Ansel Adams - Landscape Photographer

So Ansel Adams is arguably the original landscape photographer. Creating hundreds of works throughout his life he started his journey in 1921 when he produced his first photograph.

His career mainly consisted of wildlife and landscape photography with his most famous and well known photo being 'Monolith, the face of Half Dome.'  The man himself is from California, America and spent his education in a mixture in either private or home schools which is where he found his love for nature. Not havign patience for sport or games, it was wildlife that took his interest and we can see this love shine through in his works at national parks. His fame lies with his famous technique of the 'zone system' which he created to be able to perceive the densities of light in a photo which allowed his greater control over his photographs.

This system gained him his reputation and allowed him the clarity in the photos he produced especially at the national parks during the time and age he worked (1930's, 40's and 50's.) To this day he is known for his work in the national parks for both wildlife and landscape photography with his work in Yosemite park being remastered.

Monolith, face of a Half Dome.

The view of my school from the pitch even at night was beautiful. Though it was border-lining on freezing temperature the lights from the school warmed the air and sky surrounding. Distance from the main subject in the photo further adds colour and feel to the composition as a whole.

Shutter speeds affect on the photographic world

Shutter Speed.

It in itself is arguably the most important thing to remember when taking a photography as if you didn't have it, you wouldn't have a photo. The shutter speed is the amount of time the sensor in the camera exposes itself to light and altering this can change the amount of light in your photo. Now knowing this you can change the shutter speed to alter the light and furthermore the effect of your photograph.

Take this alleyway for example:

These photos were taken at 1am on an evening with a full moon but with a fair amount of clouds but as you can see by altering the shutter speed i was able to control the light that entered and hit the sensor.

Here the shutter speed is at 1/20 (A twentieth of a second)

As you can see the only thing that is visual in the photo is the source of light

 Then by increasing the shutter speed to 1/5 (A fifth of a second)

 By doing this you can see that more light has been let in and illuminated the walls and surroundings

 By increasing it further to 1/2 (A half second)

this lets in the most light and even at 2am the sky is lit by how much light has hit the sensor

By being able to manipulate the light levels in the photograph is allows us change the effect that the photo has and furthermore the meaning.

'Creative Futures' Exhibition

The 'Creative Futures' exhibition in The Wasps studios in Selkirk was a fantastic experience as it showcased not only the most recent work of the artists but also current pieces and collections of works they have produced. The studio itself is a stereotypical artists habitat on the outside, but inside, it's opens into this vast an expansive tardis of culture and arts. Not singular to art, but drama, acting and production was also present in the form of VOMO representatives.

The art itself varied from modern to expressive, paint to oil. These difference coincided with each other but it was this contrast that made the exhibit what it was. Showcasing the work of the artists brought a wider knowledge of the subject to many eyes which could arguably be the best result of this exhibition.

Some photos from the 'Creative Futures' exhibition

I took this photo while hiking over the hills above my hometown to demonstrate the power and use of flash. I set this up on a tripod to determine the exact positions of the composition to allow a greater contrast between myself and the trees in the background. The power of the flash illuminated my entire face and allowed the initial contrast of composition.

                                 

My example of using a wide angle lens.

If you recall to stereotypical amateur (and let's not forget professional) skating of the video's you'll remember the distorted circular area around the screen yes? The ultra wide style of filming action sports has even influenced inventions to this day such as the GoPro but the fisheye lens itself is just a nickname coined by American physicist and inventor Robet W. Wood to metaphorically convey how a fish would see things in its hemispherical view.

More commonly known as an 'ultra wide' lens they will typically capture 180 degrees of what is in front of it. Usually this will cause distortion the further out from the centre the image gets and many artists/photographers are using this and adapting it to their photos to emphasise the meaning, for example abstract, or the effect.

There are two types of fisheye lenses: circular and full frame.Circular may be more familiar to the amateur eye as these are the typical one carrying the infamy of 90's sport videos behind them. They were the first type of fisheye developed having a 180 degree view both horizontal and vertical creating a smaller image with darkened corners of the frame.

Full frame fisheye lenses instead measure 180 degree view from corner to corner with the horizontal and vertical measurements being much less. When these types of lenses started becoming available for commercial consumer use companies wanted to enlarge the image, cutting out the dark parts while still keeping the general effect. This was the result:

Overall the fisheye lens as a piece of camera equipment is worth the buy, especially now due to the commercial availability of them. They allow for experimentation as well as access to features that will enhance certain aspects of photography without external editing. This reason is enough for anyone to consider buying one if they want to branch out to other areas of photography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/4879042572/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pss/4138684969/

Some amazing uses of the fisheye lens in photography.

So,


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