The Ansel Adams Controversy

A recent slew of headlines have described what may be the undiscovered works of Ansel Adams, selling for $45 at a garage sale. The buyer reportedly bought a set of 65 vintage glass negatives, which he held for several years until recognizing they may, in fact, be the product of photographer Ansel Adams, known mostly for his photographs of Yosemite Valley and the American West in the first half of the century. He brought the slides to the attention of a team of so-called experts, who used visual comparisons and handwriting analysis of the numbered plates to determine that they were authentic, and the handwriting belonged to Adams' spouse. They valued the collection at $200 million, using assumptions from print revenue and licensing rights. The claim is hotly disputed, especially by Matthew Adams, Ansel's grandson and curator of his collection, who doubts their authenticity.

It's easy to remain skeptical of this claim, for several reasons. First and foremost, the beauty of Adams' work was not so much his stunning compositions, but his work in the darkroom. He used several techniques, notably dodging and burning in their most primitive form, to bring his works to life and produce the fine art that is widely appreciated in replicas, art books, and rare authentic prints. Some would argue that without Ansel's hand in the processing, the slides themselves are worthless because he is not around to print from them. Any attempt to produce prints from these slides would certainly be less than authentic.

Second, Ansel Adams kept tight control of his negatives. He reportedly kept them in a lockbox, and took them out one at a time to produce his prints. While the examiners suggest that the slides were taken out en bulk for teaching purposes, and perhaps deemed lost as a result of his darkroom fire, it is hard to believe that someone who was so meticulous with his work would "lose" a large set of slides.

Finally, one has to recognize that hundreds of not thousands of photographers were shooting in Yosemite Valley at the time, and compositions made famous by Ansel Adams, such as Tunnel View, had already become widely known among photographers, as well as tourists who may have pulled off the road for a "photo-op." That notwithstanding, Adams was known to be an avid teacher, and frequently traveled with other photographers. As a photographer who has been on several such expeditions, I can tell you it is commonplace to come home with a shot that looks almost identical to the one taken by the photographer whose tripod was set up within inches of mine.

The slides are currenly in a vault, and the agent for the owner claims to have thousands of offers to buy. Deemed by many to be Mr. Adams' most famous work, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," sold for $609,000 in 2006; his most expensive piece ever sold was "Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park," at $722,500 this year.

Truly, if authentic, these slides would rightfully secure their place in history as the 'lost works of Ansel Adams." Unfortunately, I can't think of any way this can be proven, especially with the circumstantial evidence that has been presented so far. So far now, I remain skeptical. Especially for $200 million.

Announcement

Dear Subscribers,

I have been invited towards the end of August to display prints in a local art gallery. The prints will be on display for two months, and will include four 20x30 fine art prints. It's always difficult choosing my favorite photos, as my emotional connection to a certain landscape may not accurately reflect the feelings of the viewer. My main criteria for display are: visual impact, technical quality, and sale potential. If you could take a second and browse my Personal Favorites Gallery, and please contact me, or post a comment in this thread, with your top four print selections. I am grateful for your help, and will send along photos from the exhibit when it's up and running.

Photographers that Inspire Me, Part I

Every photographer can rattle off a short list of names whose images helped mold his or her personal vision and style of photography. We can continue to improve by seeking inspiration through the works of others who are better photographers. I'm going to post a short series on the ten photographers who have most inspired me, beginning (in no particular order) with Michael Anderson.

I frequenly browse quickly through hundreds of pages on Flickr, and only rarely am I blown away with someone's work which was previously unknown to me. Such is the case with Michael. Like many others who learned their early craft from the late Galen Rowell, Michael Anderson's "off the beaten path" adventures require extensive planning, physical ability, and technical expertise. And like Galen, he usually has amazing stories to go along with his photos. Michael consistently travels to remote locations, and returns with such unique shots that are both awe inspiring and technically flawless. His versatility of style only adds to his dramatic imagery.

Click here to view his image galleries.

Deep Forest

Another photo of the lush foliage in the heart of Oregon's Columbia Gorge, this shot was taken downstream from Fairy Falls, a short but strenuous hike off the Columbia Gorge Highway.



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Fairy Falls, Wildflower

One of the more iconic falls of Oregon's Columbia Gorge, Fairy Falls can be reached by hiking a steep trail uphill consisting of around 30 switchbacks. After spending some time taking the obligatory 'postcard shots' of the falls, I looked around for a little different perspective. Just across the creek where the falls runoff, there was a lone salmonberry wildflower that I thought would be nice to incorporate into the foreground for a touch of color. The shot was technically very difficult to pull off (see below), but here is the finished product, cropped square.



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Technical Data: There were several challenges in taking this photograph. First, even at a pro camera's smallest aperture (most maximum depth of field), it is impossible to get tack sharp results for both the flower in the foreground, and the falls and foliage in the background. The small aperture would require a long exposure to let in enough light for proper exposure, and with a moderate wind blowing, the one second exposure required to produce the silky water of the falls, the blowing flower would be severely out of focus. How I solved this problem: I took three exposures. The first exposure was focused on the falls, ISO 100, f/18, one second exposure. The second and third exposures were focused on the flower and the ferns, ISO 800 f/11 which gave me an exposure time of 1/60s, enough to freeze the motion of the flower (after waiting and waiting for the wind to die down), and give a sharp result. I then manually blended the exposures in photoshop so that all subjects in the composition were properly exposed and in focus.

Mossbrae Falls

I first saw a photo of Mossbrae Falls on Flickr about two years ago and was intrigued. It seemed to be a very intriguing and unique place, with water trickling down a mossy cliffs into the Sacramento River in "nowhere" California. Actually, it is located a couple miles off the road in Dunsmuir, California. It was actually harder to find than I expected. Being one of the more unique falls in California, I thought it would be a little more mainstream. In fact, there were no signs on the road or highway indicating its presence. I was able to locate the general area of the trailhead using GPS coordinates.

I therefore built-in an extra day to my Pacific Northwest trip to visit and photograph the falls. Even knowing the general location, I still had to pull off the road into a gas station and ask directions. "What falls?" The clerk at the gas station asked me (the trailhead was about a quarter-mile from her station). I drove off onto a remote dirt road and parked in what appeared to be a small parking lot (still no signs). A man chopping wood on the side of the road was kind enough to tell me that the falls were about a mile and a half down some "abandoned" railroad tracks. It should be noted that three trains passed me by during my hike. The obsolescence of the place turned out to be a gem, as I arrived at eight o'clock in the morning and had the place all to myself or about two hours. I photograph the falls from every perspective imaginable, but my favorite shot ended up being a telephoto perspective of one particular segment. In fact, the fall stretch about 150 feet wide and there were about 50 feet high. Despite being out of the way, it was one highlight of my trip.



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Great Month!

After being online for 5 months, my website had a record 4300 unique visitors in May. Thanks for the support!

Hug Point Sunset

The last day of my trip to Oregon I was told how a photographer needs to be flexible in his/her travel, because light and weather cannot be planned. We shot some sea stacks on the coast in Oceanside, Oregon, that morning, and then drove up the coast to Hug Point, just south of Ecola State Park. We spent a couple of hours scouting an interesting location where a waterfall empties into the ocean. It looked to be good sunset (more than I can say for the rest of the trip), and so we scratched our plans to shoot at Ecola and went back to the waterfall for sunset. The conditions were perfect, except the tide was about a foot higher than would be ideal. After setting up my desired composition, I waited for the light to cast a glow on the waterfall. As I was waiting, the tide rolled in, and I found myself standing waist deep in ocean current. A few waves got me and my camera soaked, but really there was nothing I could do at that point. I took over a hundred frames as the sun set, and it wasn't until my third to last frame that the sun peaked through the clouds and cast a glow on the falls and the clouds above it. Using a one second shutter speed I was able to give motion blur to the ocean and falls as the two prepared to collide. The ocean water didn't bother me too much, until I finished shooting and had to make the 3 hour drive to Portland where I was staying the night to catch a flight home early the next morning.

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Photo of the Week 5.18.2010

Elowah Falls



After several days of heavy rain in the gorge, we had hiked to Elowah Falls our last day there. The falls were flowing heavily from the continued rain, and the overwhelming mist from the falls soaked me in the process of taking this shot (it meant standing knee deep in the creek with an umbrella and towel over my camera until just before the exposure). Elowah Falls are probably my favorite of the falls I visited.

Pacific Northwest

After taking a few days for the time zone readjustment, I'm sorting through 80GB of photos from the Pacific Northwest. It's easy to take that many photos up there, everywhere you look is breathtaking. A week of traveling took me from Sacramento up the California coast, with a stop at Mossbrae Falls in the town of Dunsmuir, CA. I then crossed into Oregon, stopping in Eugene, OR, to see a friend of mine, and then continued up the Pacific Coast Highway before cutting through Portland to reach the Columbia Gorge. We spent three days in the Gorge, hiking to various creeks and waterfalls.


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On Monday we headed back to the coast, making stops in Seal Rocks, Oceanside, Cape Kiwanda, and Hug Point, near Ecola State Park.


Click to enlarge (photo courtesy of Vlad Sadovsky)

The highlight was the beauty of the Columbia Gorge, with its rich green foliage, wildflowers, and waterfalls flowing over moss covered rocks. I'll post photos as they are processed over the next few months.