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Posts Tagged ‘Adams’

Video: How to improve your compositions, from a photographer who worked with Ansel Adams

27 Apr

Born in 1949, award-winning photographer Huntington Witherill has been a fine art photographer since 1970. Witherill was fortunate enough to have worked with the famous Ansel Adams, among other notable photographers like Wynn Bullock, Steve Crouch, and Al Weber. Over the past 50 years, Witherill has learned a lot about photography. He recently chatted with Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography to discuss composition.

In the video below, Silber asks Witherill the core areas he considers in terms of composition. Witherill replies, ‘Well, I think as an overriding sort of mantra for composition, I always like to refer to the way Edward Weston described composition, as being the strongest way of seeing.’ Witherill pays attention to everything in a scene, rather than what attracted him to the scene in the first place. When out shooting, it’s common to be drawn to a specific element of a scene. However, when making a composition, you don’t want to ignore everything in the scene. ‘Finding the strongest way of seeing is really, to my way of thinking, intellectualizing within myself what it is that attracted me to the scene in the first place. And then, doing my best to include all of that within the photograph itself and eliminate everything else out of the photograph,’ Witherill says.

In the video above, Witherill refers to an article he wrote in 2019, ‘The Strongest Way of Seeing.’ In this article, Witherill writes, ‘When it comes to the art of creating successful photographs, formulating an effective composition must surely be at (or near) the top of the list in terms of relative importance.’ He goes on to say when discussing whether or not there are prescribed rules of composition which could always prove successful, ‘As it also turns out, knowing where best to point your camera requires a skill set whose precepts appear to be instinctively derived, rather than intellectually prescribed. What might work in one situation can often prove disastrous in another. As such, employing a formulaic approach to composition will, more often than not, prove ineffectual.’

However, that is not to say that trying to improve your composition or that learning more about composition is a fool’s errand. While Witherill doesn’t believe that composition is a skill that can be taught in a rote fashion, he believes there are steps you can take to make it easier to ‘see’ composition in the field. Witherill likes to squint at a scene, which makes it easier to see the overall shapes and arrange a composition, as you are no longer able to focus on the finer details.

To learn more of Huntington Witherill’s tips for composition, watch the full video above. To view more of Witherill’s work, visit his website. For more videos from Marc Silber, visit the Advancing Your Photography YouTube channel.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Iconic Ansel Adams image sells for nearly $1M at Sotheby’s auction, total sales of $6.4M

18 Dec
Ansel Adams, The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

‘A Grand Vision: The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterworks’ completed auctioned at Sotheby’s New York on December 14. The collection comprised 123 individual lots, 94% of which were successfully sold to buyers both in person at Sotheby’s New York and online. A mural-sized print, ‘The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming’, sold for a record-high for an Ansel Adams print, closing at $ 988,000 USD.

Ansel Adams photographed the record-setting print in 1942. The image was commissioned by the Department of the Interior. The mural-sized print of Jackson Hole is one of fewer than 10 thought to exist. David H. Arrington acquired it directly from a descendant of Ansel Adams.

Ansel Adams, The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming – Lot 53, sold for $ 988,000

David H. Arrington was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and currently serves as President of Arrington Oil & Gas Operating LLC. He became interested in photography as a teenager and began collecting Adams’ work in his twenties. His collection ultimately developed into one of the largest and most comprehensive private collections of Adams’ photography. Pieces from the collection have been part of many exhibits over the years, including in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Hayward Gallery, the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Ansel Adams, Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California – Lot 107, sold for $ 403,200

Arrington said, ‘I remember the first time I saw an image slowly appear in the developing tray in my darkroom. I was 15 years old, mesmerized and thrilled beyond imagination at the possibilities inherent in photography. Now at 60 years old, I still feel the same.’ Many of his Ansel Adams prints were displayed at his company’s headquarters, making it a museum of sorts. He encouraged employees to select favorite prints to hang in their offices.

When the auction closed, the sold lots totaled $ 6.4 million, the highest total for a sale of photographs at Sotheby’s since 2014. Before the auction, the pre-sale estimate ranged from $ 4.1 to $ 6.1 million. Sotheby’s shared additional interesting figures, including that nearly half of lots sold achieved prices above their high estimates, more than 50% of lots were sold online and 35% of buyers were first-time buyers from Sotheby’s.

Ansel Adams, Half Dome, Merced River, Winter, Yosemite Valley – Lot 38, sold for $ 685,500

Emily Bierman, Head of Sotheby’s Photographs Department in New York, said, ‘The spectacular results from [the sale] not only affirmed Ansel Adams as one of the most important artists of the 20th century, but also that his subject matter is as relevant today as when it was created over half a century ago.’ She commented further that the record-setting print garnered a bidding battle involving at least half a dozen bidders.

Bierman continues, ‘The collection put together by David H. Arrington was unprecedented in its scale, scope, and condition, and now proudly takes its place among the most significant collections of photographs to ever come to auction. Handing this collection has been an enormous privilege for our entire team, and, personally, an opportunity I will cherish in my career.’

Ansel Adams, Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, Winter, Yosemite National Park – Lot 48, sold for $ 163,800

You can browse all 123 lots by clicking here. From there, you will be able to see the closing price for sold lots and view the pre-sale estimates for each lot. Notably, before the auction, Sotheby’s estimated that Adams’ iconic ‘Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico’ would sell for the highest amount, although it ultimately sold for about $ 300,000 less than Adams’ image of the Grand Tetons. David H. Arrington’s collection included many other iconic Adams images and it’s well worth it for any photographer fan to peruse and enjoy the images.


Image credits: The above Ansel Adams photographs have been shared with us courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Remember that your gear is more advanced than Ansel Adams’

25 Apr

“Every famous photograph was made with a camera less advanced than the one you are using now.” This paraphrased quote is the inspiration behind The Art of Photography’s latest YouTube video titled “Your camera is better than Ansel’s.” In the ten-minute video, Ted Forbes breaks down his thoughts on the idea that, instead of taking an introspective approach to our photography work, we tend to blame the gear and use that as an excuse to our shortcomings as artists.

How often do you hear the phrase “I don’t have the right lens to get the shallow depth of field I want” or “I don’t have this camera body that shoots 15 frames per second.” These laments aren’t uncommon among photographers, but according to Forbes, they miss the point.

Sure, it’s fun to gawk over the latest and greatest gear, but it’s by no means necessary in order to create fantastic artwork—this morning’s Behind the Scenes article by Michael Benanav should more than prove that point. As Forbes elaborates throughout the video, gear is little more than a tool to create the artwork we’ve envisioned in our head—a means to an end.

Forbes summarizes this concept in the video’s description:

The truth is that important work… work that matters… doesn’t have anything to do with the technology we have access to. It has everything to do with what we have to say and communicate visually. Photography is an act of speaking.

It’d be an oversight to say there’s never a time when you need new gear. After all, it’s almost impossible to properly photograph a deer a few hundred yards away without a 400mm lens. But it’s something to think about when considering new equipment. Is that new camera actually necessary to produce the results you desire? Or is the gear you’re lusting over little more than a crutch that will help you avoid addressing your lack of a vision or direction?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photography Lessons I Learned Growing Up Around Ansel Adams

08 Aug

Ansel Adams was a young man of 14 when he first came to California‚ Yosemite National Park. The valley had a strong pull for him and he returned to work there in 1920 at the age of 18 to be the caretaker for the Sierra Club‚ LeConte Lodge.

Ansel became vigilant about protecting Yosemite and the Sierras from human impact while showing the world his view of this almost mystical place through his growing photography career. He met Virginia Best, the daughter of the gallery owner in Yosemite Valley. They married, and the gallery became a source of income for the young photographer and his wife. His complete works became the gallery best sellers. They continued to add products such as art books and other photographic services.

By 1940, his photographic workshops started as one of the first photographic education sources in the country. The workshops were usually a week long and for many, became a life changing experience.

ANSEL IN WAGON Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

That was the case for my father, Holden Higbee, who attended Ansel Adams’ photography workshop in 1965. He, along with my older sister (who was 12 at the time), attended a week long workshop of photographic bliss in beautiful Yosemite Valley with lectures by Ansel Adams himself. In 1965, Adams was a respected photographer, but not yet the photographic icon that he has become in the present day. At that point, his prints were selling for about $ 50 and he would gift his images to his favorite students. My sister received a copy of his “Mirror Lake” image for participating as a model in the workshop.

MEDIUM FORMAT Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

The Workshop with Ansel Adams

The workshop was held in the Wawona Big Trees area, the Yosemite Valley, and up into Tuolumne Meadows covering the basics of photography, Ansel’s Zone system, composition, and creativity. The students in Ansel’s classes were mostly young men, just honing their craft from the master, using their medium format and 35mm cameras. Their exuberance for learning photography was evident as they spread out to practice their lessons.

TOLUMNE MEADOWS - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

This class stuck with my father, as the photography gene runs long and deep in my family. Holden, as an avid photographer and college professor, would drive across the country to document the countryside for his geography and geology classes and stop every 50 miles to take a picture, much to our dismay. He always had two or three cameras around his neck so he didn’t have to change lenses and he could easily document “how man uses the land”.

The Zone System

ANSEL ZONE SYSTEM - Image used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

My father was particularly interested in The Zone System and how that would affect his photography. For many years after, my father would practice with the grey cards to set up the zone system. I am now the proud owner of his signed set of books from Ansel Adams; The Camera, The Negative, and The Print.

GREY CARD - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee

Visits with Ansel

On later visits to Yosemite Valley, we would see Ansel on a regular basis. I was a young girl but was impressed by his stature and his gray beard. In the evenings after dinner, we would all assemble in the lodge which had huge fireplaces, comfy 60s style couches, and tall vast windows with views of Yosemite Falls. My father and sister would play Backgammon, and watch the side door to see when Ansel would make his quiet entrance.

Our Dad would wave at Ansel and he would make his way over to our couch where the Backgammon board lay precariously on the cushions. Ansel would give my sister a tip or two on what her next move should be. Often he would sit awhile and watch them play before the Warren Miller Ski Film would start. Then Ansel would disappear as we became engrossed in the film.

ANSEL ZONE SYSTEM - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

As children, we had no idea the impact that this nice bearded man would have on the world of photography and our lives as creative artists. We thought he was just another photographer and friend of my father’s.

ANSEL AT WORK - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

Image by Holden Higbee used courtesy of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite

Respect Nature

Even though I didn’t attend the workshops, Ansel Adams greatly influenced my life, my love of landscape photography and nature, as he did for millions of others. At 6 years old, my father put a 35mm camera in my hands and I was off and running. After that week with Ansel Adams, we would talk about photography and composition frequently at dinner. “When you are shooting landscapes” he would say, “never move a leaf or a flower, respect nature for what it is. Learn to create a composition from what is naturally there.” From that point on, I never put the camera down, it has always been an extension of my life and my personality and landscape photography became my love.

After 50 years of traveling in Yosemite, it continues to take my breath away. We now return to Yosemite three times a year to teach photography workshops. We visit the park mid-week to avoid the tourists and also when there is the greatest chance of changing weather.

“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.” – Ansel Adams

Full circle

Late last fall, we had the great fortune of spending three weeks teaching workshops in the valley as it turned from fall to winter. Every day the light would change and the photographic options would take our breath away, but we felt like we were in sync with the ever changing conditions. We got into the rhythm of life there and found it an easy and wonderful experience.

Yosemite Fall - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

In January, we returned to the valley to do a private workshop and the forecast was for snow. As we drove into the park, the snow had started to come down and the roads were quite slushy. Little did we know, we were one of the last cars they would let into the valley for the next four days. As we arrived in the valley, it was covered in a thick coating of snow and was quickly adding up. I don’t know how many people were there that week in Yosemite, but it was a photographic wonderland.

We arrived and handed our client a pair of snow shoes and off we went on a winter photographic adventure. I would like to think that those few days of bliss might have been a bit like some days Ansel Adams experienced in Yosemite back in his day. An experience I won’t soon forget.

Yosemite Winter - Photographic Lessons Learned from Ansel Adams

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” – Ansel Adams

Conclusion

If you come to Yosemite, come in the off season when you can appreciate the beauty of the place without the throngs of tour buses and distracted selfie takers. Everyone that comes to the valley fancies themselves a photographer, so when you are in Yosemite, be sure to embrace the spirit of Ansel Adams.

Do you have any Ansel Adam’s stories to share? What lessons have you learned from his teachings? Please share in the comments below.

The post Photography Lessons I Learned Growing Up Around Ansel Adams by Holly Higbee-Jansen appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Ansel Adams’ Arca-Swiss 4×5 View Camera is the first of its kind at auction

14 Oct

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Heritage Auctions will soon be the first auction house to ever offer an Ansel Adams 4×5 view camera. The camera is part of a complete outfit including an Arca-Swiss 4×5 View Camera, three lenses, a pair of Graflex graphic film pack adapters, compendium lens hood, extra bag bellows, Wratten gelatin filters, a dark cloth, original carrying/shipping case, tripod and more. 

This view camera collection was used by Ansel Adams from 1964 to 1968, according to the auction house, after which point he gave the camera to his then-assistant Liliane de Cock, who used it as part of her own career. The camera and related accessories were acquired directly from the photographer’s family. Heritage Auction doesn’t list the condition, saying only that it is ‘available upon request.’ However, it estimates the lot as being worth between $ 70,000 and $ 100,000, and is seeking an opening bid of $ 35,000.

You can view the auction listing here.

Via: PetaPixel

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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‘Ansel made photographs, he didn’t take them’: Jeanne Adams interview

27 Aug

Ansel Adams’ name is synonymous with landscape photography, but a new interview with Adams’ daughter-in-law Jeanne reveals more about a lesser known side of his work. The long-time CEO of the Ansel Adams Gallery talks with Advancing Your Photography’s Marc Silber, discussing the legendary photographer’s portraiture and architectural imagery, and shares some stories of Adams’ interactions with his workshop participants. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Dodging, burning… microwaving? A look inside Ansel Adams’ darkroom

09 Jul

In a recent interview with Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography, Ansel Adams’ son Michael gives a tour of his father’s darkroom.

The basics are all there, but by and large, they were designed by Adams for the space he was in. Sure, the dodge-and-burn stick is literally a stick with some cardboard taped to it, but the enlarger and wall mount are both on a custom-built track, and can be moved independently toward or away from each other depending on Adams’ needs. The light source in the enlarger is actually 30 individual light sources, each with its own switch for the utmost control over a negative’s illumination.

My favorite part? When Michael details how his father tested exposures with a new image. It’s pretty standard up until the end, when he says that Adams would routinely microwave the test print – it would dry faster that way, and the best way to ascertain the correct exposure is with a dry print. The more you know!

It’s a fascinating look back into the world of film and physical prints, and a reminder that creativity and control don’t necessarily require the fanciest equipment money can buy. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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‘I instinctively felt I had an extraordinary image’: Ansel Adams on capturing Moonrise over Hernandez

25 Jun

In newly released footage, legendary landscape photographer Ansel Adams recounts capturing one of his most popular images: Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

Adams’ son Michael recently explained in an interview with Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography how the events unfolded the day the photo was taken. Riding along with his father, he remembers how Ansel caught sight of the moon rising over the landscape and pulled the car over to take the photo. In the clip above, you’ll hear Michael and Ansel Adams himself explain how the image was created, thanks to some quick thinking when a light meter couldn’t be found. The resulting image is, of course, a classic.

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Learn Ansel Adams’ Biggest Secret for Stunning Photography – Visualization

22 Jun

Ansel Adams is the most widely known photographer in history, you don’t need to look very far to see one of his images. Would you like to know the whole key to Ansel Adams’ stunning photographs?

This is a photograph of half dome in Yosemite taken in 1927 by Ansel Adams

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, by Ansel Adams (Image courtesy Ansel Adams Illumes and The Ansel Adams Gallery)

In this this video interview with his son, Michael Adams, you will hear about his breakthrough as a photographer, when he went from merely recording an image, to being an artist who interpreted the image to tell the story he wanted.

As you’ll hear, Ansel had his breakthrough when he climbed up to take a photograph of Half Dome, the iconic monolith in Yosemite, California. The moment he realized that the yellow filter just wasn’t going to convey what he saw and felt, he changed to a red filter which expanded the tones of the image and brought out the darkness of the sky, thereby creating the mood he had visualized.

Ansel said, the whole key lies in first visualizing the image you want, rather than just snapping away.

By first forming the image or idea in your mind’s eye, you can then set about to capture it. His son Michael summed it up with, “He knew what he wanted and he got what he wanted.”

These are Ansel’s’ key points that you can practice to continually improve your photography:

  • Look at the external event, and then visualize what you want it to look like, clearly and decisively.
  • Try to make the photograph of what you saw and felt.
  • Train yourself to see what the camera sees by comparing what you see, with what it looks like in the camera.
  • Practice your craft and do your homework so you can make the photograph you desire by going through these steps to capture what you visualized.
  • Placing the camera: Find the best point of view of the lens.
  • Make a proper lens selection.
  • Decide on your depth of field and set your aperture.
  • Control your exposure and later, the development.

As he said, with practice this becomes automatic and instinctive. Put Ansel’s advice into action and let me know your results in the comments below.

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US National Park Service looking for the next Ansel Adams

10 Dec
Photo by Jeff Keller

If your dream job hasn’t come along so far and you fancy yourself as a bit of an Ansel Adams, you could do worse than to pay a visit to the US Government’s employment website. The National Parks Service is looking for a full-time photographer to record the glory of the country’s natural treasures, much as Ansel Adams did on contract to the Department of the Interior in the 1940s. The only hitch is that applicants will be expected to use equipment similar to that used by Adams himself, as the job involves shooting with large format film cameras as well as the latest digital kit. 

You’ll need to be a US citizen, have a driving license and be subjected to a background check, but for your efforts you could earn up to $ 100,000 a year for doing what you love. The job isn’t all wandering around with a big camera and a box of film holders though, as you’ll be expected to make large scale prints, mount exhibitions and help review submissions for the service’s photographic collection. According to the advert, you’ll have to put up with ‘moderate discomfort’ out on location and ‘exposure to weather conditions’.

Keen enthusiasts though will already be familiar and well-experienced in ‘physical exertion such as long periods of standing; walking over rough or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, or stretching; and recurring lifting of moderately heavy equipment and materials.’

The job advert also specifically asks for the following: 

  • Knowledge of the principles and techniques of large format, black and white photography.
  • Knowledge of published standards and guidelines for architectural, engineering and landscape documentation.
  • Knowledge of film and digital photographic processes and techniques.

Those demands shouldn’t be too much of an issue for most photographers already working with large format equipment in the field. To apply for the job you’ll need to get moving as applications have to be in by 15th December. Santa might be coming early to someone. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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