Ansel Adams exhibit inspirational (Page 2): This year is the 75th annual Iowa state fair photography salon and to celebrate that fact, this years salon is dedicated to Ansel Adams. For...

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

This year is the 75th annual Iowa state fair photography salon and to celebrate that fact, this years salon is dedicated to Ansel Adams. For this year only all submissions are B&W only. I had just gotten involved with photography shortly before last years salon and decided I would try to enter this year. My goal was to have one photo good enough to be selected for display. I was shocked to receive a postcard the other day informing me that 4 out of 5 of my entries had been selected. I've been mulling this information over for a few days now with the knowledge that in last years salon, no photographer had more than 2 entries selected for display, and I've come to the conclusion that the number of entries must be way down this year since they're only accepting B&W photos.

Walt

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

SharpShooter wrote:

Yes, but AA was a master at knowing what the finished product would look like after printing, before he shot them! ;-)
SS

Not always true.
I read him comment once that he had photos of a particular shoot from two decades before that he hadn't printed yet because he "hadn't quite worked out how he was going to process them".

CHuckle's Loc: Lockhart, Texas

I to was privilaged to see an exhibit recently and was blown away! He was a master in evert sense of the word! Truely inspiring!

photon56 wrote:

The Ansel Adams collection is on exhibit at a loca... (show quote)

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

CHuckle's wrote:

I to was privilaged to see an exhibit recently and was blown away! He was a master in evert sense of the word! Truely inspiring!

Yes, and if he was on UHH, some snapshooter would be arguing with him about how the zone system works.

gampa-dan Loc: North Central PA

Adams was the skilled darkroom practitioner as well as photographer. So much of producing the striking photo is in the eye of the photographer. I may be able to produce technically good photos but I fall short in the "artists eye" department.

My second grade teacher was an artist who painted for her own amusement, but was very talented. She was the dutiful daughter who cared for her parents until they passed. She had always longed to travel but was devoted to her parents. When they passed, she took a job teaching on a military base in Japan. She lived in Japan for the next 20 years, traveling throughout the East. Her photos, taken with a simple range-finder 35mm, were superb. The equipment was simple by today's standards, but the results were nothing short of perfection.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

gampa-dan wrote:

........ br br My second grade teacher was an art... (show quote)

And this is related to the discussion about Adams ....... how?

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

lighthouse wrote:

SharpShooter wrote:

Yes, but AA was a master at knowing what the finished product would look like after printing, before he shot them!
SS

Not always true.
I read him comment once that he had photos of a particular shoot from two decades before that he hadn't printed yet because he "hadn't quite worked out how he was going to process them".

That doesn't mean he had not, two decades previously, visualized exactly what he wanted a final print to look like.

It just means he hadn't figured out the process to make it look that way.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Apaflo wrote:

That doesn't mean he had not, two decades previously, visualized exactly what he wanted a final print to look like.

It just means he hadn't figured out the process to make it look that way.

You are probably right.
I just liked the fact that that shoot was still in his mind two decades later and he was still working on it - the patience of a true master.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

lighthouse wrote:

You are probably right.
I just liked the fact that that shoot was still in his mind two decades later and he was still working on it - the patience of a true master.

Yeah, he was that way with a lot of his negatives.

He was a story teller and very much a self promoter, so there is also a certain about of "personality" added to any story like that. But it's a fact that his view of his images changed significantly over his lifetime. Mostly all in the same way. He printed almost everything much darker in later years.

But "visualization" allows for that. The zone system, much like shooting RAW using ETTR today, was intended to capture as much detail as possible so that every potential could be extracted at a later date. The idea that someone else might print his negatives very differently than he did was not just acceptable, it was an exciting concept to Adams.

Denisedancer Loc: Sydney Australia

Whuff wrote:

This year is the 75th annual Iowa state fair photo... (show quote)

Don't put yourself down. B & W is very hard to get right. Your photos must be good or they wouldn't chose them. Congratulations.

:thumbup:

Denisedancer Loc: Sydney Australia

photon56 wrote:

The Ansel Adams collection is on exhibit at a loca... (show quote)

I am also trying to cut down on the number of photos I take but it's very hard. It's tempting to just shoot away. I'm now trying to make use of the number of photos by trying different settings and different composures so I can learn from it.
How ever did we manage in film days?

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

lighthouse wrote:

And this is related to the discussion about Adams ....... how?

it's about having an artistic eye and making the most of the equipment you have. and not bitching and moaning about things like a lack of auto focus or not enough lenses.

gampa-dan Loc: North Central PA

lighthouse wrote:

And this is related to the discussion about Adams ....... how?

Adams had an ability to see the finished photo as he composed the shot. I think that is something that few possess. It what makes the difference between merely good and competent, and those at the very top. It's an undefinable "something" that those few practitioners of any art possess.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

bull drink water wrote:

it's about having an artistic eye and making the most of the equipment you have. and not bitching and moaning about things like a lack of auto focus or not enough lenses.

gampa-dan wrote:

Adams had an ability to see the finished photo as he composed the shot. I think that is something that few possess. It what makes the difference between merely good and competent, and those at the very top. It's an undefinable "something" that those few practitioners of any art possess.

And it still has absolutely nothing to do with the second grade teacher.

When I was in second grade, one of the third grade teachers used to spend her weekends sitting around the countryside doing paintings of these magnificent vistas with heaps of mood and poetic licence. When her husband died she just stopped doing it, it sapped her vitality. She didn't even buy a camera and go to Japan.
And that has nothing to do with Ansel either.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Another interesting thing about Ansel Adams is that the way he printed his images changed over the years. Moonrise, Hernandez is a good example as he printed it darker and more contrasty later in his life.