Black and White

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was born and raised in the Bay Area in an environment initially full of considerable wealth and affluence. His character was truly shaped after both physical and economic disaster reaped havoc on his family and his own self conscious. Californian earthquakes and the collapse of a fragile American economy placed Ansel and the Adams name as a whole in a position of great risk. Growing up under a mother ashamed of the financial failure of Ansel's father was not friendly to such a young human being, but such enmity was countered by an immense amount of love and concern flowing out of his father, Charles. Ansel was bounced around through a variety of academic institutes in his early life before finally being drawn out of his home schooling experience and sent off to Kate M. Wilkins private school.

Adams eventually found a passion for music alongside his thorough enjoyment of the outdoors, and so it quickly became clear that he planned to make a living making music. His knack for photography developed out of his involvement in the Sierra Club starting in 1919. His first fully visualized photograph took the form of the Face of Half Dome in 1927. His work earned him attribution in the Chicago Tribune almost a century later for drawing attention to the value and beauty found in American national parks. 

I chose the picture below because I think it does a wonderful job of capturing the astounding amount of geometry and architecture hidden within such an apparently primitive structure. The use of water adds a sense of symmetry and intention to what was already a full frame. A great amount of contrast is present between differently lighted portions of the building itself as well as between the darker, more developed foreground and the consistently grey background found in the sky. 

 

Camera Settings

Fast Shutter Speed

Fast Shutter Speed

Low Aperature

Low Aperature

Slow Shutter Speed

Slow Shutter Speed