Ansel Adams

In this video I'm going to talk about the work of Ansel Adams.
Ansel is one of the most successful photographers of all time. He is largely responsible for starting the "California School" of photographers along with Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston. Their Group f/64 rejected the Pictorialism styles of the day in favor of "pure" or "straight photography"
His most notable subjects were landscapes, particularly those of Yosemite National Park. Ansel developed printing techniques that yielded beautiful prints with an emphasis on tonality and sharpness.
Along with Fred Archer, the two developed what we know today as the Zone System. The Zone System is a formalized process for black and white printing. It divides the picture into measured zone densities allowing the photographer to control the exposure in camera, negative processing and the final print.
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Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
3100 Main St #135
Dallas, Texas 75226
My name is Ted Forbes and I make videos about photography. I’ve been making photographs most of my life and I have a tremendously deep passion for photography that I want to share with you on KZbin.
The Art of Photography is my channel and I produce photography videos to provide a 360 degree look into the world of making images. We all want to get better so lets do this together!
I make videos covering famous photographers, photography techniques, composition, the history of photography and much more.
I also have a strong community of photographers who watch the show and we frequently do social media challenges for photographers to submit their own work. I feature the best and most interesting on the show when we do these so come check it out and get involved!
So come check it out! If you’re a fan of DigitalRev, Fro Knows Photo (Jared Polin), Matt Grainger (That Nikon Guy) or Tony Northrup - you’ll love The Art of Photography. I make video’s giving you a deeper dive into photography techniques, composition and history to compliment the other channels you love to watch.
New shows come out every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.

[@mcol3]

It just dawned on me that with your videos you are building an encyclopedia of photography: these are resources that will stand the passing of time and will educate the current and coming generations.

[@vernonbudinger9852]

This photo must be much different in real life because I do not see anything incredible about this image

[@reach831]

Definitely and I thank him

[@claudiabailey5302]

Carpet Hooligan he is aloud to have that opinion if the work doesn’t move him then it just doesn’t. That’s ok because he will like something you don’t and can’t see the fuss about. It’s called art we are allowed to like and dislike it.

[@north45j]

Enjoy your videos and this is great. Except you refer to Adams and others as Southern California photographers. He lived and worked in San Francisco, Yosemite and finally in Carmel.

[@jelly3374]

And you were absolutely right. Now that I've gotten into photography, got my first camera, and go out to shoot daily, whenever I have a question or am curious about something/someone related to photography, one of the first sources I research with is this KZbin channel.

[@alex0589]

If the internet is my photography school then you are the history of photography teacher and i like your class. Your presentation from 3:57 to 9:00 was especially interesting and well made.

[@jealissamonje7040]

Thanks homie

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

Regarding the moonrise photo...that's a good example of why you shouldn't let anyone discourage you from post-processing. Ansel obviously did a lot of post processing to that image. Far too often I keep getting stuck in the mindset of "Ok, I need to stop editing before I manipulate this one too much." I'm often too concerned about blown highlights and lost shadows, but when I look at many of these Ansel photos, it seems to me many have pure black with totally lost shadows ;-) But that's what makes them dramatic. So....I need to worry less....that's my point.

[@MiddleClassNaPobre]

Hooked on Photography I remember he said, some photos he took is not what his idea portrays, so he post process his work for artistic effects... There is no shame in post processing, its part of your work as photographer .

[@firefighterps2]

AA was based in Carmel CA. Carmel has a long and storied history (thanks in part to Ansel) which is worth a look at separately. Carmel is definitely not in Southern California

[@JDubyafoto]

Ansel was my biggest influence as a young photographer. I learned photography from a Kodak Tech Rep, so my background was very technical and I've spent countless hours in darkrooms over the years. To this day, I still strive for the perfection I saw in his work. Unfortunately, as you said, his style isn't modern any more and photography has changed in spite of his influence. For those of us who learned from (and actually got to meet) Ansel, it's sometimes difficult to catch up and change our styles since we've spent decades perfecting that style. I met Mr. Adams at a Retrospective Exhibition in Oklahoma City in 1977. He was the featured speaker at the opening (an invitation only event at the time) and he showed a number of glass plates he made in his commercial work. He was an interesting man to get to speak with and I was honored to have met him.

[@theartofphotography]

Wow - what an experience!

[@sontiyo7113]

Can you speak about how photography style today has changed compared to his?

[@rachelkarengreen99]

The modern day equivalent for printing something that many times would be processing it in Photoshop many, many times.

[@pipito250596]

Awesome video, Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers. My personal, but very personal opinion is that he is the best photographer ever. Thank you for all information you publish in your videos.

[@Robert-ko6wr]

Seven years after this excellent video there is now a resurgence of Ansel Adams the man and the study of The Zone System. Your educational videos on the man and the System are pivotal in keeping both alive for future photographers. Thank you for doing extensive research, investing countless hours to share your videos. Much appreciated.

[@salttram1]

Really, really enjoy your videos, Ted! Please take this as a compliment . . . you speak as fast as many of us think, so the laconic vibe of your presentations effectively leads the viewer into your concepts at the speed of thought, and adds to the pleasure of watching you and following along. The only things I might add (in this day and age) about this particular piece on Ansel Adams, were his comments about, and his anticipation of, the electronic image. He lamented that he would not live to see it, but any study of his (very detailed) darkroom technique, for me, are tempered by his comments about this. I would LOVE to hear his commentary about the current state of photo-editing . . . and how it might, or might not, serve his particular goals.

[@kraglorntheexsanguinator9559]

I wouldn't say that Ansel or Vivian are in any way household names. I've never heard of either of them until today when i started preparing for my photography class in the spring, and neither are mentioned in contemporary pop culture or any media outside of photography or art history. I'm not bashing them or this video, but to say that they are household names outside of a photography is a bit of a stretch. Maybe at one time they were, back closer to their times, but ask most anyone on the street (besides photographers or art majors) and you will probably just get a bunch of shoulder shrugs.

[@segochito]

His zone system is something I've always admired, a true master of masters.

[@arttyree4504]

Please check me this, but from what I remember of my reading on AA, his artistic center was Northern California, not southern--SF Bay Area specifically. Ansel knew every important artist of his generation.

[@rjphoto66]

Good summary but factually inaccurate in several areas 1. Ted refers repeatedly refers to AA and Westin as "Southern California School" of photographers. Not true - they lived and worked in San Francisco, Carmel and Yosemite - all in Northern California. Adams and Weston last years were spent living and photographing in Carmel with famous images taken at Point Lobos and other beaches. The Weston Gallery in Carmel exhibits and sells their work. 2. Adams died on April 22, 1984 NOT 1983 as stated in the video 3. He did not found alone as implied - f64 but is was a collaborative effort. 4. Ansel did not "make Millions" from the "Moon Rise" image. Those figures reflect the collectors market. Adams does not achieve great financial success until William Turnage becomes his business manager in the early 1970s

[@marcmeeks1929]

Ansel was the Frank Lloyd Wright of photography. His work created global awareness like no other. He expanded and illuminated the technical aspects of the medium. He has more books, calenders, known images then any other photographer. He is a house-hold name even amongst those with no interest in photography. Still today, people from Bulgaria to China to Sante Fe step out their door hoping to take a landscape photo like Ansel Adams. He ceated a photographic bench-mark for us all to aspire to.

[@TazmanianDevil]

The greatest photographer in the greatest photography channel on KZbin 👌🏽 absolutely love these man I’m a student in the art of photography and ur a rare true teacher of photography.

[@patio87]

You should do a video on Clyde Butcher, I'd like to know what you think.

[@RobertMoran215]

Yes! Great suggestion. Ted, I see a trip to the swamp in your future.

[@Oculus729]

You beat me to it. I was going to suggest the same thing as I know him personally. Clyde is a great person. No doubt Clyde would be happy to do a segment.

[@theartofphotography]

Craig Houdeshell Would LOVE to find a way to do that!!!

[@Oculus729]

theartofphotography I am confident I can facilitate in helping make that happen. I looked at your website and saw no email. Here is mine. Connect with me through email and I will tell you what I can do. >>>>> [e-mail]. Thanks and have a great day.

[@MosbeckPhoto]

What a lovely 3am surprise.

[@JungleEddie]

I saw Clearing Winter Storm at the Detroit Institute of Art and it was awe inspiring. There has never been another photograph to have that big of an impact on me. The only one to come close was Yousuf Karsh's portrait of Winston Churchill.

[@aaronabbott6315]

I'm a photography teacher in Phoenix Az. Your videos are shared with my class on a regular basis. I just wanted to say thank you!

[@AuthenticSound]

Ansel Adams might be 'old school', but I do feel much connection with his work. As if you feel that he gave all he had to reach a level of perfection and complete freedom of expression. Good to know that you a third generation Ansel Adams, Ted, but that was already very clear! Now Stieglitz, he is a giant for me, but I do not understand his fame in photography itself (and that is my fault,... I know). His cloud studies are beautiful, but is that because of the picture, of because of the cloud? So, a real Ted Forbes episode on Stieglitz to save my life in heaven (I'm sure Adams will kick me out after what I said here about Stieglitz :-) )

[@durango-CODEBUILDER]

You say that as if people feel _disconnected_ from his work..?

[@KyuuTomoyaki]

Fun Fact: Ansel Adams' grandson...is my roommate!

[@brianjrichman]

Ted, Thanks for finally getting to cover the main man Ansel Adams. Yes, we have moved on in a different direction regarding landscape work in the last 25 or so years; perhaps we are now just a little bit less purely decorative in our everyday aesthetic? Even though Ansel was looking forward to the use of computers in image making (there is a video somewhere with him saying that too), I do wonder if leaving analog behind and ONLY concentrating on digital in the art schools (also the "sexiness" of street and journalism) has destroyed the appreciation that a big chunk of the craft/skill/art aspects of analog photography was in the darkroom? Masters such as Ansel used the camera as the starting point - the real 'work' was in the darkroom. The product was the print, so now that the product is more often a "like" or an advert click does it even matter so much?

[@Sirilionmovies]

Another great video of one of my favourite photographers. Can you tell me, Ted, what's the name of the track you used here? It's so peaceful!

[@LibanPhotography]

Nice video. Ansel is extremely popular and for good reasons. So is Ansel basically the father of photo retouching?

[@DarkAngelEU]

Even after all the avant-garde we had in monochrome photography (Dirk Braeckman, Daido Moriyama, Eikoh Hosoe, etc.) there is no master like Ansel Adams. Every single one of his images make me feel something and his best make me burst to tears. This is the "painterly" quality Pictorialists talked about and failed to achieve, that a mechanically produced image can still shake a man to his knees. Simply the best photographer to have yet existed.

[@ronwatson98]

it is/was not southern California; Nothern

[@TEAMAGEPRODUCTIONS]

Bro, you are great at conveying your artistic thoughts and comments. You really can break stuff down and never sound irrationally-critical or anything. Thanks for making this!

[@Jessehermansonphotography]

So, what is the opinion of filters for the purist?

[@jnk4president]

hi Ted! a big thanks for those GREAT episodes! what is the name of the instrumental song? appreciate much love

[@jimwlouavl]

Nicely done. Ansel Adams and straight photography were my inspiration in the 70s. Thanks for taking the time to review his work. I remember the first time I saw one of his prints up close. The zone system managed dynamic range, something we still futz with.

[@Finarphin]

Negative size for Monolith Face of Half Dome, mentioned at 11:57, is 6 1/2 by 8. Glass plate.

[@smiff4748]

Its always a pleasure to watch one of your video's Ted. Keep up the excellent work.

[@romiemiller7876]

You're right, Adam's work, or anyone else's work, doesn't reproduce well. This is especially true if there is fine shadow and highlight detail.

[@imiszasz2442]

i love the music during the video. LOVE IT! i like Ansel Adam's work, but in this video, the music caught me more :)

[@droidmaker]

i'm curious why you keep referring to Adams (and the F/64 Group) as "southern california photographers"? Generally, I thought, these were known as Northern California Photographers - maybe centered on Weston in Carmel, but most of them were in San Francisco and Oakland...

[@MrNerd123]

Can you please do an episode on Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

[@funhog100]

Wow, an intelligent photography website! Really good stuff, and you know your history, which is very important in the whole world of photography. Thanks for the quality material!

[@arpsiispra3882]

Really a great one, again! Can't wait for that Cartier Bresson you said you had in the works. I also would like to suggest an episode on Izis Bidermanas if it manages to fit in your schedule. Thanks for your great work.

[@2BeLikeChrist]

Really enjoyed this video in 2023

[@BrunoChalifour]

Strand and Stieglitz before Adams in terms of Pure/Straight photography. Adams had met Strand in Taos in 1930 while he was hesitating between music (piano) and photography. Strand showed him some of his 8x10 negatives. Two years later (1932), Adams had broken away from pictorialism, adopted Strand's and Weston's ways of printing on glossy (baryta) paper and co-founded the f. 64 group (Ansel Adams, "An Autobiography", p. 109-112).

[@maxxweber4336]

www.mopa.org/node/4683 America's Cathedrals: Photography and the National Parks 20 Feb, 2016 - 31 Dec, 2016 Drawn entirely from MOPA's permanent collection, America's Cathedrals features work by Ansel Adams, William Henry Jackson, Carleton Watkins and many more.

[@simon-d-m]

You're being quite unfair suggesting that the use of filters isn't "pure" photography. The plates (not film!) Adams used were orthochromatic, not panchomatic, meaning they were predominantly sensitive to green light. When he shot "Monolith" ("the face of Half Dome" is it's subtitle), he knew exactly what he was doing with the red filter - it changed the relative sky exposure dramatically. He narrates this in his autobiography.

[@alexcarrillo5510]

Ah Ted Ansel Died on April 22, 1984, I was in my darkroom when I heard the news, and then on the next month I got job working at Ansel's place where he got his enlarger fix at AGI Camera store in San Francisco, and work there for 33 happy years in which I met Cole, and Kim weston, and then his wife that owns the Weston Gallery, and Jim Marshall, Herman Leonard, Karsh, Arnold Newman, and Joel Rosenthal, and Ruth Bernhard, Prickle Jones, and John Gutmann... Those were the days before Digital..

[@kev-othegamer]

Thank you.

[@stanrogers5613]

I'm the other way around. Pictures like the Aspens pair, especially the vertical, I find absolutely stunning. The abstracted bits of Yosemite, the same. The vistas? Blah. (And I've never gotten the attraction of Moonrise at all.) But, as the French say, everyone has the gout.

[@132indo]

darkroom is 50% of the process according to Adams. It's not a criticism that it wasnt pure photography. Adams pre visualized what he wanted in the final print before he took the exposure, taking into account both what is captured on the negative and what light values are highlighted or changed in the dodging/burning process.

[@jan-hendrikswanepoel3744]

Seven years later and this is still so relevant 🙂 Good job, as always.

[@melody3741]

"Get up closw to the photo" whats hilarious is that digital photographers consider this to be evil and sacrilage because they were kind of forced to start thinking that way, because it is a digital cameras literally just cannot reproduce the Fidelity of film. I think that entire point is completely stupid and that any photograph that you were able to take advantage of using the details and allowing someone to get up close is still a great photograph. What's the experience itself of being able to walk up close to something and see how incredibly complex it is is absolutely magical.

[@SaZooCaballero]

Seen a read many books, papers and videos on Ansel Adams. This is one of the best. Thanks for the video!

[@brushbros]

One does not refer to a great person by their first name, unless they themselves are even greater. "Mr. Adams," or "Ansel Adams" is adequately gracious. And Mr. Adams was not referring to image manipulation, but rather to "straight photography."

[@CasualPrince]

Are these videos in one playlist? Thank you for producing them. They're sincerely appreciated.

[@davidcochran5071]

AA’s prints have a 3D quality about them

[@melody3741]

When they say pure photography it does not mean what someone would use that term today to mean. Manipulation has absolutely nothing to do with that. The only thing that pure means is that it is not intended to copy painting or to uphill to classical artists and instead that it is just that any manipulation and techniques are all made to work with the medium and be photography in itself not to copy other field. If not hypocritical in any way.

[@davestokes3446]

I'm sorry but, much as I would like to watch this video to the end, the music that accompanied the gallery of images was so painful and distracting that I had to switch it of after a few minutes. Such a shame as it l ooked like it was going to be a very interesting talk.

[@davidcochran5071]

This is a true statement. When I was an art student in the late ‘80’s’ the school arranged for a private viewing of some famous images at thePhilly museum. Among them was an Adams and it seemed to me like it was three dimensional

[@mr1001nights]

According to Otto Rank’s theory of art, a photograph of nature becomes "artistic" when it starts to imply or suggest, however subtly, the possibility of the supernatural or transcendental. Something beyond material reality and thus by implication above our mere physical, mortal animal status. This artistic difference can be seen if one compares the countless mediocre pictures of nature taken by tourists with say, the extraordinary black and white photographs of Ansel Adams, who waited for days to get just the “right” shot, and spent considerable time in the darkroom manipulating the final image. The pictures of a mediocre tourist may provide a more realistic representation, in the sense that they may be more in line with the bulk of what one actually sees when visiting nature. But ironically, they may be said, in lay terms, to "look like shit" as compared to Adams’ i.e. to lack the transcendental aesthetic element. Like the material impermanence of nature, excrement is not perceived as transcendental. In Ernest Becker’s words, “it shows man his abject finitude, his physicalness, the likely unreality of his hopes and dreams.” Now, it's true that upon visiting a nature site, one may experience transcendental feelings of awe (and dread) that are not captured in one’s mediocre photographs. However, such feelings of awe or dread are not equivalent to those one may feel looking at an Ansel Adams photograph. Adams has to work on a small piece of paper. He cannot rely on the actual presence of the nature site. He would not, in any case, want to compete with nature’s direct presence; or, in Otto Rank’s words, pit his “creativity as a mortal against nature’s immortal creativity”. He is not simply attempting a faithful emotional replication of nature's presence. This would not only highlight his inadequacy, but rob him of his artistic individuality, which requires a certain degree of creative interpretation and license. Adams, like every talented artist, strives for cultural significance and legacy--for artistic immortality. This compensates for his mortality and insignificance in nature--for the lack of connection to her immortal creative ethos. Becker wrote that "like any material achievement art is visible, earthly, impermanent. No matter how great it is, it still pales in some ways next to the transcending majesty of nature; and so it is ambiguous, hardly a solid immortality symbol. In his greatest genius man is still mocked.” This rings true even when art becomes so close an approximation to nature.

[@Scott-ll9rb]

18min40 point about the two schools comparison was pleasant to hear. Ta

[@lawcch]

Photography is an artistic skill that photographer possessed or artist paints a picture with colour or black and white pictures.

[@CorbinGoodwin]

I actually acquired a Weston Master light meter to use and learned it's the same kind that Ansel used, I can see him holding one at 4:11 and now I'm giddily running to fetch it to cradle while watching this! I metered with it for my "everything old" roll, it's a bit strange because the Weston scale differs slightly from the ISO scale. Ansel's use of contrast and immense framing is such an inspiration, he's probably the reason I rarely shoot B&W without a red filter...

[@CrystalClearWith8BE]

Today marks the 40th death anniversary of Ansel Adams.

[@marslan1]

Thank you for the tons of info you gave, but can you speak little bit slow?

[@mikkirurk1]

Am I the only one who finds Moonrise over Hernandez not as gorgeous as they say, and definitely not Adams's best work? Have a great day.

[@emendoz1]

You’re not alone.

[@PatrickSmith]

Ansel is from San Francisco, as are most of the F64 group.

[@richardwood3242]

Love, this podcast......i, have admired Ansel's pictures, few that i've seen. I shall, lookup other Anel's stuff! ......................Fantastic

[@jooyoonchung3593]

What an absolutely fascinating talk. Thank you.

[@martykimble9999]

Southern California?

[@firefighterps2]

Right!

[@jimaenchbacher6818]

Could the ‘stick’ in the portrait be a fly rod?

[@jeddr1]

Hi Ted, big fan of your videos, love to dip in once in a while, your definitely an inspiration compared to the constant camera reviews, you've got me really looking at photography more, I just bought a copy of Snake River and it is beutiful, I'd love to see a real copy at some point.

[@kunzklingsor9156]

Thanks for a balanced, Ansel Adams “professorial” video which, by the way, belongs in any arts university, or library in the country, consistent with all your videos, you did the home work. Also, dressed the part. Hehehee….Bravo !

[@delbertosborne5269]

The Zone System was only one crucial part for Ansal Adams Darkroom Majic. Ansal's real Majic was the use of the Zone System for creating what he called, "The Prefect Negatives" which was the essence of the Zone System for his Prints. As I understand it. Non the less, it was Ansal's Black & White which drew me to Black & White Photography in the first place. I simply love it.

[@thebodyarchitecture]

Absolutely incredible and eye-opening video. How great his work is. No DSLR, No megapixels, No photoshop or Lightroom...Amazing.

[@KeytonJones]

What is that inspirational music sound at the 3:40 mark?

[@MarkoCoomo]

Love this video, thank you! Always admired Ansels work from afar (UK), but were lucky enough to visit Yosemite in 2013. I agree that the original prints are just way beyond anything I'd seen in print and well worth seeking out if you are already an AA admirer. Amazing photos .. and Yosemite wasn't too shabby either! :o)

[@zkmk8485]

Thank you for your work inspiring and motivational - fashion, trends come n go imo, but AA remains our ‘oldscool’ Master. 🙏🏼🌗✨

[@DavidMeyerPhoto]

It's interesting to see these images and listen about his darkroom manipulations, especially when I think about all those times when I saw people slamming retouching software and saying how film photography is the only true photography because it's not Photoshoped :D I still have 3 rolls of exposed film in my fridge, should finally develop it. And, a roll to finish next Monday. Thanks for this gentle nudge :)

[@theartofphotography]

David Meyer yep - the manipulation argument has been around since the beginning of photography ;-) Ansel caught criticism as well.

[@joeo.8034]

+David Meyer To be honest I'm still on the side with manipulations aren't true photography. Now the darkroom trickery used I still see as not a pure photo, is it nice? Yes, it it pure? No, I think the artistry is still there but I wouldn't call it the art of photography, I would call it the art of developmentography. True photography I feel is without image manipulation or development manipulation. I believe the only real true photography is either instant film photography or slide film. I shoot slide film purposely because I believe it is THE most challenging to get right. There is limited dynamic range, but what you can DO with that range is amazing if you do it RIGHT. That I believe is true photography, that once you've taken the photo nothing else is done to the image. If you didn't get it right when the light hits the film, you didn't do it right. Thats my purest outlook on it. Now I do appreciate manipulated photography's beauty, there are some stunning stuff out there, but to me it's just not real, anyone with enough time and energy can fix something after you made a mistake, the real photography is NOT making the mistake in the first place.

[@codydevriesphotography9384]

I would call it pure. It is still a part of the process of film photography. You could say the same thing about pottery. You can put just the pure clay in the kiln and be done, or you can throw it back into the kiln with glaze. Still considered pure pottery you know?

[@joshuaperida1596]

Hey Ted Forbes, just wondering if you could do an artist deep dive on Arnold Newman. Thanks, much appreciated!

[@luisvergani2693]

Ansel Adams is the Johann Sebastian Bach of photography. In addition to his artistic dimension, so well described in Ted's video, Adams was also an accomplished technician. Many of us have carefully studied his Zone System.

[@dukenukem5768]

This starts extremely abruptly. Was there something before? I wish KZbinrs would mentally count to 5 or something after the camera rolls before they begin talking.

[@tplyons5459]

You forgot to mention he used an orange filter for the Hernandez photo

[@IanGibson1]

Another great video, Ted. You really brought great insight into Adams' work. You commented near the beginning that if you ask anyone to name a photographer, Ansel Adams would be pretty much the top of everyone's list. And that's true for photographers. Here in the UK I bet that if you asked the question of people of my (our?) age, the answer would be David Bailey. He'd be a great subject for one of your videos, though he is still alive. Keep up the great work!

[@boatman222345]

Overall an excellent overview of Ansel Adams and his imagery. And I would certainly agree with the statement that seeing an actual Adam's print clearly trumps viewing his work via book or screen. As you rightly point out Ansel's prints are simply breathtakingly beautiful! In the early 1970s I had the good fortune to attend an Ansel Adams retrospective at Stanford University. I don't recall precisely how many of his prints were on display but there were many. Some of the most impressive examples of his work consisted of...drum roll please...portraits! I would tend to disagree with your assessment of Ansel's portrait skills...have you seen the image he made of Tony Luhan? Lastly I find myself wondering if by "pure photography" Ansel was talking more about intent than about technique. Pure photography today, in the digital age, has come to mean not beating an image to death with Photoshop and its ilk. In Ansel"s day I believe the measure of purity had more to do with a basic belief in the photographic process and in the degree of "Art" achievable using a camera. Whenever I hear a photographer attributing a basic distaste of photo manipulation to Ansel I am caught between laughter and tears! Even a brief glance at his books on technique quickly reveals that Ansel's concept of the visualized print virtually dictates - in most cases anyway - extensive manipulation both in making the negative and then in creating the print. Last, but not least, I have always felt that the driving force behind Ansel's long and prolific career as a photographer was his love of and for the natural world. Sadly it sometimes seems today as if many landscape photographers are driven more by the desire to achieve recognition as a photographer than by the desire to pay homage to the natural scene. The relationship of many modern photographers to nature is rather similar to the relationship of today's climbers to the mountains. When I began rock climbing in 1969 it was often seen as a means of accessing beautiful areas of the mountains otherwise inacessible, whereas today it would seem that many climbers are happier on a climbing wall in a gym than in the physical mountains themselves.

[@SJ-eu7em]

watched couple of your vids and really enjoying your work, sad that people are not watching this kinda vids more and rather spend time with useless junks consumerism ...

[@patthompson1253]

Incredible, thank you. What an incredibly educational, not to mention enjoyable way to explore photography, Bravo!

[@paristo]

The f/64 group doing lots of manipulations? Fixing, Editing and Manipulating are totally different things in photography post process. Fixing is like you crop the image and you adjust exposure correctly and possible change contrast. Editing is where you start burning and dodgin areas of the photo to give it different exposure and other similar small things for colors etc. Manipulation is where you create or eliminate elements from the photograph, like you add people in the photo, you remove people from photo, you use multiple frames or clone something, you blur elements or you sharpen elements.

[@kilimanjoro]

Thank you for your amazing presentational skill which captures the attention of those that watch your videos and provides enjoyment ..😃

[@pixiedixie3187]

Yes, I have the honor of see an exhibition in Oxford Uk , and I was shaking and crying of emotion , as a mountaineer I could sense texture of the rocks , the texture of the snow , the void of the bid walls, the sound of the cascades, on his prints. is just glorious! Eternal! The Bach of photography.t

[@rbruce63]

I can't stop watching this video! Since early on in my photography adventure I read Ansel Adams books on the Camera, the Negative and the Print. Getting my livelyhood from offset printing I can relate to the zone system and the scales of grays and densitometry! In my humble opinion the original print of Moonlit Hernández isn't half bad, however, the last one is superb, surreal, the artistic interpretation of the atmosphere over this town!

[@jungerhansmann6608]

I don't think he was hypocritical when he talked about pure photography. Photography means drawing with light and that's what you do in the darkroom too, isn't it? Even red filters are just a tool to paint with light differently.

[@aerinking8297]

The Half Dome shot around 12:23 has pretty noticeable banding in the sky -- is that from Ansel's original print or from your reproduction in the video?

[@BarbasMinecraft]

hello ted i know that ansel made 5 technical books and the most famous are the print, the camera and the negative but he also made to other technical books "Basic Techniques of Photography - Book 1and 2" I would like to know if the print, the camera and the negative will covered all the knowledge in the other to books or not? thanks

[@mairarios2693]

I wish I would have known about Ansel before I had my four boys. I would have named one Ansel. His Legacy will never die! I love his work.

[@djbadandy1]

honk if the video game "7 days to die" led you here!

[@Emporator]

Fantastic presentation, done beautifully. What’s the name of the music from 3:17?

[@mgman6000]

Went to Yellowstone 2 years ago and went to the spot overlooking the Snake River and to my disappointment you can't see the bottom part of the river.the trees had grown tall in the 79 years since Ansel took it that makes the photograph even more special

[@Senpatientulo]

In 2020 I am reviewing all of your reviews on photographers. Thanks for your love and effort you have put into your videos.

[@patrickbailey1393]

I was excited to go shoot the Snake River at the same spot he shot his wonderful photograph. Unfortunately you cant do that anymore the trees have grown so tall since then ,you cannot see the bend and river in the foreground Still a beutiful place though

[@patricelongchamps9880]

You are a very interesting person, great communication and probably (not really because I think you are) an Artist at Art (heart) !!!

[@markharris5771]

I don't think it's possible to have another Ansel Adams, he was a master craftsman but technology and techniques have moved on too far for someone to come along and make such a difference.

[@bryanbennett8042]

Thank you. This was a great video! So informative. Moving really

[@taromcbarako7210]

thank you for doing these photographer series. i just watched your fan ho video. excellent!