Research on Nature - Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was born on February 20th 1902 in San Francisco, California.

The first time he used a camera was when his parents took him on a trip to Yosmite when he was a teenager. His parents gave him a Kodak Brownie box camera for him to take photographs on the trip.

After this trip he decided that he wanted to become a concert pianist but after he became successful at selling some of his photography portfolios he changed his mind and wanted to be a professional photographer instead.

He experimented with different filters on his camera & ways of developing his prints.

By 1935 he became a popular photographer with people hiring him to make portraits of their families & pictures of their homes.

Ansel Adams specialised in black & white photography & one of the prints that he is most popular for is the below photograph called 'Moonrise'.

Ansel went on to prepare for exhibitions & even made a set of murals & published numerous books of his work & about photography to share his knowledge of the industry.

In 1983 he visited Yosmite where he visited as a teenager and took his first photographs. This was to be his last visit as he passed away the next year in April 1984 at the age of 82.

Below are some of Ansel's images I have selected and this is where I would like to draw inspiration for my own images.

The first image above has a really interesting composition. I like the way the hills sweep down into the centre of the image and it looks really soft. My eyes were first drawn to the fence at the front of the image but then they are drawn to the back of the image to the clouds. The shadows that the clouds create over the hills give the image a moody effect.

The above is one of my favourite images from Ansel. I love the composition, the angle of the tree and the way it leans to the right and its completely draws your eyes in and captivates you. The intertwining bark is really interesting and I love the shadows that are created on the rock from the sunlight cascading over the tree and its branches. I also like how the background is very simple as to not take away from the rock and tree and the depth of field is really nice.

I like the detail in this close up image of the leaves here and it really shows off the beauty and detail in them. I like the contrast of the large leaves against the smaller thinner pine leaves and the focal point lies mainly with the large leaf towards the centre of the photograph.

In this image above the shadowing and detail of the bark is really nice. The shadows created by the use of natural light bring out the detail on the bark. Again it remains quite simple because the main focus is on the bark and I like the use of depth of field to capture the mountains in the background.

This close up of the rose is stunning and really simple. It is laying on wood and it almost looks like the rose is floating on water. The rose really pops out of the image and you are drawn to the centre of the flower straight away. There is detail in both the rose and the wood and the use of light here really brings this out.

This image above is quite eerie but really does show that you don't have to be limited to daylight and you can use the moonlight to give a different effect and outcome. The moonlight behind the tree creates a silhouette and shines through the gaps of the leaves and branches on the tree. The composition is simple and the tree looks completely central to the image.

This image of the cactus is nice and is the main focal point of the photograph. It looks like it was taken in a desert location and it focuses on the textures of the plants and uses shadowing by using the natural light. I like the composition and I think it works that the cactus is in the centre of the image as everything can then expand outwards.

I like the positioning of the above image, the roughness of the rocks against the soft background of the mountains and the sea. This really contrasts well. I like the crashing waves against the rocks as this adds life to the photo and the large depth of field adds distance and depth to the image. As a whole all of these elements work really well together.

The above is a really pretty image and shows at least three different types of leaves close up. The main focal point for me is the four larger leaves to the top of the photograph and the light catches these and highlights them nicely.

I love this last image and how the water acts as a mirror and reflects the clouds and the mountains of its surface. It is very serene and calm and your eyes are drawn through the mountains towards the back of the image.

It has been really interesting researching Ansel Adams' work and I would like to take away some inspiration from his work and bring some of his skills and techniques into my own work. I would like to go away and experiment with black and white images of possibly landscapes, trees and plants and also incorporate some close up photographs as well.

Once I have done this I will compare my work to Ansel's to see what worked well for me and what didn't work as well.