Landscape Photographer Ansel Adam Post 3

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park.

With Fred Archer, Adams developed the Zone System as a way to determine proper exposure and adjust the contrast of the final print. The resulting clarity and depth characterized his photographs and the work of those to whom he taught the system. Adams primarily used large-format cameras despite their size, weight, setup time, and film cost, because their high resolution helped ensure sharpness in his images.

Adams founded the Group f/64 along with fellow photographers Willard Van Dyke andEdward Weston. Adams's photographs are reproduced on calendars, posters, and in books, making his photographs widely distributed.

I Have always loved Ansel Adams pictures. I love how he would work in the dark room to created the prefect image and because of this each print is it's own unique piece of art. He would spend long hour readjusting until he found the exact look he wanted to portray. His ability to have the light hit the perfect area of the image was amazing. The first image I placed up really conveys the sense of majesty that you feel when your viewing the mountains at Glacier. In this image he has darken the sky and foreground and lightened the mountains to project their power and beauty. I have been to Glacier National park it is amazing, Ansel Adams used his talents to help make sure places like Glacier were preserved for everyone.

Landscapes with Graduated filter

Landscape 1 Original

Landscape 1 with Graduated Filter and Other Adjustments

Landscape 2 Original

Landscape 2 with Graduated Filter and Other Adjustments

Original Image

Image altered #1

Image altered #2

Image altered #3

Abstract photographs

 Art Wolfe

www.artwolfe.com

 

 

I choose Art Wolfe for my pictures of abstract photos that I like. Art Wolfe is not know as much for his abstract work as he is for his landscapes and animal images. I began to see his images 10 or more years ago and I really loved them. Many times he places himself in unusual vantage points for his images. I believe this is what has made his abstract work and all his work more interesting. His has traveled all over and has brought us images of places that most of us will never see. He opens us up to the world and all it's beauty. 

 

Biography

 

Art Wolfe is an American photographer, television host, conservationist, photography teacher

and artist. He is most notably known for his color photographs of wildlife, nature and cultures. Wolfe's parents were both commercial artists in Seattle, Washington. Wolfe graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington. Within four years of graduation, Wolfe had done assignments for National Geographic magazine and produced his first photo book documenting Northwest Indian baskets.

Wolfe's approach to nature photography combines elements of photojournalism and art photography. Wolfe lists his major influences as Ernst Haas and Eliot Porter. Wolfe has released more than 65 photo books and instructional videos of photographic techniques. The U.S. Postal Service has used Wolfe's photographs on two stamps.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and serves on the advisory boards for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Nature’s Best Foundation, Bridges to Understanding, and is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP).

Wolfe's latest endeavor is the public television series "Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge".^[1] In the series Art shares his knowledge about the world around him and explores different places and cultures. "Travels to the Edge" is distributed by American Public Television. Art's influences were his parents because both were photographers.

Fisrt Image of a photo I liked

 

W. Eugene Smith

American, b. 1918, d. 1978
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_9_VForm&ERID=24KL5347YF
 

I love this photo, it draws you up the path with these children and causes you to wonder what is just beyond the trees where the path opens up. The image is framed by the trees and the darkness of the woods, which creates a tunnel effect toward the center and makes you realize that these are really little children. They climb up the steep grade of the path holding hands and helping each other. This image reminds you of the childhood story of Hansel and Gretel, as they wondered the woods leaving bread crumbs to help them find their way back.

In William Eugene Smith's biography you will learn he was a war photography correspondent, so this image of his children is quite different from what he photographed for a living. I think it is that contrast that makes me love the photo more, it reminds us what soldiers are protecting. It reminds us of humanity. The rest of his photographs bring us to that conclusion. His images of war reminds us that photographs are not just about war but they are really about the people invovled. His images of soldiers in battle bring out the harsh conditions and stress they must go through to protect us. I love this quote form him.-"Photo is a small voice, at best, but sometimes - just sometimes - one photograph or a group of them can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photographs can summon enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought.”

Biography

William Eugene Smith was born in 1918 in Wichita, Kansas. He took his first photographs at the age of 15 for two local newspapers. In 1936 Smith entered Notre Dame University in Wichita, where a special photographic scholarship was created for him. A year later he left the university and went to New York City, and after studying with Helene Sanders at the New York Institute of Photography, in 1937 he began working for News-Week (later Newsweek). He was fired for refusing to use medium-format cameras and joined the Black Star agency as a freelance.

Smith worked as a war correspondent for Flying magazine (1943-44), and a year later for Life. He followed the island-hopping American offensive against Japan, and suffered severe injuries while simulating battle conditions for Parade, which required him to undergo surgery for the next two years.

Once recuperated, Eugene Smith worked for Life again between 1947 and 1955, before resigning in order to join Magnum as an associate. In 1957 he became a full member of Magnum. Smith was fanatically dedicated to his mission as a photographer. Because of this dedication, he was often regarded by editors as 'troublesome'.

A year after moving to Tucson to teach at the University of Arizona, Smith died of a stroke. His archives are held by the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. Today, Smith's legacy lives on through the W. Eugene Smith Fund to promote 'humanistic photography', founded in 1980, which awards photographers for exceptional accomplishments in the field.

 

assignment 2

assignment 1