Ansel Adams

Adams took his first photograph during a vacation in 1916 in California. The characteristics of his work being a combination of superb photographic skill and a deep admiration for the American landscape. Originally, Adams wanted to be a pianist until he met Paul Strand and discovered a new medium of expression. In 1962 he joined other photographers such as Cunningham, Noskaviak, Weston, John Paul Edwards, Henry Swift and Willard Van Dyke to found the group "f/64". They emphasised the greatest possible depth of field and the sharpest reproduction of detail. They began to favour close-ups, and the rose below is an example of this tradition. In 1941 Adams created his famous "zone system" to determine correct exposure and developing time to achieve optimal gradation of grey values. He produced over 24 books from the photographs of his landscape photography of America's National Parks, which he also supported. Information from 20th century photography.

I feel that Adams is one of the most inspirational landscape photographers for me, although many people say the places do a lot of the work for him, which I agree with and would love to get the chance to travel to places like these, he is also extremely technical with film and processing and I think this is to be admired. Like the image below of the vast sky at night with the moon and the small village below, all is perfectly exposed and the houses are lit, a long with the details in the clouds, his photographs really fascinate me.