We all aspire to be like Ansel Adams. But no matter how hard
we try, we’re never seem to be in right spot at the right time to get that
perfectly cratered moon rising over a brightly illuminated landscape like he
could. Truth be known, Ansel Adams was also a master of the darkroom. Many of
his most striking photos are composites of sandwiched negatives and masterful
dodging and burning.
If Ansel Adams were alive today, he’d be a master of
Photoshop and a big fan of Layercake Elements. Ansel Adams understood that
every tool he had in his bag of tricks was fair game to achieve his vision and
most times his vision was not visible through his viewfinder just like you and
me. Being a purist is admirable, but closing your eyes to the wonderful digital
tools available today like Photoshop and Layercake Elements to enhance your
photos is like tying one hand behind your back. We can all learn something from
Ansel Adams. Today he’d say, “be a purist, but always be open to new ideas and techniques
to achieve the brilliance of your full imagination".
Visit us at www.layercakeelements.com to learn more about
making better photographs!
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| Original Color Image, adding a drag & drop cloud & full moon |
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Converted to Ansel Adams look using Topaz High Contrast II
B&W filter
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Road to Heaven, LayerCake Sky replacement.
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Hmm, I much prefer the untouched sky in the beach shot. I like the negative space of the almost empty sky. It's looks as if the rocks are reaching up to the sky. In the after shot you lose that emotion.
ReplyDeleteI do like how you have totally changed the tone of the image in Road to Heaven though. The before image has a forlorn feel while the after has a foreboding feel.
You must remember Adams lived in a different time. Time moved slowly then, he traveled constantly looking for unbelievable locations, lighting, weather and then brought it all together for a dramatic shot. His travels would take him to places where he stayed for days and even weeks and he had people helping him move the equipment around.
ReplyDeleteAdams was born into an affluent family, time was on his side as reaped visits to his favorite places over and over searching for the best shot. He remarked if he only got 3 outstanding images each year he was happy. How many photographs did Ansel shoot in his lifetime to get the 40, 60+ outstanding images we all have grown to love and emulate? I don't remember the count but it was in the hundreds of thousands to narrow down to his favorite top 100.