Ansel Adams Research

Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, and books.
He mainly works in black and white and occasionally in colour. He prefers black and white as it defines the tonal contrast within the picture.

He formed the group f64. 

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence."

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer."                                             

Here are some examples of his work:

 

Denotations:

This picture has a build up of rocks leading towards mountains that can be vaguely seen in the distance. I like the use of light coming from the sun that is shining towards the mountains. This also highlights the clouds that can be seen in the sky. There is also a high tonal contrast that is especially defined by the black and white filter on his picture.

Connotations:

I think this has a connotation of peace due to the big space if open land which appears quite tranquil to me. I also think the mountains portray strength as they sit openly in the distance and because we can see  that they are among the clouds which shows their height.

Denotations:

This picture shows a large river leading towards mountains in the distance. There are many trees and forest space on either side of the river. There is a very high contrast in tones through the use of very dark shadows on the bottom left corner. There are also some highlighted areas like on the right side of the clouds and on the river.

Connotations:

I think this has quite a dark and mysterious connotation due to the use of dark shadows in the picture. In addition there is limited sunlight in this picture which also supports this mysterious and portrayal.

Denotations:

This picture shows a mountain peering through the trees. There are also some clouds which hide some of the bottom of the mountain.

Connotations:

I really like this image as the mountain is in between the clouds so some of the edges are hidden. Also because the mountain takes up a lot of space in the picture is shows power and it has a majestic quality to it.

Equipment / Definitions:

Pre visualisation:

A process used in film-making to generate preliminary versions of shots or sequences predominately using 3D animation tools and a virtual environment.

The OED definition suggests there are several of types of previsualization: all of which are planning tools for various kinds of industries. Now, there are six different fields, in which some sort of previsualization is used to visualize how a procedure or product will look. The motion picture industry is only one of these fields. They are as follows:
Photography is one of the older disciplines to use previs. Ansell Adams was known to previsualize many of his more renowned photographs as far back as the 1930s. 

My interpretation: 

It is a process where a photographer creates a mental or physical idea of a picture and what it will look like, before the image is actually shot and captured. Some people may not choose to undergo this process but some will find this very beneficial when in a shoot.

Zone system:

The Zone System is a photographic technique for determining optimal film exposure and development, formulated by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer.

F64: