Ansel Adams

"A photograph is made, not taken."

Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Fransico. Though throughout his life Adams' mother was too worried to support, his father always encouraged and bolstered Ansel, in every aspect of his life. He always had trouble in school, ever since he was a child. He was shy and unusually genius which excluded him from fitting in, and on top of that had almost a deformity. As a four year old, he fell during an earthquake. This literally scarred him for life- his nose that is. He may have been dyslexic or hyperactive, but he never succeeded in school. He eventually was homeschooled, and eventually was educated to the equivalent of finishing the eighth grade. As a result of having no friends, Ansel showed much interest in nature as a child. This admiration is clearly shown in his work as an adult. When Adams was 12, he taught himself to read music and play the piano. He persued this career for quite sometime and although he gave it up later, there is no doubt his passion for music influenced him photography. Also, the self discipline and artistry he learned as a musician absolutley helped him succeed in photography.
Ansel's parents gave him a Kodak No. 1 box brownie as his first camera and he went straight to the Yosemite to use it. His love of nature was evident here. As he hiked, explored, climbed and photographed, he gained confidence in himself. He returned at least once a year after this, until the day he died. Yosemite is where he met Virginia Best; they were married in 1928. In 1934, Adams officially gave up the ambition of being a concert pianist, and devoted his life to photography. This decision was encouraged by the Sierra Club (of Nevada) as he was elected on the board of directors and named artist of Sierra Nevada and defender of Yosemite.
Ansel Adams only soared from here. He moved on to bigger projects and was influenced by other photographers. His confidence was boosted high for the rest of his life as he became a legend.


This photograph shows Adams' skill in timing, which is everything. He shot when the light was just perfect, portraying the highlights and the darks exactly how he wanted them.


Here Adams shows his passion for nature. He worked hard to get this specific angle, up so high, and intensified the beauty of nature.


Again, Ansel timed this photograph with perfection. The way the sun hits the water shows the feeling of walking on a peaceful beach and captures the essence of the pier at sunset. This is probably my favorite, because that's my favorite feeling.


This is my second favorite. For the billionth time, Ansel shows his love for nature. The way he has gotten close and focused directly on each petal, the light on the outside of the flower contrasted with darks of the depth, and the background of ripples as if it were water; Ansel planned this all out so it all corresponds exactly the way he wanted.


I love this photograph. Though it seems a bit cliche showing a journey ahead, Adams has made it his own. It is as though this is his original shot, and every shot like it was based off of this. The depth of field sends the message that there is a journey ahead, but he does it so it actually means something. This is not a cheesy photograph, it is actually significant to the history of photography!

Extra Credit

I am taking this opportunity to get more points since I am not pleased with my work this term. It is not that I feel I was graded unfairly, I just wish I would've worked a little harder, and never been satisfied. I also want to take this opportunity to tell anyone who reads this (cause I have so many fans) about one of the many things I regret from photo this term. I don't just deplore absolutely everything I've done, don't get me wrong, this is the most I've ever loved a class! (no, I'm not just sucking up to Slade, I'm actually serious.) There are just some things I wish I'd improved. Anyway, this is one thing I regret not taking the time to do:

I've always been planning on shooting something that told a personal story. Not a story like Humpty Dumpty (though I loved your work Chan) and not a pointless story to simply entertain viewers. I want a photograph that resembles me. I want to capture the things I love in life, right now, in one image. One of the reasons I didn't shoot it this term was because I don't quite know what to shoot. I don't know what this picture will look like.. because I'm still figuring myself out. This photo, if I ever take it, will be for me. Not for an audience, not for Slade, not for Chan or for my parents, but for me. I want to look back on this one photograph, and remember the things I thought about at this age. The things I did, what I loved, because I want to capture the memory of my life right now. One reason why I want to do this is because I see myself loving photo in the future, not just now. It might not be my profession, but I'm sure it will always be at least a hobby. And as I'm building my foundation right now, taking these classes, learning lessons and gaining skills, and it is just the beginning of my life as a photographer. When I'm old, hopefully still into photography, I want to see what my work looked like when I was just starting out. When I research professional photographers, I've always wanted to see what their first print looked like. What their photos looked like at my age. This would give me hope that maybe I could one day be as great as they were. Yes, this entire paragraph is cheesy with finding myself, and capturing memories, but I honestly hope to soon find out what this photograph will look like, and when I find out I will shoot it.

Josef Koudelka

At first I just liked this guy cause he was named after my favorite printer. (Maybe it was the other way around.....) but in my research, I have learned that he is much more than a printer. That printer is very very fortunate to have a pleasure and honor, of being named after such an artist. Here is just one favorite:



I really like this one, because you can see into the head of this hand. You can tell, by just the subject of the image, that this man is either bored or in a hurry. But then as we look at the background, a busy city with people with places to go, we see that this man is in a hurry. One small side element of vantage point simply shows us how great a photographer he is, and it also tells us that this man has a long way to go, and not a long time to get there. I love the story this tells.

William Eggleston

This one also is great. It's full of wonder, why did he take this picture? What is this significance? What was he thinking? Maybe it was just great light, maybe it was his favorite car, favorite drink, who knows? But I think he wanted to leave us wondering. The reflection is awesome. It is what caught my eye, and it adds so much to the picture. By the style of both the cars and the bottle, you can tell what year/era this is. Maybe it's just the great representation of light, but this photo is great.

William Eggleston

So at first, I thought his work wasn't so great. It wasn't bad, but I didn't understand what the big deal was. This was last term, during my project of this guy. Well after I did some research on him, I started to understand what was so great, and I appreciated his work. Now, at the end of digital term I've learned a lot, and I appreciate him even more. Here, Eggleston has used the 'hero angle' on a tricycle. Though it is usually used on a person for a portrait, I can see the hero angle here. He has made with tricycle look big, powerful, almighty, heroic. Whether it is a child's dream toy, or his favorite toy, as I look at this photo I hear glorified voices singing. This is great.

Joel Sternfeld

I respect Joel Sternfeld, along with many. These are just a few of my favorites.



I like how he has color coordinated the pumpkins with the fire, and how both the smashed pumpkins and the burning building symbolize destruction.




This one's great because he has coordinated her shirt with the sheet, and her face with the pole. This color coordination is pleasing to the eye. Also The sheet is dirty, as is her face. This coordination leaves the mind wondering.


Joel is great icause he always has a message to go along with the photo. He inspires me to send messages through my photographs too. He always coordinates two subjects, or a subject with the background, and this is great.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I'm thinking playgrounds. Originally I was going to do nursery rhymes, because over the break I told the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' using photography. It was a good idea, but the actual photos weren't that great, so I was going to reshoot that. Chan's idea was playgrounds. Well as I heard hers, I fell in love with the idea. During film last term, I shot playgrounds, and they were some of my favorite images. I was so jealous, I wanted to do playgrounds so badly! Then I found out that Chan had fallen in love with my idea, as I had hers. It was perfect!! We switched. Now I'm very excited, she's excited, we're all excited. I'm looking at old antique ones made of wood and iron and trying to avoid the new futuristic plastic ones. Yay! I can't wait.

Okay. I wrote that Friday the 6th, and I shot all weekend. Now it is Monday the 9th, and I like my shots! But I don't like the slides and just swings and climbing sets, I like all of the shots where I got very very close, and focused hard and sharply. Well it just so happens and these shots, my favorites, are all of metal. My close-up bolt and my chain from a swing, these are my favorites! So I've changed my subject to metal. I don't even like my playground shots. But I love the metal ones. I'll go shoot some more this week, and I may even have some shots from past assignments I could use. I have almost two full weeks until this is due, so hopefully it's exceptional. Yay!! I can't wait. I hope it turns out!

Chan

Benjamin

Metal

I am pleased with my final project. It isn't exceptional as I had hoped, and I like my classmates work a LOT better. (big surprise.. They're all incredible!) I discovered that I love rust. I love old things, especially old metal. This is why my least favorite image is the one of the violin case buckle; it doesn't belong. While the other photos are old, used metal, it is new and shiny- I don't like it. I love the rust of the bike rack. Focus is my best friend. It is what makes the image; this is why I love my chain. I love how you can see a trail of chains/swings behind it, but they don't draw the attention. The lock and spiral were taken in California over christmas break. I liked these shots. The location was a beach house overlooking the ocean, and though these shots don't tell you this, I'll always remember the day when I captured these images. The spiral is on the arm of a chair, which was interesting. The lock was on the door of a house, and it was peculiar to see this kind of security. The swing, bike rack, chain and bolt were all in an old, small playground of an elementary school. These images were the ones I saw in my head when I thought I'd do playgrounds for my final project. But when my favorites were all metal, I decided to switch out the topic, and look at metal closely; I am so glad I decided to do this. I am pleased, but I don't love this as a whole. Focus is my best friend. It is what makes the photo. Also light. These are precious and I need to look hard for each as a photographer, and saver them when I have the chance. One more thing: the color shot on the top. I shot this in color as opposed to black and white. I saw the color mixed with light in real life, and I loved the contrast and the way this brown and blue looked juxtaposed. I had taken this in black and white, and liked it just fine, the bolt is interesting, especially in focus. But when I tried it in color, I was seduced. I already thought it was a great image, and the color and light only added!! Wow. I just couldn't resist putting it up. (I printed it too!) Not to brag, but I absolutely love this image!!!!!! The End.

Reshoot

This is my reshoot, but I'm going to redo this assignment later. My original image wasn't that bad, so we're starting over. Anyway I originally photographed this for my bracketing assignment. But the light was terrible, so I reshot it in greater light. Well thanks to photoshop I was able to make the original look great even though the light was terrible (further down the blog, titled "Happiness") But next time I'm reshooting an image I took the very first day of this digital photography class, so now with my attained skills, it'll be great in comparison!

Assignment #4 Portraits

I learned a lot from this assignment. For starters, I learned what a portrait is. It is not simply a photograph of a person, but it tells a story. Eye contact from your subject is an ingredient that is not required, but it adds a whole lot to the story. This engagement, or lack of it can tell the viewer all about this person's attitude and outlook on life. Both the position and expression of the subject is what makes the portrait. A distracting background is something to aviod-- it draws attention away from your subject. Of course if it is helping to tell the story, everything must be placed precisely in the right spot. Composition in not only portraits but in every photograph. Patience is required when photographing people, also great light. When photographing a stationary object, it's easy to simply adjust the shutter speed, because it doesn't constantly move. If you avoid camera shake, the photo won't be blurry. But with people, there is no room for procrastination. People can't naturally sit still the way objects can, so with a slow shutter speed, there is sure to be some blur. When you have great light, the shutter speed can be fast so the photo can be completely in focus. Perfect light also captures the correct tone of the skin, which is key. Though they are much harder than objects, I love photographing people. The images are so much easier for the viewer to relate to. My favorite image is the one of Chander, the first image. The light is perfect, the shadows showing what she looks like on a daily basis. Her engagement, and eye contact with me shows her confidence as a person. Her smile shows me her optimism. That's the story I get from that portrait, I can see her positive outlook on life. I also like the one of Sydney; the second one. It is a bit blurry which is why it isn't my favorite, but I love her expression. It tells me what a happy person she is, that she chews on bobby pins when she's bored, and that she isn't afraid to be who she is. The one of Chandler in the puddle can be argued as not a portrait. Most seem to think it isn't, but I still see it as one. It's telling me a story. Chandler is having a childish day filled with discovery and naivty. Simply playing in the rain with no hint of stress in her actions. I like it. The one of my mother tells you that either she has a lot on her mind, or that she is tired of her photoshoot and wants to go to bed. I loved this assignment, and I am pleased with the outcome. I love all of my classmates work too-- portraits just may be my favorite photographs over all. I love photoshop. It never ceases to make my day.

Abstract Nouns

I've been trying to make all of my titles abstract nouns.. It's very enjoyable. Like instability for my rocking chair and loneliness for my poor little flower with no friends.. but I'm running out of ideas! So if you want to help me out leave a comment saying your favorite abstract noun kay? kay.

No Worries, No Regrets.

Relaxation

Naivity

Loneliness

Instability