Emulating A Professional Photographer

Project by Sydney Tolmie on Ansel Adams

For this assignment, I examined a few photographs taken by American landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams. Most of his photos are taken in black and white, particularly of the American West where Adams was born. Adams aided in the creation of the Zone System, a sort of print editing method that relies on the understanding of tonal range during the exposure, negative development, and printing process. The Zone System creates sharp clarity and depth, details that characterize Adam's photography. His aesthetically evaluative black and white photos caught me off guard because I am used to seeing shots of nature presented with the fullest of color. Adams utilizes varied composition and lighting to evoke just enough emotion from viewers to provoke thought, but not so bold that the natural details of the photograph are lost. I decided to emulate Adam's style to see if I could edit thoughtfully taken photos of nature in black and white to provoke thought, emotion, and aesthetics in the way that Adams does.

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Leaf, Glacier Bay National Monument

Ansel Adams

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Ascent of the Lost Arrow, Yosemite Valley

Ansel Adams

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The Black Sun, Tungsten Hills

Ansel Adams

Sydney Tolmie

Both photographs utilize diffused lighting and black and white to highlight various detailed patterns found in nature. Adams's piece places a leaf at the center of the shot, whereas I found some fungi growing on the end of a log. Both photos contain contrasting patterns that work together to create an interestingly loud image.

Sydney Tolmie

While I couldn't make it out to Yosemite, unfortunately, I took note of Adams' inclusion of texture as the boulder is shadowed and speckled, the trees below are spiked near straight lines, and there are flat, smooth areas throughout. I attempted to emulate this with the wispy clouds, rippled waves, and soggy shoreline. Additionally, the top light in both Adams and my photo makes the people in both images in shadow.

Sydney Tolmie

The images here both contain a lens flare that adds an interesting natural effect as a result of the front lighting. The intricate details present in the foreground of both images are balanced by the depth present in the overlapping of subjects in the background, differentiated by their levels of shadow. In both instances, the shape of the waterways draws the viewer's eye toward the middle of the photos.

Course Goals and Achievements

I took this class to familiarize myself with the thought put into photographs and how to articulate criticisms effectively and accurately. I wanted to understand the purpose behind photographs, and have learned that the intention behind placement, lighting, and composition factors into the message the final image will convey. I now know how to classify and evaluate images into different photographic categories and identify the impact images have when placed into said categories. I would say that I certainly reached the goals I set for the course, but have a long journey ahead of me and much more to improve on. After taking this class, I plan to pause and think critically about the various photographic element when taking photos with my iPhone or any camera. I would like to challenge myself to take more ethically evaluative photos and images of people in public, similar to Mary Ellen Mark from my multimodal presentation.