What The Ansel Adams Style Project Taught Me

When I started one of the most interesting photographic projects I've ever tried, The Ansel Adams Style Project, I wasn't sure where it would lead, but discovered along the way just how important a project like this can become. I never believed I would ever attain the prowess of the name sake of this adventure, but this project proved itself not only fun and rewarding, but instructional and revealing. What the venture taught me will be carried forward in my seemingly never ending quest to capture that one perfect image and hopefully provided a measure of inspiration to continue pursuing this fascinating form of photography known as Black and White.

I've always been a huge fan of black and white photography having had my early development as a photographer heavily influenced by its nuances. More often than not though most of the time in more recent years I simply would take color images and realize later how they would actually look better as a black and white, then convert them. The Ansel Adams style project forced me to look at the world through a black and white filter to do what Ansel learned during his development as a photographer, to visualize the outcome before ever snapping the shutter.

Visualization. A process of knowing the results before they occur. It is probably the most difficult aspect of photography for most people to fully grasp. Even experienced and technically competent photographers often struggle with its significance. Yet, it is one aspect I have attempted to refine over the years, not always successfully, but in a manner where I begin to experience the excitement of creating what I see in my minds eye.

Along with Visualization, I've always tried to live within the creative confinement of the art form, looking for light in all of its forms. Doing so sometimes causes one to drift toward being, dare I say, a bit depressed, because, well I do not always find the inspiration to create what resides within all artists. Searching for such things can become a bit futile when attempt after attempt falls short of expectations...and then...all of sudden, it falls into place. One such moment occurred during this project when I hiked into Shanty Hollow and discovered to my delight one of the most dramatic moments of light I've ever encountered. These are the events that make it all worth the effort, when stage, moment, and light converge to present the delicate flavors of nature in a magnificent encounter.

Worth all the effort? Actually, the effort came naturally, what was revealed was just how important it is to try something new every once in a while, to jump start creative instincts, to reopen the imagination,and to even relive and re-experience what the great masters might have accomplished. 

What I outwardly gained from this project I can only share in a feeble attempt at writing about it. What was truly gained resides inward in a deeper context of revelation and accomplishment. Rarely am I moved by the photographs I take, yet somehow when I view the haunting image taken within Shanty Hollow, I understand more fully why I started the project in the first place.

The Ansel Adams project started as a "let's see what turns up" kind of adventure. It finished as one of the most inspirational and exciting projects I've ever attempted. Even though I've set it aside as an exclusive project for now, it's really not over, for I will continue to explore this fascinating form of photography. Who knows, maybe that one great photograph I've been chasing will be generated from this ancient form of photography captured in a most unlikely place.

The Ansel Adams Project