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Ansel Adams

If you ever wondered what it was like to be taught by Ansel Adams, here’s your answer

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Ansel Adams is one of those legends of photography that most people have heard of. Whether they’re a photographer themselves or not, they know who he is. They know of his work, they may even own some of it. For those of us who are photographers, have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be taught by the man himself?

Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography has been making a series of short films over the last few months. Each of them covering a different aspect of Ansel’s life and work. In his newest video, Marc wants to help answer that question. He introduces us to Ansel’s daughter-in-law, Jeanne, who was ran Ansel’s business for over two decades.

Take a look inside Ansel Adams’ amazing Darkroom

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The room in which Ansel Adams created many of his works has to be the absolute ultimate DIY darkroom.  Back then, many things had to be made yourself as commercially available tools for most of what Ansel wanted or needed to do simply did not exist.

In this video from Marc Silber, we’re guided through Ansel’s darkroom and processes by his son, Michael.  With motorised dolly tracks and an enlarger that holds an array of individually controlled light bulbs, this darkroom features some very interesting and unique engineering.

Ansel Adams’ biggest secret to stunning photography

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Ansel Adams was one of those people that becomes more and more fascinating the more you learn about him. Each bit of information you gained made you want to learn even more about either the man himself or photography in general.

In a video recently uploaded to Advancing Your Photography’s YouTube channel, host Mark Silber interviews his son, Michael Adams, and looks at how Ansel discovered what became his biggest epiphany in photography.

Get Up To $100,000 Per Year Doing Ansel Adams’ Job For The National Park Service

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If you thought that film is dead and that there’s no money to be made in nature photography, you’d better think again.

74 years after the National Park Service commissioned the great Ansel Adams to document the National Parks, the NPS is looking for a full-time photographer to perform a similar job, and is offering a salary of up to $100,000 per year.

One of the fortunate photographer’s duties will be to capture large-format photos for the Library of Congress collection.

Vintage “Baseball” Trading Cards Feature Ansel Adams & Other Notable Photographers

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Dating all the way back to 1975, the The Baseball Photographer Trading Cards are not exactly new, but they are still really cool. Featuring the likes of famous photographers such as Ansel Adams, Aaron Siskind, Imogen Cunningham, and others, the collection of 135 trading carding is an amusing look at the comradeship found among working photographers from the era.

The front of the cards feature a photo taken by photographer (and card creator) Mike Mandel. On the back of the trading cards, you’ll find a baseball card inspired design featuring the stats of each photographer: height, weight, batting hand, information about their preferred film/camera/photo paper…, and my personal favorite, short little words of wisdom written by the photographer featured on the card. (Some are full of humor, some are philosophical, while others share their predictions of what will become of art photographers.)

40 Movies About Photography–How Many On The List Have You Seen?

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This past July, Adam Sherwin posted a list of 40 movies about photography that “every photographer should watch” over at Resource Magazine. When I first saw the list, I had already seen quite a few of the films mentioned, but it also led me to discover a slew of other photography related movies I hadn’t heard of before. Since then I’ve been working my way through the curation. While I probably won’t watch all of the films (honestly, they don’t all look interesting to me, as I’m sure they won’t all look interesting to you, too), I have seen a little over half of the titles so far, including those I had previously watched.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite (and not so favorite) films from the list, but be sure to head over to the original post and check it out in entirety. There might be some gems listed for you to discover, as well.

Facing the Demons of Camera Shame

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He is one of the most iconic American photographers, an innovator in his time responsible for aiding in the awareness that led to the preservation of some of our most spectacular natural treasures. He has left millions awestruck by the imagery he captured and inspired millions more to aspire to follow in his steps. His skills were commissioned by government agencies, and the value of his original prints stretches well into the millions. He is Ansel Adams, and his camera was an outdated, antiquated piece of rubbish.

I am certain most, if not all, photographers have experienced it at one time or another: the feeling that you and your skills are made inferior by the equipment you are using, a condition commonly known as camera shame. We shrink back into the shadows around other photographers with “more-pro” gear than us, we avoid conversations with photographers who are knowledgeable about equipment, we miss or turn down opportunities out of embarrassment, and we find ourselves tripping over ourselves in the pursuit of “the next great thing” in hopes of being able to hold our heads high in public.

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