Favorite Ansel shot and why.

[Brian Ellis]

This thread started me thinking about this. Perhaps, the reason is that, as photographers, many of us believe we could make some of Adams's other photos. Whether true or not, it appears that some of the photos were just a matter of being there at the right time with the right light. For example, Clearing Winter Storm is an awesome photograph. But, it is hard to miss. The scene itself is awe inspiring. The storm was beautiful. Executed well. You don't have to be Adams or anyone else to realize the beauty of the location or the opportunity given by the storm. He chose a normal lens. We might have chosen a 450mm or a 250mm, or framed it slightly differently with the 300mm, but the idea is basically the same. Adams gets credit for his execution of the idea, but we feel we could have done it, given the chance. Of course, once he made many of his photos, and we have spent years looking at them, they start to look like gimmees, even if they truly were not. Would you have isolated those Aspens and printed the photo that way? Really?

On the other hand, Frozen Lake and Cliffs was, clearly, not obvious. I think the story is that he was with several other photographers, and he is the only one who came back with that photo. It is abstract, it is unusual. It is the product of his imagination more than anything else.

Like my friend (and I am sure many others) has often said, photography is at least as much about exclusion as inclusion, and that photographs are made around the edges (by what you choose to keep in or keep out). Frozen Lake and Cliffs is an outstanding example of this idea.

Maybe we could have done Clearing Winter Storm if we had been there but would we have done what Adams did to get there? IIRC from his description of the making of that photograph, he was sitting in his warm house sipping a cup of coffee on a cold morning and noticed some interesting things developing in the sky. Because of his knowledge of the area he suspected there might be a good photograph in the area given what was happening in the sky. So he forgot about the coffee, hurriedly got dressed, raced out the door and hiked to the area as fast as he could. I can't speak for others but I suspect I'd have moved closer to the fire, finished the coffee, and figured I'd get out there later when things had warmed up a bit.

[Jim Galli]

Maybe we could have done Clearing Winter Storm if we had been there but would we have done what Adams did to get there? IIRC from his description of the making of that photograph, he was sitting in his warm house sipping a cup of coffee on a cold morning and noticed some interesting things developing in the sky. Because of his knowledge of the area he suspected there might be a good photograph a little later in the area where he made the photograph. So he forgot about the coffee, hurriedly got dressed, raced out the door and hiked to the area as fast as he could. I can't speak for others but I suspect I'd have moved closer to the fire, finished the coffee, and figured I'd get out there later when things had warmed up a bit.

Poor Ansel. Living in a sub standard house in Yosemite. He really suffered for those shots.

[tgtaylor]

Poor Ansel. Living in a sub standard house in Yosemite. He really suffered for those shots.

I thought he had a suite at the Ahwahnee - played the piano for the rent.

All joking aside, I recall seeing a video of Ansel that was filmed at his suite at the Ahwahnee.

[Doug Howk]

This thread encouraged me to look thru his books including 400 photos. The Frozen Lake and Cliffs stands out for it appears very uncharacteristic of Adams - maybe he was channeling Brett Weston ;-) Can it be considered his best when other images like Clearing Storm are more characteristic of Adams' style and subject matter?

[David Karp]

Maybe we could have done Clearing Winter Storm if we had been there but would we have done what Adams did to get there? IIRC from his description of the making of that photograph, he was sitting in his warm house sipping a cup of coffee on a cold morning and noticed some interesting things developing in the sky. Because of his knowledge of the area he suspected there might be a good photograph in the area given what was happening in the sky. So he forgot about the coffee, hurriedly got dressed, raced out the door and hiked to the area as fast as he could. I can't speak for others but I suspect I'd have moved closer to the fire, finished the coffee, and figured I'd get out there later when things had warmed up a bit.

Well, I don't want anyone to think that I believe that I absolutely could have made that photo and equal AA's. However, I do think that it is within the realm of possibility for many photographers.

As far as being there in the right weather. I have gone to Yosemite several times in the winter, and wish I could do it more frequently. I spend the entire day outside if I can. I actually have raced up to the same vicinity from where AA made that photo when I see interesting things developing. One time, it actually turned into something very nice, and I made a pretty decent photo there. We go in when the light is gone, have some hot chocolate or coffee, and wonder whether our images will turn out the way we hope. (Well I do. Now my wife uses her digital camera.)

[Keith S. Walklet]

All joking aside, I recall seeing a video of Ansel that was filmed at his suite at the Ahwahnee.

I think you may be mistaken. Ansel didn't have a suite at The Ahwahnee. He and Virginia lived in a home just behind the Ansel Adams Gallery.

He did work with Yosemite Park and Curry Company creating images to promote park facilities (including the Ahwahnee) and activities until 1938, and directed the Bracebridge up until 1973, but his son Michael insists that rumors that he played the piano at The Ahwahnee were not true.

[rfesk]

Not to take away from many others but for me it is "Moonrise" because of the subject matter which is really moving for an Easterner in addition to the artistic rendering and excellent printing from a master printer.

[Drew Wiley]

Trivia time. Several of you mentioned Adams' famous "Mt Williamson" shot, taken from
Manzanar. This, however, is not Mt Williamson at all, but a spur on a ridge of a peak
fully two-thousand feet lower than Williamson, and seven miles to the south of it!
Bruce Barnbaum was furious when I pointed this out to him, as if I were a photographic heretic for interpreting geography literally. The real Mt Willamson is only partially visible from Manzanar, and is a MUCH bigger peak. Adam's had a reputation for getting his peaks mixed up. The famous one in his picture does not even have a name yet, although it is near Mt Alice. ... Now for the question at hand, my own
favorite AA has never been published. It was a different "Clearing Storm" shot taken
from the same parking lot entering Yosemite, but taken in his 60's and much darker in
mood. At the time he was a the height of his technical skill in the darkroom. I saw a
20x24 framed print, printed on Galerie, with the usual crisp graininess of HC-110. I wish
someone would publish it, though it just wouldn't have the same effect in smaller scale.

[Bruce Pollock]

For me it's a toss-up between Moonrise and Clearing Winter Storm. Moonrise because of the image and the story behind it's capture. Few people could have done what he did. Storm because the image always makes me think I've just stepped off a spaceship onto another planet.

Having said all that, at this point in my 30+ years of development as a photographer, I find myself trying to overcome the tyranny of the Weston/Adams stranglehold on my early years. They caused me to think that the only good photograph was a straight up f64 black and white image printed on glossy paper, preferably of an iconic subject. I no longer think that way and am trying hard to go in the opposite direction wherever possible.

[Eric_Scott]

Ridge, Sierra Nevada, C. 1925. I can't explain why. All I know is that I can't stop staring at it.