Transform Digital Photography With Ansel Adams Analog Style Ideas
![Front view of entrance, “Church, Taos Pueblo National Historic Landmark, New Mexico, 1942” [Misicn de San Gercnimo] (vertical orientation); From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941–42, documenting the period ca. 1933–42.](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*lB7lnb1XjwPSkPN5syTXuQ.jpeg)
We think of something “New” as if nothing ever came before this something. Recently, I sat down and looked through my books of 20th century photographers. Each one different in personality and in their approach to look at ordinary things. A bygone era of photography, truly uniquely theirs. But nothing is ever truly new. We are industrious human beings. And we keep building upon knowledge already taken and make something new and unique out of it. Let’s retrace a bit…
About 90 years ago, a perfectionist, a collector of data, a trained musician, a craftsman and a nature loving mathematician, transformed todays’ digital world of photography. Single handedly, through his black and white prism. How impossible is that…? Lets dare me — the Nostradamus of the present, searching deep into the past. Easy.
And if you like taking photos, I’ll let you in on Ansel Adams secret picture perfecting methods in case you’ve forgotten.
If Ansel Adams lived today; We can only speculate:
I wonder, would Ansel Adams - if he lived - trade his 4x5 inch view camera or his Hasselblad 500c in for a comparable digital version? No film required! More precisely, would he trade his beloved darkroom for a chemical free digital application like Adobe Photoshop and a printer? We can only speculate —but if he lived now — image quality…duh… would be his deciding factor.
Combine todays’ technology and Ansel Adams’ Knowledge and sprinkle it with AI — how could he possibly resist?
AI Calibrated Lens Systems And CPUs Controlled Chip Technology: let you forget all of the technical stuff…
Today computer-chip sensor sensitivity as well as precisely AI (artificial intelligence) calibrated camera lens elements contribute to high image resolution. CPU (central processing unit) build in chip technology. An image signal processor working perhaps in unison with a neural processing unit (NPU) —crammed in to your smart phone? — You can see that Photo Technology is ever more evolving and allows us to be creative beyond believe.
But, would we even have such creative avenues today without a Photographer like Ansel Adams?
What about Pixel Density Compared To Analog Film Resolution?
Can the digital reach a pixel density similar to the mural “Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine California, 1944. Print size: 39 x 63 1/4 in. (99.1 x 160.7 cm)”?
Let’s face it, analog film resolution along with a broad tonal range still outperforms most digital cameras. Yet, to be honest, once you go digital for many photographers there is no turning back. Well, that’s how I feel.
Project a tiny vintage 35mm Kodachrome slide and focus the image on to a large wall and you won’t be disappointed, it will be sharp. That is, if you can ignore the annoying artifacts of hair-like dust specs.
In his later years, Adams downgraded to easier to carry models, like the 35mm Zeiss Contax, or the 2.5 inch x 2.5 inch Hasselblad ( both depicting negative size). That’s why I believe, the great master in photography would be working with a digital Hasselblad today.
Tip: print at full resolution: 300 pixels per inch. Your ideal print size considering the full image-reproduction capabilities of most printers means printing at full resolution at 300 pixels per inch (ppi). And as such, easily accommodate image sizes such as 13"x20" printing at home or up to 40"x60" when using a digital lab.
A Mid 20th Century Photographer: He Loved to Hike And Camp Out
A mid 19th century photographer in his prime, carrying his bulky 30 pound camera equipment up a steep climb. Just for the thrill to capture the famous Half Dome, El Capitan, on film. Waiting for the right moment, between sunshine and darkness, he would brave a brewing storm to come. Dark clouds would furnish just the right ambience needed to achieve the look he’d envisioned for his image. For more drama, he placed a red filter to the lens.
Today, the red filter, among others, is still being used when post processing the black and white images in Photoshop or similar programs.
Camping Trip and/or Photographic Expedition?
Of course, for Ansel Adams, his camping trip with his fiancee to Yosemite National Park in California went along with a photographic mission. She knew all to well how eager he’d be to return back home and close the door behind him to his lab.
Believe it or not, a room can be comforting, even if it reeks from the acidic stench of Fixing solution. And it feels comforting when laboring in the dim of green or red light watching a face or landscape appear. It’s the other way around in Photoshop when you begin with an image and use the tools available to manipulate it to match your vision.
With hands in a tray of chemical solution, under red light, he‘d watch mind blowing art develop before quickly dunking the print into water and stop bath. Wiping hands clean, he goes back to the Enlarger to make adjustments. Set time and light exposure — click the timer switch. Quickly hovering his fist/ fingers in swiping motion over certain parts of the exposed paper, blocking light. Perhaps to dodge a slope in the landscape to keep a bit brighter. Or he’d hold a black cardboard over the lower part of the projected image, switch the timer light on to burn — perhaps, darken the sky to further enhance the contrast against the white of water falling.
Of course, light dodging or burning is now being done on the computer or tablet, using Software.
But we should begin at the beginning when thinking of Ansel Adams and how he devised his technical blue-print to excecute an image. And how his techniques created the foundation for new generations of photographers working in digital print editing software.
Unlike Adams, many photographers today begin their creative journey in Photoshop, after the image was taken. Adams did not have such luxury. And what he corrected with his view camera on the mountain, we now can correct to a certain degree later in Photoshop or similar software.
Ansel Adams used his view camera to manipulate depth of field for sharpness. Controlling the size and relationship between distantly situated objects from one another, to keep them both in sharp focus. Just think, what you could do with that idea?
In this photograph, we see a sharply defined tree in the foreground. Far off in the distance, we see the clear outlines of a village sitting against a clearly defined mountain range. I love this photo. It invites us in, to take that walk and meet the people who live there.
He did this by tilting or rising or shifting the cameras’ film plane and/or lens plane standards.
You would use the “ Mesh/Warp” tool in an Image Processing Software to accomplish a similar effect. To establish the space and relationship between objects…
You don’t have to purchase a view camera. Most of us prefer a standard digital camera and put the depth of field functionality on auto-pilot or half-automatic Av:
For example: Portrait=blurry background (open aperture), Landscape=sharply focused fore/and background (small aperture).
The image above is photographed by Janet Goh. A great example on how she pictured randomly arranged cherries and let them recede blurried into the blue and white background.What’s left is just one fresh and juicy green stemmed cherry, taking up the entire foreground. Visit Janet on Medium. Great job Janet.
Producing the Image:
For Ansel Adams, image production began at location. His setup had to match the final print as he envisioned before he’d press the shutter button.
To further achieve depth of field for a sharp image, Adams closed the aperture ring on the wide angle lens down to 64 F-stop (focal point). With the camera mounted on the tripod, he could afford to set a small aperture and thus accommodate for long exposure times.
Tripods are a lot easier to carry around today, and it’s smart to make use of one when the light is down.
Engineers learned from Adams technique of long exposure times and allowed for shake resistance in digital camera design. Perhaps, AI can improve on this feature in the future. But, I believe using a tripod for special images can broaden your options in taking great pictures.
Simply Put: How Adams Shot for Zone III.
The Light-meter Ansel Adams used, as well as digital light/spot-meters in our cameras today, give you a neutral reading and medium tonal values. See Gray Zone V. — But we don’t want that!!! We want to end up in Zone III for our shadows and Zone VIII for our highlights.
See image. The 11 shades between darkest black and purest white present 1 full lens stop (Aperture) “minus” or “plus” along the scale. Although, if you want to keep depth of field in your image, change Tv (time exposure ) instead of your aperture setting.
The Mastery of Digital Photography: Pre and Post Processing.
In digital photography: “Instead to expose for the shadows, and develop for the highlights, you need to expose for the highlights and develop for the shadows.
Ansel Adams was a master of his craft. Like a painter used his brush, he used photo technical means to manipulate light and shadow. Manipulating the tonal subtleties that flow from black to white for the art he’d imagined. Enhancing his images further by paying special attention to developing film and enlarging and developing on paper.
Let’s do this in photoshop :) Print and frame it — the old fashion way.
Adobe is a fantastic program, I believe was designed upon the knowledge collected by photographers like Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Henry Cartier-Bresson — and among all the greats, Ansel Adams was the one who approached the art of photography pragmatically and scientifically.
I hope this article inspires you to look at your picture taking from a couple of angles again. It helped me. I’m excited about photography. Thank you Ansel :)
Please comment. How do you use your camera, or phone? Perhaps, add a photo…
