Yosemite not only contains some of Adams' most inspiration and famous images, it also has an introduction by Michael L. Fischer, exectutive director of the Sierra Club from 1987 to 1993 and current president of the Yosemite Restoration Trust and executive director of the Californian Coastal Commission (book published 2006). In his introduction Fischer tells us a little of Adams' early life and how he came to discover Yosemite and fall in love with it at the early age of 14. He then goes on to relate how he expressed that love through his photography and how, especially later in life, he fought tooth and nail for its conservation. 'Adams knew that Yosemite was not being managed as a national park should be. He felt that the Park Service was seeking to entertain the tourist, instead of maximising Yosemite's intangible benefits: opportunities for contemplation, for sef-discovery, for inspiration. The truly visionaru manager of Yosemite would first protect the natural world of Yosemite - its wilderness, its habitat diversity, its scenic integrity. EVERYTHING else would come second. But the National Park Service has never gotten that vision'.
The book concludes with a selection of writings by Ansel Adams. In them we can trace the course of his passion for conserving this most wonderful valley.
Of course, the most important section of the book contains Adam's images of Yosemite. They range through peaceful syvan woodland scenes, though wonderful relections in pacis lakes to stark mountain scenery oftewn with storms on the horizon or passing.
I feel that his style is not just one of the monochrome image as there was no colour photography in his day. His images are a rich, with deep backs and bright whites and well exposed midtones. I feel that he must have used a hard grade of paper on which to print those images, whereas, perhaps Fay Godwin used a softer grade of paper as her photographs are more muted and subtle, not quite sepia toned. Adams' skies are often stark black and white as if he has used a deep red filter. These rich black and white images also remind me of the work of Robert Mapplethorpe.
What have I learned from this book
Ansel Adams was an early proponent of "Straight Photography" as championed by Paul Strand. This meant that instead of soft focus , the photographs were clear, sharply focused, and an attempt to show what the artist saw at the actual scene. His use of large format cameras of the day also meant that he produced large negatives which meant very little grain. Adams also belonged to the F64 group of the time and these photographers believed that everything should be in focus, which meant very small apertures and hence the name of the group.
I am very attracted to this style of photography and have tried to reproduce his style in some of my images which are included below. I find that to achieve the black and white skies I need to have strong sidelighting. I also find it necessary to use quite a high contrast in post processing and then, in lightroom, adjust the various sliders to deepen the blue in the sky and also lighten the midtones so they are not too dark. In the digital age we see grain as 'noise' and so I have used my lowest ISO of 100 and a small aperture (f22) to achieve maximum depth of field to get everything sharp. This means long exposures so I have used a tripod to avoid an risk of camera shake.
Edinburgh from Calton Hill
Barn in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
Palm House, Edinburgh Bontaical Gardens.
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