Posted by Steven Koch on November 1, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Thanks
Posted by Luke Ormand on November 1, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Thanks for that. It's amazing how good those photos are and how incredible the quality is for not even having a DSLR!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on November 3, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Very cool! Thanks Eva.
Posted by Jim Harris on November 4, 2009 at 7:10 AM
you know, to me they are nice but I NEVER would have thought they were Ansel Adams shots, his genre certainly was b&w,
Posted by Paul Duval on November 5, 2009 at 9:07 AM
Ansel actually worked commercially for Kodak testing Kodachrome film, Edward Weston another icon of Black and White also shot a few images in color. In Fact for Adams his classic Death Valley dunes at sunrise also exists in color as well.
Paul
I just reviewed the link of Ansel's images in color, his forte was Black and White obviously but that was because he was a master in the darkroom. The mind boggles at the thought of what he could have done to some of those images (on the link) in the digital darkroom.
"Adams his classic Death Valley dunes at sunrise also exists in color as well"
I have a book, 'Death Valley' by Ansel Adams and Nancy Newhall. It contains many of Ansel's B&W DV images as well as hand colored photos, of which the Sand Dunes image is one. These images are hand colored from the B&W negs: They are not Kodachrome. They are quite beautiful.
Ansel had a premonition that digital processing would one day be the norm. I am sure that his print work would have been more easily accomplished, but I believe the overall style and tonalities of his prints would have been consistent with his style.
Ansel Adams is mentioned often as an inspiring figure in landscape photography. In 2005 there was an Ansel Adams retrospective exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. There was mention of color photography but perhaps my observations from the exhibit will be of interest or provoke useful discussion.
We have all seen reproductions of some of Adams’ famous prints, and some of us have seen the originals. I had first seen some of the original prints when we visited the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park in the 1970’s. Though they have seemed vivid in my memory I had forgotten a lot and was unprepared for the exhibit. In fact, I like to think I am more sophisticated in my photographic appreciation; at least I have a lot more experience.
The first unexpected observation was that the place was absolutely packed, wall-to-wall. What is it about Adams’ work that has so captivated the public, years after his death? Many of these people do not know one end of a camera from another. Something deep is at work here.
The next observation was that Adams was really quite average during the first decade or so of his career. His early work employed a soft focus, dreamy style and, shockingly, the compositions were pretty weak.
Another observation was that something happened that transformed his work during the mid-1930’s. This was the time he interacted with Alfred Stieglitz and some hypothesize that it was his influence and use of sharp focus technique that set Adams on the road to mastery. Whatever caused the transformation, the technical aspect was evident. However, more striking to me was the new-found strength in his compositions. We saw the Adams of the dramatic gesture emerge almost overnight.
I also want to mention that I saw some floor-standing screens that Adams created from hinged plywood panels, on which he glued large scale photos. Most were in the spirit of the classical Japanese screens. One was most striking, a triptych of ferns that exhibited a three-dimensional quality that was outstanding.
Finally, I would like to note that often a picture posted on the web is compared to Adams’ work, particularly in terms of sharpness. In my opinion this comparison is misplaced. Modern photographs are sharper than those I saw in the exhibit. None of Adams’ photos could survive the kind of close-up inspection that our pixel peepers employ. There is something else that accounts for their power. I can only call it a clarity that he achieved in his prints that remains unsurpassed. This clarity goes beyond simple contrast, manipulating the light in a way that seems to have been lost in modern work.
It is something so discouraging and yet inspiring.
I agree with Nat that that Ansel's later work has a quality that many attempt but are unsuccesful in doing so. I have seen many of Ansel's original prints over the years and I would call this quality 'luminosity', in the sense that the prints embody a sense of 'enveloping light'. This quality does indeed go beyond simple contrast.
A couple of years ago I visited the Allinder Gallery in Gualala, CA. There were several original Adams prints hanging there; including Moonrise at Hernandez. While I love this particular photograph, it is not my favorite. A bit later I was looking through a stack of framed prints lying against the wall. One of these was 'Oak In Snow, Yosemite Valley'. I asked Jim if he could unwrap the print so that I could look at at. He graciously did so.
Once the framed 20x24 print was unwrapped and set on a shelf in better light, I had to pause to catch my breath. This image has always been my favorite Adams photograph and I had not, until that moment, seen an original print of it. The image seemed to glow with an inner light! It was absolutley astonishing! It truly possessed that sense of enveloping light.
Now, if I could only achieve that quality in my own work, I'd be overjoyed. That's one of the cool things about photography; we continue to learn and to refine our work, not to emulate Ansel Adams or anyone else, but to discover ourselves.
-P
Posted by Paul Duval on November 12, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Well the " Ansel Adams in Color." exists as a hardcover book on it's own. In fact I just visited Amazon.com and there are several copies for sale. The copy I have is older and right now I can't find it. This is a recent revised edition published in Oct 2009. Mine was published earlier and is a fairly small book. This sounds like there are many additions.
Review excerpts.
I had always loved Ansel Adams' black and white photographs of nature. His photos of Yosemite had added to the pleasure of my trip to the National Park years ago. I hadn't known that Ansel Adams had worked in color, much less, that he had over 3,000 color transparencies.
This volume is more than a collection of magnificent color photographs; in addition, it contains a comprehensive essay, "Quest for Color" by James L. Enyeart, photographic historian. The heavy volume concludes with "Selected Writings on Color Photography by Ansel Adams.
Ansel Adams in Color" is filled with Adams' gorgeous, technicolor, photographs along with accompanying essays. While Adams was ambivalent about working in color -- primarily due to the technical limitations at the time -- today's digital advancements allow the photos to shine. These majestic photos were taken primarily in the 40's- 50's and capture America's natural landscape at its zenith. The photographs include breathtaking shots of the Grand Canyon; Yosemite National Park; Death Valley; Hawaii; Alaska, Wyoming; and much more!
"Ansel Adams in Color" would be a welcome edition to the collection of any photographer or Adams' admirer.
I'm not pushing the book per se, but I do have an extensive Ansel Adams Book collection, and just like Galen Rowell's books I find the photographs wonderful and the text entertaining.
Discussion
10 replieshttp://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1932762_1974604,00.html
This link provided on deviantart http://news.deviantart.com/article/98300/ . Just though I would share since it might be of interest.
Paul
I just reviewed the link of Ansel's images in color, his forte was Black and White obviously but that was because he was a master in the darkroom. The mind boggles at the thought of what he could have done to some of those images (on the link) in the digital darkroom.
I have a book, 'Death Valley' by Ansel Adams and Nancy Newhall. It contains many of Ansel's B&W DV images as well as hand colored photos, of which the Sand Dunes image is one. These images are hand colored from the B&W negs: They are not Kodachrome. They are quite beautiful.
Ansel had a premonition that digital processing would one day be the norm. I am sure that his print work would have been more easily accomplished, but I believe the overall style and tonalities of his prints would have been consistent with his style.
-P
We have all seen reproductions of some of Adams’ famous prints, and some of us have seen the originals. I had first seen some of the original prints when we visited the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park in the 1970’s. Though they have seemed vivid in my memory I had forgotten a lot and was unprepared for the exhibit. In fact, I like to think I am more sophisticated in my photographic appreciation; at least I have a lot more experience.
The first unexpected observation was that the place was absolutely packed, wall-to-wall. What is it about Adams’ work that has so captivated the public, years after his death? Many of these people do not know one end of a camera from another. Something deep is at work here.
The next observation was that Adams was really quite average during the first decade or so of his career. His early work employed a soft focus, dreamy style and, shockingly, the compositions were pretty weak.
Another observation was that something happened that transformed his work during the mid-1930’s. This was the time he interacted with Alfred Stieglitz and some hypothesize that it was his influence and use of sharp focus technique that set Adams on the road to mastery. Whatever caused the transformation, the technical aspect was evident. However, more striking to me was the new-found strength in his compositions. We saw the Adams of the dramatic gesture emerge almost overnight.
I also want to mention that I saw some floor-standing screens that Adams created from hinged plywood panels, on which he glued large scale photos. Most were in the spirit of the classical Japanese screens. One was most striking, a triptych of ferns that exhibited a three-dimensional quality that was outstanding.
Finally, I would like to note that often a picture posted on the web is compared to Adams’ work, particularly in terms of sharpness. In my opinion this comparison is misplaced. Modern photographs are sharper than those I saw in the exhibit. None of Adams’ photos could survive the kind of close-up inspection that our pixel peepers employ. There is something else that accounts for their power. I can only call it a clarity that he achieved in his prints that remains unsurpassed. This clarity goes beyond simple contrast, manipulating the light in a way that seems to have been lost in modern work.
It is something so discouraging and yet inspiring.
A couple of years ago I visited the Allinder Gallery in Gualala, CA. There were several original Adams prints hanging there; including Moonrise at Hernandez. While I love this particular photograph, it is not my favorite. A bit later I was looking through a stack of framed prints lying against the wall. One of these was 'Oak In Snow, Yosemite Valley'. I asked Jim if he could unwrap the print so that I could look at at. He graciously did so.
Once the framed 20x24 print was unwrapped and set on a shelf in better light, I had to pause to catch my breath. This image has always been my favorite Adams photograph and I had not, until that moment, seen an original print of it. The image seemed to glow with an inner light! It was absolutley astonishing! It truly possessed that sense of enveloping light.
Now, if I could only achieve that quality in my own work, I'd be overjoyed. That's one of the cool things about photography; we continue to learn and to refine our work, not to emulate Ansel Adams or anyone else, but to discover ourselves.
-P
Review excerpts.
I had always loved Ansel Adams' black and white photographs of nature. His photos of Yosemite had added to the pleasure of my trip to the National Park years ago. I hadn't known that Ansel Adams had worked in color, much less, that he had over 3,000 color transparencies.
This volume is more than a collection of magnificent color photographs; in addition, it contains a comprehensive essay, "Quest for Color" by James L. Enyeart, photographic historian. The heavy volume concludes with "Selected Writings on Color Photography by Ansel Adams.
Ansel Adams in Color" is filled with Adams' gorgeous, technicolor, photographs along with accompanying essays. While Adams was ambivalent about working in color -- primarily due to the technical limitations at the time -- today's digital advancements allow the photos to shine. These majestic photos were taken primarily in the 40's- 50's and capture America's natural landscape at its zenith. The photographs include breathtaking shots of the Grand Canyon; Yosemite National Park; Death Valley; Hawaii; Alaska, Wyoming; and much more!
"Ansel Adams in Color" would be a welcome edition to the collection of any photographer or Adams' admirer.
I'm not pushing the book per se, but I do have an extensive Ansel Adams Book collection, and just like Galen Rowell's books I find the photographs wonderful and the text entertaining.