you scrutinize the result yourself, the more feedback and criticism you acquire from others, the more you’ll be able to hone in on this ability.
Stay True to You
Ansel Adams spent most of his life photographing landscapes of the American West. While other photographers were exposing ‘more pressing’ social issues, he continued photographing the most moving subject he felt: the remote valleys and mountains of the Yosemite Valley. An environmentalist from an early age, Adams used art to highlight and draw attention to these areas’ vulnerability.
It wasn’t until decades later that the preservation of these natural landscapes became of severe social concern.
Also, Adams helped found the first photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, thus increasing public acceptance of photography as fine art. From the early days of his photography career, Adams rejected pictorialism, which made photographs look like anything but. Contrastingly, he embraced photography as accurate, detailed documentation of reality as we see and feel it. Further, his position as a famous and well-established photographer helped formally realize this art form. In the end, the realization of photography as an art form is one of his greatest legacies.
Put into Practice:
This takeaway is perhaps the most resonating aspect I’ve learned about Ansel Adam’s photography career for several reasons.
First, art is a powerful cultural influence that can be used to achieve great things. Whether social issues, environmental goals or global awareness, a picture says a thousand words. Use it to send a message.
Second, if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it won’t mean anything to anyone.
A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH IS ONE THAT FULLY EXPRESSES WHAT ONE FEELS, IN THE DEEPEST SENSE, ABOUT WHAT IS BEING PHOTOGRAPHED.
– ansel adams
If you don’t feel anything, you won’t photograph anything. Truthfully, I’d rather one person look at my photograph and feel what I felt than a thousand people look at my photograph and feel nothing.
Finally, rebelling against conformity in pursuit of your vision can change the course of a concept. If it weren’t for the few like Ansel Adams, we might never have known photography the way we do today.
Photograph the Feeling
“ASK YOURSELF: “DOES THIS SUBJECT MOVE ME TO FEEL, THINK AND DREAM?”
– Ansel Adams
I’ve spent a lot of this post referring to the feelings evoked by Adams’ photography. That’s because it was a point he frequently made when discussing his work.
Though his photographs look realistic, they are, at times, far from a visually accurate representation of the scene. Instead, they are an emotionally accurate representation. In his mind, they succeed in expressing how the scene felt to him as he was looking at it.
Put into Practice:
Honestly, I don’t know how to put this into practice beyond asking myself what he asked in the quote at the beginning of the point.
Does it move me to feel?
I imagine I’ll know the answer as it is revealed to me.
Until then, I will continue to keep that question top of mind every time I gaze through the viewfinder of my camera.
Final Thoughts on Ansel Adams
In this study of one of the world’s finest masters of photography, I’ve learned a few invaluable lessons from Ansel Adams. Summed up into four words, I would say, “think before you click.” Obvious, I know.
Look through the eyes of a photographer. Take a step back, literally. Consider how the subject makes me feel. Is it a feeling I want to portray to others? How can I convey that feeling through the photograph? Send a message.
Most importantly, know how I want the photograph to look. Take composition into account. Consider your perspective and vantage point. Then, relocate if called for. Am I choosing the most appropriate settings to achieve my visualized image? Try a few variants.
Ensure I have optimal exposure. Remember that tonal variance creates depth. Focus on the subject but keep the whole frame in mind. Reassess the composition of the image.
Finally, take post-production into account; minimize it where possible but utilize it where necessary.
A Goal
It’s a lot to remember each time you move to press the shutter release. It takes tens of thousands of shots to get it right even some of the time. The intuition in being able to recognize the potential in a photograph takes years of practice. Conveying feeling in a photograph is likely the most challenging part that I may never achieve to the extent Ansel Adams did. Be that as it may, the growth is worth every shot!
I want to get better at it. I intend to do that by forever studying the masters of photography and learning the lessons they taught, and continuing to teach aspiring photographers.
The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.
– ansel adams
Thank you for everything, Ansel.
Let’s give it a shot.
