Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984)

Ansel Adams was born in California in 1902 and here he captured the beauty of california, creating images which had perfect tonal balance.  He took photographs which captured the true beauty of unspoilt california which he intended to use deter people from developing the landscape.  His work as an environmentalist means most of his work was done in documentary style as he wanted to show his work in order to document the beauty of the landscape.

Together with Fred Archer, Ansel Adams developed the zone system, a technique for determining optimal film exposure and developement.  He also founded the F64 group with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham.  The F64 group was set up for a small group of photograpers with an admiration of fine detailed landscapes.

Ansel often shot at F64 as when using a really small aperture, landscapes become sharp throughout the image.  He would use a tripod as when shooting with a really small aperture the shutter would need to stay open for longer to get the correct exposure.

  

In this image, Aspens, he has followed the rules of thirds capturing the small tree in the forefront of the picture.  This picture also has the composition aspect of lines, many trees standing next to eachother. I also see lots of pattern and texture in this image.  I really like this image and that it is based mainly around the trunks of the aspens and you cannot see the tops of the trees or the skyline. 

This is another image shot of just the bottom of the trees.  This image is really nice with all the snow on the branches and ground.  This image shows the compostion aspect of Patterns, Texture, Lines.  Whilst researching I have found many images like this as it makes for a really interesting image.  This image has good shape and a good tonal range making the image very pleasing to the eye.

This is one of my favorite Ansel Adams Photographs, shot in the usual Black and White style this interesting tree is a beautiful image.  I think this image shows a good tonal range throughout, which is shown with the reflection and the sky within the image.  The tree has a really interesing twist in the middle where it wraps around itself and casts a really nice shadow on the rocks below.

This is my most favorite Ansel Adams image.  This image shows the composition aspect of rule of thirds, reflections, and Angel.  I like the idea that the top of the image shows the bottom of the trees.  This image shows good tonal range with the reflections, rock and grasses within the water.

Oak Tree -  This shows great shape in the bark and the branches of the tree against the white background of the snow and snow filled sky.  The tree has a lovely patten along its branches and I would say that the tonal range is quite high key due to the amount of snow in the image but with the branches still shows good tonal range on the whole.