ANSEL ADAMS
One of history’s greatest black and white photographers of nature, Ansel Adams developed a deep connection with nature early on in his life. Being the only child in his family and leaving school at an early age, he lived a life of solitude which helped to nurture and cultivate his image-making abilities. According to Turnage (n.d.), he had a remarkable fondness for nature as characterized by his long walks in the Golden Gate and the Yosemite Valley, which later became his favorite photographic destination.
The history of nature photography is as old as photography itself. Spowart (2010) mentions that in 1826, French scientist, Joseph Nicephore Niepce positioned his camera through a second floor window to create the world’s first photograph. In the photo that he made, a landscape picture involving surrounding trees, courtyards and buildings were included. In 1839, Nature Exposed explores how photography came to acquire the authority of scientific evidence after its invention. In 1844, the invention of nature photography led to the extension of visual grammar especially the metaphor of the pencil of nature. In 1975, Dalton’s first full-color book, “Borne on the Wind” brought nature photography into a new dimension. In his book, a few hovering species like large moths and free-flying insects (which couldn’t be followed even by human eye) had been successfully photographed. (Nature Photographic History, n.d.)
As nature photography becoming rather popular, it has branched into different genres like wildlife, macro, underwater and cloudscape photography. Wildlife photography wants the emphasis to be on the animal with the use of fast shutter speeds and wide apertures. Macro photography, meanwhile is related to close-up photography of insects. Underwater photography allows photographer to capture all nature contained in oceans and lakes while cloudscape photography depicts landscape portrayal of skies and clouds. (Spowart, 2010)
In order to incorporate Ansel Adam’s black and white photographic of nature, Photoshop does have the mode of color adjustment in Hue/Saturation in its Adjustment Menu. Here are the comparison of Ansel Adam’s “The Tetons and The Snake River” and my attempt to imitate his style with Photoshop manipulation on my travel picture in Fjords, Norwegia.
“The Tetons and The Snake River” (1942)Fjords, Norwegia
Reference
n.a. (n.d.). Nature Photographic History. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from
Spowart, M. (2010). The History of Nature Photography. eHow. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from
Turnage, W. (n.d.). Ansel Adams, Photographer. The Ansel Adams Gallery. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from