Eloquent Images by Gary Hart
Insight, information, and inspiration for the inquisitive nature photographer
Under the Influence
Winter Light, Yosemite Valley
Sony a7RIII
Sony 100-400 GM
ISO 100
f/10
1/20 seconds
Happy Birthday, Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams’ influence on photography is impossible to measure. Not only Adams’ influence on photographers, but his influence on the viewers of photography as well. Ask 100 people to name a photographer and 99 will name Ansel Adams; ask them to name a second photographer and you’ll get 99 different names.
Through his use of relationships, perspective, and tones, Adams’ images masterfully emphasized light and shape to guide viewers’ eyes and emphasize aspects of his scenes that he found most compelling. An entire generation’s relationship with nature was unconsciously shaped by the prints of Ansel Adams, not because they showed the world as we already knew it, but because they showed us the world in new and exciting ways.
Now that I’m a photographer, Adams’ influence manifests most in the freedom to render the natural world as my camera sees it, liberating me from the impossible task of duplicating human vision. The camera and the eye experience the world differently; rather than fight that difference, Adams’ photography celebrated it.
Today’s photographers perpetuate Adams’ vision with the help of far more advanced tools, tools so advanced that it’s easy to overlook the foundation he laid for us. On blogs and forums I see some rolling their online eyes at all the Ansel Adams adulation, discounting his influence and labeling his photography pedestrian and prosaic when compared to current efforts: “What’s the big deal?” they say. To those dubious photographers I respond, criticizing Ansel Adams’ by comparing his monochrome masterpieces to the striking, vivid, blended, and stitched images captured today is like criticizing Lewis and Clark for toiling more than two years on a route that can now be traveled in a few days.
About this image
Last week’s Yosemite Horsetail Fall workshop wrapped up at one of my favorite spots in Yosemite Valley, a spot I’ve photographed so many times that it’s an enjoyable challenge to find something unique. The light on Half Dome that evening was beautiful, but nothing I hadn’t seen before. Rather than settle for the beautiful but conventional shots of Half Dome and its reflection, I scanned the scene for quality light elsewhere.
It wasn’t long before my gaze landed on a small stand of deciduous trees, stripped bare by winter cold, basking in the warm rays of the day’s last sunlight. As I pondered the scene, a rogue beam slipped through to illuminate the crown of a single evergreen, punctuating the otherwise monochrome scene with a splash of color.
Though my eyes could see a confusion of textured granite and tangled branches in the dark background shadows, I knew that detail would be nothing but a distraction in an image. But as Ansel Adams so magnificently demonstrated, an image’s full potential isn’t realized unless the finished product, and the processing required to get there, is visualized and executed at capture.
Well aware of late afternoon light’s ephemeral nature, I quickly mounted my Sony 100-400 GM lens to my tripod, attached my camera, and framed my composition. Taking advantage of the camera’s limited dynamic range (when compared to human vision), I gave the scene just enough light to reveal the sunlit trees. Given my a7RIII’s extreme dynamic range, I knew I could pull detail from the shadows in Photoshop if I wanted to, but in this case I went the other way. Processing the image in Lightroom on my computer, I enhanced the contrast, banishing the distracting background to virtually black shadows, leaving only the shape and light that drew my eye in the first place.
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Influenced by Ansel Adams
Eloquent Images by Gary Hart 
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wonderful shots.
I have enjoy you blog and photographs. I particularly appreciate the information re: camera and setting used.
Two questions:
1. How does one determine a camera’s dynamic range?
2. It would seem most of your photos are taken in the early morning. How do you spend the reminder of the day? And, if shooting in the early mornings, how does one get more one or two shoots per day?
Thanks for following. There are people/sites who measure dynamic range, but I just use my own judgement. For example, my the a7R bodies (I’ve owned all three) give me at least 2 stops, and probably closer to 3 stops, more dynamic range. That’s not a subtle difference.
I only shoot when the light is good. If there are no clouds, that’s usually 45 minutes or so before and after sunrise/sunset, and after dark. If there are clouds, I can shoot all day. This is my livelihood, so there’s plenty (too much) to do when I’m not shooting.
You certainly can see an” image’s full potential” as evidenced by your collection of photos!
Thanks, Arlene.
Gary, I share your feelings about Ansel Adams. I am somewhat of a devotee of his and have read almost every book of his or about him. I have a friend who owns one of his portfolios and I was able to hold the photos in my hands and view them up close: I was awestruck. They tease me with letting me do it again one day! Your shots are beautiful.
This image that you have made for all to see falls in the exact same vein as Adam’s efforts, in my opinion! His work was so far in advance of anything that folks could think of in terms of methodology…Your work has that same character….it speaks to the soul and opens the curtain on the stage for all to gaze upon and see the peace and beauty that is there….I absolutely love this piece, gary…>And your words are so wonderful to engage.! Beautiful