Vision

Ansel Adams took this picture in 1941. He almost missed it as he drove by the small New Mexico town of Hernandez, as the light was fading and he couldn't find his light meter. He guessed the exposure and got one shot before the sun was completely down and the scene was dark. It is called "Moonrise over Hernandez, N.M."

Ansel had a very powerful way of internally visualizing the final result he wanted from a photograph. And that result was one that differed from reality in precisely the way he wanted it to. For all the wonders of his natural subjects, he did not try to reproduce them accurately. He bent his scenes into the artistic realm by adding to them according to his vision. He did this both with the initial exposure (using deep red filters to darken the sky, for instance), and in the development process (dodging/burning, altering exposure, etc.)

He printed this picture many times throughout the years, each time adjusting the process, tweaking the chemistry, trying different paper and altering his dodging and burning patterns. He finally got a print that matched his original vision...but not until the 1970's, more than thirty years after he took the picture.

I think of this story alot because it shows the value of forming a vision of what you want to accomplish and then following through to achieve that vision no matter what hurdles must be overcome.

This photograph is now considered Ansel's most famous. I think that is because he remained true to his vision.

Some of my favorite Ansel-isms:

"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed."

"A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words."

"The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance."