Ansel Adams -The Ultimate Photographer!

"You don't take a photograph, you make it!" - Ansel Adams.

I would have never realized the true value of Black and White Photography if I hadn't came across the marvellous snaps of California's Yosemite valley by Ansel Adams. This man was one of the greatest US photographers of all time. Most of the photograhs by him are truely awesome and have been classic over years. His works like "Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, 1927", "Rose and Driftwood, 1932", "Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941" and "Aspens, New Mexico, 1958" are pinnacles of all times photography.

Ansel Easton Adams (1902-1984) was not only a genius photographer but was a creative author as well. His books (technical instruction manuals), "The Camera", "The Negative", and "The Print" are still considered classic texts on photography. His other books like "Ansel Adams: The Spirit of Wild Places" and "America's Wilderness" are also very sought after works.

Being conservatinist by heart he joined the Sierra Club (a group dedicated to preserving the natural world's wonders and resources) at an early age of 17 and was associated with it whole of his life. He even served as a Director there.

Some of his best taken shots across US are posted here. The degree of control over a finished black and white photograph is astonishing!
(Click on the photographs to enlarge them)

Jeffrey Pine


Winter Storm


Dogwood


Nevada Falls and Rainbow


Tenaya


Close-up of leaves, Glacier National Park, Montana.


Aspens, New Mexico


Tree and Cliff


Rose and Driftwood


Tree Snow


Elcapitan


Monolith: The Face of Half Dome


Branches in Snow


Church, Taos Pueblo National Historic Landmark, New Mexico.


The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.


Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico


Ansel Adams in 1975

Ansel Adams has written, "Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph. Both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and the wonder surrounding him."
True indeed, photographs convey so much more than words and by intuition connect with the infinite variety of the space around us. And to share this wonder and marvel with others is always the aim of a purposeful photograph.