Ansell Adams - Feb. 20 1902 — Apr. 22, 1984

Ansell Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist.  He originally a talented musician had the confidence to drop music and follow photography happened after he spent many summers in the Sierra Navada.  1927 was the pivotal year in Ansells career when he created his first fully visualised photograph 'The Moon and half dome' he was also influenced by Bender a patron of arts and artists around this time.  Ansell like the other photographers I have  researched captured 'the wilderness' which is why I can liken my theme Natural Beauty to their work.

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'I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us'

The image below shows line texture, perspective and movement.  The sky is dramatic and the light has been cleverly captured to highlight the mountain tops contrasting with the dark and gloomy landscape below.  The image has alot of different texture with the mountain peaks and treetops. The swooping of snake river creates a softness and movement to the image. The theme that I like throughout my research is the jagged edge of the landscape against the sky.  I will try to recreate that in my landscape photography.  The composition has been set up so the river leads your eye into the image.

Again this image is similar to the one above but with the added warmth of colour.  I like the one below as there is more interesting objects in the foreground.  The image at first feels cold then as the light hits the horizon the image feels warm.

The image of the leaf below interested me as it was in black and white.  The tonal range is good as all of the detail of the leaf is still clearly shown with no detail lost.  The use of light in this image has kept the detail.  The main focal point of the image is the large leaf.  The image viewpoint has been taken from an Ariel point above the subject.

I would like to use the points picked up from  researching Ansell Adams photography in my photography with good use of perspective movement.  I would like to use the jagged edges of the mountains against the horizon  in my images.