Ansel Adams was an American photographer known for his black and white landscape photographs of Western America in the early to mid-20th century. He is renowned for his photos of mountains, lakes, and natural structures. Adams often composed his shots with mountains in the background and water in the foreground, using reflections to capture additional scenic elements. He was also an environmentalist and his photos helped promote conservation.

1. Unit 57: Photography and
Photographic Practice
Research of other
photographers work

2. Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was born on the 20th
February 1902 in California and
died April 22nd 1984. He was an
American photographer took many
pictures in Western America. He
was also a keen environmentalist.
His photos today are reproduced on
posters, calendars, postcards and
greetings cards. All his photos were
taken in black and white as
coloured cameras weren’t invented
at the time.

3. Examples of photographs

4. Ansel Adams’ Glacier
Ansel Adams took this photo of The
McDonald Lake in National Park, in
1942. This picture was took in the
evening. In the background there
are a silhouettes of mountains and
glaciers, with clouds in the sky.
With the photo being taken in the
evening there is less light, creating
a silhouette effect.In the foreground
there is a lake in which the clouds
and mountains are reflected. As an
environmentalist, he enjoys taking
photos on the environment and
natural structures.

5. Composition
In most of Ansel Adams’ photos he has a mountain in the background and a
lake or river in the foreground. The sky in his photos always seem to have
clouds, the sun or the moon, but is clear. All his photos are of natural
structures and wildlife. In some of his photos he uses large masses of water
to capture reflected objects in the background.

6. Techniques Ansel used
Ansel used large format cameras to
get a higher resolution and sharper
photos. The shutter speed on the
camera Ansel used was quick,
making the image still without
movement.

7. Strengths & Weaknesses of
Ansel’s Photos
If Ansel was a live today, his photos
would obviously have colour and be
more vibrant. He understood how to
take a landscape photo with
something different going on in the
foreground and background.