Why is ansel adams so great

One of the first photographers to rise to prominence due to their mastery of the medium was Ansel Adams, who in the early 20th-century developed a concept called visualisation. This technique not only formed a cornerstone of his own practice, but would lead the following generations of photographers to think more deeply about their work. Now, almost one hundred years later, as digital cameras let us continuously snap away, visualisation remains a useful technique for photographers who like to slow down and contemplate the emotion behind their subject.

Visualisation is the concept of interpreting a scene and deciding on the final shot before pressing the shutter. Alongside the appropriate technical skills, having the ability to capture the mood of a scene is something that requires its own practice, which often only comes with experience. We must teach our eyes to become more perceptive. For Adams, having an emotional response to the subject was key to making great photographs. Once he experienced this feeling of inspiration and wonder during his exploration of rural America, he worked intently to translate it into a print so that his audience could feel the exact same reaction.

He often compared his photographic negatives to a musical score, where if the photograph was created just right, the final print should serve as a grand performance of the feeling behind his subject. Having become fascinated with the natural world from a young age, once he was gifted a Kodak Brownie by his father, he had the means to capture anything that caught his attention.

But he soon discovered that many of his images failed to convey the same momentous impact that they initially had on his eyes. Having already exposed ten of his twelve glass plates without achieving his desired shot, he returned to the site as the afternoon sun was starting to hit the massive granite rock formation. Instead, he made the conscious decision to use his red filter, knowing that it would greatly darken the sky and jagged cliff.

His ability to find perfection in the darkroom coupled with his work behind a camera has produced some of the greatest landscape photography ever made. During his earlier work in the s and 30s, Adams would place the horizon very high in the frame, giving favour to the landscape below.

Placing the horizon so high in the frame helped the viewer to realise the scale of the image, in comparison to the sky that surrounded it. You can read more about horizon placement here. Arguably his most famous photograph, Moonrise Over Hernandez was taken within a few seconds of pulling his car over to the side of the road he was driving along.

With the sunlight rapidly moving away, and not enough time to find his light reader, Ansel Adams very quickly calculated the exposure for the photo, without any tools but his mind. He was so in tune with his equipment, the process became instinctive to him when it mattered the most.

If you understand your camera and your exposure, taking photos becomes instinctive. For Ansel Adams, this meant climbing mountains , trekking for hours at a time. He would often leave before dawn, and arrive home after dusk, because he knew the importance of finding the right place to stand.

The fact that man seems so insignificant in comparison. He wanted people to understand the world, through his images. That we live in a world that exists in a larger world. Ansel Adams often only took two of the same photo, one extra for safety, in case of scratches or marks in the dark room.

Ask yourself, how many photos do you take of the same scene? Lots, right? He always knew the shutter speed and aperture for the photo he was going to take. He could tell just by looking at the frame, what settings he would have to use to make certain areas stand out more than others, and whether he needed a filter or not.

If you think more before you shoot, you can probably work this out too. I challenge anyone interested in photography to view the works of Ansel Adams and not feel something.

It is this thought process behind his images which make them so powerful. Adam Lambert rose to fame with his runner-up finish on the eighth season of 'American Idol,' before achieving critical and commercial success with 'For Your Entertainment' and subsequent studio albums.

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